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.
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.
“ 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)
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 ...”
Classic Grand Prix Cars explores the origins and evolution of Grand Prix racing during the first half of the twentieth century. With a newly expanded introduction for this edition, Karl Ludvigsen's authoritative history describes the technical development of these powerful machines, decade by decade. A former auto industry executive and award-winning author of dozens of books, including Classic Racing Engines, Ludvigsen is an expert guide to the cars, manufacturers and drivers who pioneered the sport that would become Formula 1.Front engines dominated the top tier of motor racing from the first Grand Prix held in France in 1906 through most of the 1950s. Ludvigsen describes the conception and construction of these ground-breaking vehicles, spotlighting the many remarkable advances in chassis and engine technology that were made during Grand Prix racing's first few decades. The final chapters of the book introduce the game-changing move to rear engines in Grand Prix cars after the Second World War.Ludvigsen¿s thoroughly researched text is augmented with hundreds of archival photos, illustrations and blueprints along with color photos of many of these historic cars in action. Lending further authority to his history are dozens of first-hand-accounts of early Grand Prix competitions as they appeared in the leading automotive journals of the day. Karl Ludvigsen's celebration of the innovative early years of the Grand Prix car makes for fascinating reading as well as providing a lasting reference for all F1 fans with a sense of history.
The greatest champion without a crown, Stirling Moss is today one of motorsport's best-loved elder statesmen. This lavishly illustrated large format book celebrates his full race and rally career, from the junior formulae to Formula 1, and on to his post-retirement races in Audis, and classic events in Lolas and Shelby-Mustangs. The author, a world authority on motorsport and the motor industry, has known Moss since the 1950s.
Porsche witnessed significant swings in its fortunes during the final two decades of the 20th Century. In Book 3 of Porsche: Excellence Was Expected author Karl Ludvigsen brings his industry experience and insider knowledge to bear in describing Porsche's pitfalls and its pivotal comeback.In the mid-1980s, the company's exploration of the FIA's Group B resulted in the fabulous all-wheel-drive 959 of 1985. It was fast, sophisticated and beautiful. It was also a money loser for the company. In this same period, Porsche conquered the highest levels of Formula One with the McLaren-TAG team. In contrast, Porsche lost its way with the CART program and experienced a disappointing return to Formula One in 1991 with the Footwork Arrows team.The 924 evolved into the 944, with its muscular flanks and its torquey inline-four. Well-received, the 944 earned the respect of even the toughest journalists. Ludvigsen's account shows how this model proliferation and the rise of the dollar took its toll on Porsche. With the return of manufacturing specialist Wendelin Wiedeking in 1992 came massive changes that led to new efficiencies within the company. By the mid-1990s the 911, as the Type 993, was Porsche's only product. Variations of the 911 also performed with distinction on the track, by way of the GT1, GT2 and GT3 racers available from the Porsche factory.In addition, the company made a stock offering and reached into reserves to provide development funds for a pair of new automobiles. The resulting Boxster and Type 996 version of the 911 brought about a gradual resurgence for the little firm. Ludvigsen's Porsche history follows the carmaker into the first decade of the 21st century when the Cayenne SUV and the Carrera GT supercar expanded the Porsche product offering dramatically.
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.
As author Karl Ludvigsen reveals in Book 2 of Porsche: Excellence Was Expected, the 1970s and 1980s were years of intense innovation for the Porsche factory. In fact, 1970 was to see the tiny automaker fulfill a major goal: its first overall victory at Le Mans. The company became a force in every arena of motorsports it entered, including Can Am, where Mark Donohue, George Follmer and the mighty Penske Racing 917s literally decimated the competition. Ludvigsen discusses in depth the development and campaigning of Porsche's thoroughbred racers from this seminal era.Porsche had long known the benefits of placing an engine amidships for its racing cars. However, in the late 1960s, Porsche and Volkswagen collaborated on a mid-engined sports car for the road. The author describes the development of this vehicle as well as its fortunes in the market place and its ventures onto racing circuits. He even discusses the sole pair of potent 914-based sportscars powered by the company's eight-cylinder racing motor.In the late 1970s, the company adopted front-mounted engines and water-cooling in a move that was expected to spell the end for the venerable 911. The 924 and the impressive V-8 928 were both extremely successful in the American market, their primary target. Just as importantly, the Porsche engineers saw them as cars that could be more easily made to comply with ever-tightening Federal noise and emissions standards than the 911.While detailing the company's models and its competition activities during this dynamic era for Porsche, Ludvigsen also explores the company's maturation process, the challenges facing the small automaker, and how it was to prepare for the future.
Karl Ludvigsen's careers as an auto industry insider and motorsport journalist gave him rare access to auto racing's greatest drivers. In this series of lavish coffee-table treatments from Haynes Publishing, the author offers race fans insightful biographies, rare anecdotes, and a wealth of archival color and black-and-white photography detailing motor racing's all-time greats. Beginning with the legendary Argentinian's early car-building days, Ludvigsen examines Fangio's F1 strut at Alfa Romeo, where he won his first world championship in 1951 at age 40; his dramatic success with Maserati in 1953, as well as his victory at Carrera Pan-Americana; his ensuing F1 world championships with Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari; his epic battles with Stirling Moss; and his ill-starred appearance in the Indianapolis 500. Also discussed are Fangio's 1958 kidnapping in Havana.
