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R-271
Chevrolet - Racing? Fourteen
Years of Raucous Silence! 1957- 1970
Paul Van Valkenburgh, February 2000,
11 Chapters, 330 Pages, Hardbound
$40.00
The sole published expose of one of racing's most famous secret activities. Originally published in 1972, Chevrolet-Racing? reveals the inside story of Chevrolet's early surreptitious involvement in racing, from 1957-1970.
This re-issue of the collector's classic tells the fascinating story of how, from 1957 to 1970, Chevrolet probably acquired more successes and more technical knowledge of high performance than any other company in the world. Ironically, they never built a complete, running, race-ready vehicle; nor were ever officially represented at a race, and they never claimed credit for any Chevy products in racing wins, or promoted them in advertising for all that time. How did they accomplish what they did? This book reveals the untold story. It all started in 1953 - not an extraordinarily significant year in automobile racing. That's when Chevrolet announced that the company was going into production with an all-American sports car called the Corvette. Chevrolet - Racing? tells how the company began actively developing, sponsoring, and racing its cars - until the 1957 Automobile Manufacturers Association's ban on manufacturer involvement in auto racing. The book goes on to describe how the underground program started, and for the next fourteen years, how Chevrolet was secretly developing, testing, and supporting the activities of some of the biggest names in motorsports.
Covering Chevrolet's engineering developments as well as the struggle to keep their activities secret, this book reveals the program's major accomplishments, including:
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The behind-the-scenes research and development of significant technical advancements, including the Chevrolet aluminum small block engine, automatic racing transmissions, aluminum and fiberglass chassis development, overhead cam V-8 engines, and vacuum traction.
- Chevrolet's successful experiments with computer simulation of vehicle dynamics, computerized track simulation, real-time data telemetry, and driver performance recording - 28 years ago!
- The designs of 74 cars engineered and developed during 1957-1970, including Chaparral Cars, Corvette SS, Trans-Am, Can-Am, Chevelle, Camaro, Corvair, plus many other prototypes that never made it into commercial production.
- Chevrolet's silent support and involvement with many big-name race drivers designers and teams, including: Roger Penske and Mark Donohue, Bruce McLaren, Smokey Yunick, Jim Hall and other semi-independent racing teams.
About the Author
Paul Van Valkenburgh began at Chevrolet Research and Development as
an aerodynamicist in competition vehicle dynamics and was later promoted
to research engineer. After the Chevrolet racing program ended, he went
on to become a writer. Van Valkenburgh has written four books and over
300 articles on racing and vehicle dynamics. Currently, he is an editorial
columnist for Racecar Engineering magazine and occasional feature writer
for Road & Track.
Reviews
"Chevy's involvement has been secret, which is what makes it such
good reading." National Speed Sport News
"The best and most complete history of Chevrolet's involvement with racing ... the author is an unimpeachable source." Road & Track.
"This is the definitive book on Chevy racing through 1970 . . . You will read it through vicariously at first, then go back and savor it many times." National Speed Sport News
