Karl Ludvigsen, born in 1934 in the USA and one of the greats in automobile history, opens his archives. In more than 50 years as a motor journalist, writer of books and automobile historian he accumulated comprehensive knowledge and met all the prominent figures of the automobile's golden age. In this book we meet Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Juan Manuel Fangio, Bruce McLaren, Emerson Fittipaldi, Dan Gurney and many more. A look in "Ludvigsens rear-view mirror" takes us back to times, when cars definitely had combustion engines, when motor races were life and death struggles and groundbreaking successes were made in the fields of safety, design and technology.
Porsche: Excellence Was Expected explores the history of the Porsche company, its cars, and its motor racing heritage from its beginning in 1948 through its sixty years as an independent family-owned car company to its continued success in 2019 under the auspices of the Volkswagen Group. Author Karl Ludvigsen goes behind the scenes to explore the events that eventually plunged Porsche into the hands of Volkswagen. And he outlines in detail just how and why, after the final schism from the Porsche/Piech dynasty in 2012, Porsche has continued to be Porsche. New material for the 2019 edition includes the continuing evolution of the iconic Porsche 911, allocating five chapters to dissecting the design and engineering of the Type 991 production cars and GT racers. He also looks at the continuing market success of the Cayenne, Cayman, Macan and Panamera. Competition coverage is expanded to include the exotic 918 hybrid and the winning 919 Hybrid LMP1 racer. A final chapter on Porsche's high-performance, all-electric Taycan production car points the way to the iconic sports-car maker's future."--Provided by publisher.
Karl Ludvigsen, born in 1934 in the USA and one of the greats in automobile history, opens his archives. In more than 50 years as a motor journalist, writer of books and automobile historian he accumulated comprehensive knowledge and met all the prominent figures of the automobile's golden age. In this book we meet Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Juan Manuel Fangio, Bruce McLaren, Emerson Fittipaldi, Dan Gurney and many more. A look in "Ludvigsens rear-view mirror" takes us back to times, when cars definitely had combustion engines, when motor races were life and death struggles and groundbreaking successes were made in the fields of safety, design and technology.
In Book 4 of Porsche: Excellence Was Expected Karl Ludvigsen recounts the dramatic events of 2008-09 that cast a deep shadow over what had been the world's most profitable car maker. Although Porsche became part of the VW Group, as a consequence of their maneuvers the Porsche and Piëch families achieved effective control of that vast corporation. Porsche's reaction to the financial ructions was to launch one great new car after another. Among them was the sensational 918 Spyder, the hypercar whose first appearance at Geneva in 2010 went a long way to show that Porsche was still Porsche.These were also the years of the creation and launch of the mid-engined Cayman coupe, which soon established a reputation as one of the world's best-handling sports cars. In 2016 Boxster and Cayman were joined at the hip under the "718" title, a tribute to the great sports-racers of the 1950s and 1960s that carried that project number.In 2009 Porsche introduced the Panamera, its most controversial offering since the Cayenne. Many of the Panamera's components were shared with the Cayenne, which received a major upgrade in 2017. Since the 2014 model year it had a cheeky little sister, the Leipzig-built Macan. Although derived from the Audi Q5, the Macan was a Porsche through and through. Also a fast seller, the Macan secured Porsche's financial future.Flying the all-important sports-car flag was the evergreen 911 Carrera, first with the 997 and then the 991. The 992 arrived as a 2020 model with all the bells and whistles needed to keep it at the top of its class. Although a hybrid variant of the 992 was not imminent, most of the production Porsches were taking advantage of the exploits of the 919 Hybrid. Starting in 2015, this brilliantly engineered LMP1 racer won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three years running, testifying to Porsche's competitiveness. On the horizon was the all-electric Taycan pointing the way to the legendary sports-car maker's future.
Within Jerry Seinfeld's renowned Porsche collection resides an unassuming yet extraordinary piece of Porsche history: Porsche Gmünd coupe 356/2-040. Captured exclusively for this book in a series of evocative portraits by acclaimed automotive photographer Michael Furman, 040s unsullied originality conveys with startling immediacy the combination of artistry, innovation and determination that went into its improbable creation. Porsche-Origin of the Species will appeal to all car enthusiasts who are eager to know what events really ignited the spark from which all other Porsches evolved
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION (1958): “... In this book John Christy and Karl Ludvigsen have set down not only the joy of MG ownership but a comprehensive history showing how it all began. However, they haven’t stopped there. A major portion of the book is devoted to maintaining and improving the more popular variants—from the TC through TD, TF, TF-1500, to the current MGA. These portions (with certain minor exceptions) were done directly from data supplied by Mr. Sydney Enever, who heads Abingdon’s competition department. For those owners of the marque who are interested in continuous maintenance and improvement—and what truly shriven MG owner isn’t ?—this is must reading ...”
Long an important force in the design of German automobiles, Porsche's fledgling effort at building its own vehicles occurred just after World War II in the unlikely location of a sawmill in Gmünd, Austria, and weathered the internment of both Professor Ferdinand Porsche and Ferry Porsche. From those modest beginnings, Book 1 of Porsche: Excellence Was Expected by Karl Ludvigsen takes the reader through Porsche's move back to Stuttgart and its first forays into racing with its road cars.Soon, in the tradition of Prof. Porsche, the company defined itself as one that found its own unique engineering solutions to any challenge. For its own cars that meant exploiting the Volkswagen formula of a rear-mounted air-cooled engine driving the rear wheels.Those challenges also included competition, first at the local level and then on the international stage. Class wins by 356 coupes and 550 Spyders at Le Mans soon yielded to overall victory in the 1956 Targa Florio.Gradually the 356 evolved and matured. After a long and fruitful life it was superseded by the brilliant 911 in 1965. In the same way some of the old guard, such as Huschke von Hanstein who ran public relations and competitions, gave way to young leaders like Ferdinand Piëch. Meanwhile the company continued its march towards the highest levels of motorsports contests, scoring victories in endurance racing, Formula One, rallying and in many different venues across the globe.This first period of Porsche history was pivotal. Under Ferry Porsche the young car company confirmed its impeccable engineering credentials, became known globally through competition and continued its cautious expansion while remaining privately held and proudly independent of bankers. Just as this era of the company created the foundation for all of its future accomplishments, this first volume of Karl Ludvigsen's masterwork provides the building blocks for the fascinating history and developments to follow.
“ In view of the number of volumes that have been produced in recent years about Germany’s most famous auto maker, it must seem presumptuous to add yet another to the stack. Being relatively thin, this one had to be different. It devotes itself to Mercedes-Benz cars and the most specific and personal aspects of their development, performance and maintenance, at the unavoidable sacrifice of portions of the long history of this great firm. The fascinating story of Mercedes racing has been told by George Monkhouse, Laurence Pomeroy Jr. and S. C. H. Davis, among others, while the fine successes of 1954 and 1955 are still familiar to most readers. I’ve chosen to concentrate on several Mercedes and Benz racing machines that were extremely interesting and productive yet remain virtually unknown today. At the other end of the performance scale the distinctive Mercedes diesels are covered completely...” (1959 - Karl E. Ludvigsen)
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