The provocative, audacious, brilliant six-volume autobiographical novel that has unquestionably been the main event of contemporary European literature. It has earned favorable comparisons to its obvious literary forebears "A la recherche du temps perdu" and "Mein Kampf" but has been celebrated as the rare magnum opus that is intensely, addictively readable.
This monograph describes the Reaction Wheel Pendulum, the newest inverted-pendulum-like device for control education and research. We discuss the history and background of the reaction wheel pendulum and other similar experimental devices. We develop mathematical models of the reaction wheel pendulum in depth, including linear and nonlinear models, and models of the sensors and actuators that are used for feedback control. We treat various aspects of the control problem, from linear control of themotor, to stabilization of the pendulum about an equilibrium configuration using linear control, to the nonlinear control problem of swingup control. We also discuss hybrid and switching control, which is useful for switching between the swingup and balance controllers. We also discuss important practical issues such as friction modeling and friction compensation, quantization of sensor signals, and saturation. This monograph can be used as a supplement for courses in feedback control at the undergraduate level, courses in mechatronics, or courses in linear and nonlinear state space control at the graduate level. It can also be used as a laboratory manual and as a reference for research in nonlinear control.
This book explores the increasing role of private providers in early childhood education and care (ECEC) as they become a core part of the Nordic welfare model—one that once rejected for-profit involvement in public welfare. Within this context, ECEC has become the key battleground over private providers’ role in the welfare system. Chapters compare five Nordic countries: Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, to discuss possible benefits from having different types of providers—public, nonprofit, and for-profit—in the welfare mix. To conclude, the authors also provide a comparative perspective on governance of the ECEC sector and on the development and functions of the Nordic welfare model.
A family of four--mother, father and two boys--move to the South Coast of Norway to a new house on a newly developed site. It is the early 1970s and the family's trajectory, upwardly mobile: the future seems limitless. In painstaking, sometimes self-lacerating detail, Knausgaard paints a world familiar to anyone who can recall the intensity and novelty of childhood experience, one in which children and adults lead parallel lives that never meet. Perhaps the most Proustian in the series, Book Three gives us Knausgaard's vivid, technicolor recollections of childhood, his emerging self-understanding, and the multilayered nature of time's passing, memory, and existence. "Of course, I remember nothing from this time. It is completely impossible to identify with the infant my parents photographed; this is in fact so difficult it almost seems wrong to use the word 'I' when referring to it, lying in the baby bath, for instance, its skin unnaturally red, its arms and legs sprawling, and its face distorted in a scream no one remembers the reason for anymore ... Is that creature the same as the one sitting here in Malmö, writing this?" --from Book Three of My Struggle More praise for Book Three: "A superbly told childhood story ... Knausgaard writes about everyday life as a child with a flow and continuity that all hangs together ... the text has a gravitational pull that draws the reader in only further." --Dag Og Tid (Norway) "An aesthetic pleasure ... A patient, chiseled, and intense portrayal of a child's sensory experience. Book Three is a classic." --Klassekampen (Norway) "Compelling reading ... Knausgaard has an equally good eye for small and large events." --Aftenposten (Norway) "A gripping novel ... This childhood portrayal drifts off with a lightness and sensitivity that not many will associate with him ... There is no doubt that the series is worth following the author all the way." --Dagens Næringsliv (Norway) "The man can write a novel about a solid, pretty traditional upbringing too ... A sensitive, sharp depiction of growing up in the 70's." --Adresseavisen (Norway)
In Ferdinand Porsche - Genesis of Genius, author Karl Ludvigsen reveals a dynamic young innovator who helped to chart the course of the automobile through the first decades of the twentieth century. As early as 1900, at the age of 25, Ferdinand Porsche pioneered hybrid technology to power his automobile designs. Once gasoline gained dominance as the power-source of choice, Porsche became relentless in his goal to design the fastest and most durable automobiles in Europe. Ferdinand Porsche - Genesis of Genius explores in depth the unique combination of ambition, determination and genius that were the genesis of an automotive dynasty which has continued to thrive and expand for over a century.
Bruce McLaren arrived in Europe in 1958 virtually unknown. As this fascinating biography relates, by the time of his fatal testing accident 12 years later, he had established himself on both sides of the Atlantic as a driver of extraordinary versatility, even founding the team that went on to become one of the most successful in Formula 1. Key content includes McLaren's fifth-place effort in the 1958 German Grand Prix; his victory at the 1959 American Grand Prix, where he became the youngest-ever GP winner; building and racing his own car, the McLaren MIA; winning Le Mans for Ford in 1966 with Chris Amon, and Sebring in 1967 with Mario Andretti; and success in the Can-Am series as a constructor and two-time driver champion.
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.
Emerson Fittipaldi, in 1972 was crowned the youngest-ever World Champion at the age of 25, won the title again two years later to prove that he was one of the most outstanding talents of his generation. He and his brother Wilson realized their dream of creating the first Brazilian Grand Prix car. After a brief retirement, the bold Brazilian forged a second magnificent career in IndyCar racing, in which he scored wins in ten consecutive seasons. In this latest addition to his well-received driver biography series, Karl Ludvigsen - Emerson's friend since the 1960s - tells the whole enthralling story.
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