Advance notice of a truly unique new book on a British motor racing hero!
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST NOW
MIKE HAWTHORN - Golden Boy
August 22nd 2008 and now being proofed, this book is for publication in Autumn 2008 – a major new large format book on Britain’s first F1 World
Champion, who also won Le Mans and Sebring with the Jaguar D-type. Essentially,
this is an intimate and revealing study of the man away from the race
track, going about his daily business at the family’s Tourist Trophy garage in
Farnham, Surrey, and interacting with friends and business acquaintances.
The book comes from the immense success of the Mike Hawthorn Tribute web site. Created in 2006. it has generated enormous
interest, and encouraged a number of people who knew the man to make contact -
school mates, employees of the Hawthorns at the Tourist Trophy Garage, and
friends and acquaintances in the motoring and motor racing world. Using their
memories and those of others, a picture is painted of how this brilliantly
talented but mercurial racing driver lived – and how he died at the tragically
young age of 29, fifty years ago next January.
The book will primarily concentrate on Mike's personal life together with full details of his racing career - including the first ever attempt at listing all his race car numbers.
The book also singles out for close examination his special relationship with Jaguar –
the cars and the company. This includes a detailed examination of Mike’s role in the 1955
Le Mans disaster, for which many believe he was unfairly blamed, and the
circumstances surrounding his death in VDU 881, the 3.4 saloon he fatally
crashed on the Guildford by-pass on 22 January 1959. Important new facts emerge about both these episodes.
The chapter list includes:
Chapter One: Growing Up * Chapter Two: The Tourist Trophy Garage Ltd *
Chapter Three: Life with the Hawthorns * Chapter Four: Mike's personal cars *
Chapter Five: Le Mans 1955 * Chapter Six: A very special Jaguar - VDU 881 * Chapter Seven: The Champion's Girl *
Chapter Eight: The Road to the World Championship *
Chapter Nine: What really happened in January 1959? * Chapter Ten: Saying Goodbye *
Chapter Eleven: Memorials * Chapter Twelve: Memorabilia * Chapter Thirteen: the Mike Hawthorn art gallery
* Chapter Fourteen: Recollections *
Authored by Hawthorn web site designer and administrator Tony Bailey,
together with Paul Skilleter, the book will be a companion volume to those already
offered here, namely Paul Skilleter’s highly successful Norman Dewis of
Jaguar (which recently gained the Montagu Trophy), and Eric Dymock’s acclaimed
history of Ecurie Ecosse. Besides the many new facts and anecdotes will be
hundreds of rare and previously unseen photographs featuring Mike Hawthorn, his
cars and his surroundings.
Hardback, approx. 460+ pages, over 1000 illustrations, size approx. 225mm x
297mm, as (provisionally) a standard edition at approximately £45 and a special
leather-bound edition at £150.
REGISTER YOUR INTEREST NOW The print order for this very specialised book
will inevitably be limited, so if you are interested, please use the link above or contact Paul
Skilleter at PJ Publishing Ltd at the e-mail address below. We can then inform you of the
publication date and ordering details in advance of general advertising to ensure you get your copy!
Note: If you knew Mike Hawthorn or think you can add to his
story, please also make contact by e-mailing Paul Skilleter at
jagworld1@aol.com or phone 01425 612669.
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