“Formula 1 In Camera 1970-79 Volume 2” reviewed

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Haynes Formula 1 In Camera series, reviewed here back in March, has spawned a fifth book. This is a second volume of images covering the 1970-79 seasons.

The appetite for Formula 1 nostalgia is clearly healthy. And it’s not hard to understand why the seventies, with its outlandish car designs and spectacular circuits, holds a particular appeal when compared to the increasingly homogenised modern Formula 1 product.

Unlike the previous volume, this one does not include any of Rainer Schlegelmilch’s distinctive and dramatic photography. But it is not too much the poorer for it, and the diversity of pictures on offer is commendable, particularly if your interest extends beyond the front-runners.

Among the highlights include a picture of Arturo Merzario, Harald Ertl and Brett Lunger being given awards at the 1976 Austraian Grand Prix for helping to rescue Niki Lauda from his inferno at the Nordschleife two weeks earlier.

Inevitably the second book on the same subject suffers from a degree of repetition but author Paul Parker has done his level best to avoid that. The pictures are extensively captioned and rich in detail and interesting anecdotes. The potted biographies of some of the more obscure drivers to have appeared in F1 are particularly illuminating.

But – with my anorak firmly buttoned up – I must take issue with the title of the 1979 chapter. “The last Ferrari championship for 21 years” it declares, overlooking their triumphs in 1982, 1983 and 1999. The constructors’ championship may be considered the lesser cousin of the drivers’ but that’s no reason to ignore it completely.

That aside, I have no difficulty recommending this second volume. Though if you find yourself having to choose between the two, I’d go for the first, with its slightly more dynamic images.

F1 Fanatic rating

Buy “Formula 1 in Camera 1970-79 Volume 2” (UK)

Buy “Formula 1 in Camera 1970-79 Volume 2” (USA)

Haynes are running a competition to win a selection of their recent F1 titles which you can enter here. You can read reviews of several of their recent books here.

Formula 1 In Camera 1970-79 Volume 2

Author: Paul Parker
Publisher: Haynes
Published: 2012
Price: £35.00
ISBN: 9780857330741

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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5 comments on ““Formula 1 In Camera 1970-79 Volume 2” reviewed”

  1. Still want to buy at least one of the books in these series. Only thing holding me back is that I’m afraid they’re the kind of books I skip through a few times before putting them on the shelf for the rest of eternity…

  2. I have this (and all other ones) and enjoy it, perhaps not as much as ’70 vol 1, but its a solid book with some amazing pictures in it, and Im fairly sure it has more Gilles Villenuve in it then the previous one (a big thumbs up) and I enjoy the mix of Race shots to those in the paddock. If you have the other F1 in Camera books, you should know what to expect, I actually find myself looking over each book quite often, usually as a companion when theres little happening when watching a motor race/football on TV.

    The 1 point I found amazing from the book was on David Purleys crash at the ’77 British GP. He hit a wall doing 108mph after going off at Woodcote with a stuck throttle, and going from 108mph-0mph in the space of 26inches. Apparently its the fast deceleration survived by a human being, a whooping 179.8g! (page 182)

  3. I love these books, they’re fantastic to flick through every now and then (especially good as a companion when nature calls ;) ) and they’re a good way of getting to learn more about a decade if you want to learn more without have to read paragraphs and paragraphs of text.

    I’m sure I’ll pick this one up at some point. It’s a shame they all seem to hold their value so well though, £20+ a pop all adds up!

  4. This will be a bit off-topic comment but I hope I’m allowed to say here that I just finally finished reading ‘Fangio: The Life behind the Legend‘ that I bought after reading another book review on F1F.

    I found it a very useful and enjoyable book. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the roots of F1. The book is not only about Juan Manuel Fangio as it reviews all the races that he participated at and tells you quite a lot of interesting facts about his fellow competitors, such as Giuseppe Farina, Luigi Fagioli, Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Stirling Moss or Alberto Ascari. The story gives you a really good understanding of how F1 and the racing world functioned in the 1950s. It was particularly interesting to find some parallels between now and then, such as how politics can impact racing at times or the importance of tyres.

    Of course, it’s inescapably also a ruthless insight into the time when deaths and serious injuries of drivers were much more common than they are today. I bought this book mainly because I wanted to get to know more about the history of our sport but, of course, the plot focuses mainly on the life story of Juan, one of the greatest racing drivers of all time. If you want to learn as much as possible about Fangio, you won’t be disappointed as well and the author can probably be forgiven for praising the exceptional Argentinean a bit too much.

    The more you get to know, the more you want to know I guess. I’ve already decided, which will be my next book: The Limit: Life and death in Formula 1′s most dangerous era.

  5. I need a good F1 picture book, I have plenty of review books and history books but nothing with big stupid cars in.

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