Found at
MotorBooks Italiano
Review by Dave McClure, MotorBooks Italiano
When we first approached "Veloce Today" regarding the possibility of contributing book reviews, your editor was understandably hesitant. That reluctance was based on the perception that "Veloce Today" readers would consider any review submitted by a book dealer to be biased or done for the purpose of increasing sales. However, after some deliberation we were offered the opportunity to present a review for your consideration, after all, who better to do an automobile book review than an automobile book dealer? The editor is interested in your feedback!
M. Tabucchi’s book "Maserati: The Grand Prix, Sports And GT Cars 1926-2003", is a relatively new book, published in Italy by Giorgio Nada in 2003, is, unlike many of our books at MotorBooks Italiano, readily available and the subject of our review. When I first flipped through this book I was immediately drawn into a mental comparison with Box & Crump’s "Maserati Sports Racing & GT Cars" published in 1975 and their "Maserati Road Cars" published in 1978. These two books form the cornerstone of any Maserati book collection and most Maserati enthusiasts have both copies in their library.
The Tabucchi book obviously brings the reader up-to-date by filling in the void from the mid 70's through and including the 2004 models, it also adds some additional data that was not included in the Box & Crump books. It is this additional data that we believe will be of most interest to the Maserati enthusiast, and I quote from the introduction "The overview of the individual models that were produced, the chassis numbers of every single example built and the modifications introduced during their production run may lack the immediate appeal of other less technical works. However, this structure allows us to provide comprehensive responses to the most frequent questions of a technical or historical nature that researchers, potential purchasers of a Maserati car or enthusiasts of the marque may ask".
We could not have stated the intention of this book in better words.
This is a large book measuring 10" x 11" and containing 360 pages, with 89 color and 500 black & white illustrations including line drawings, cutaways etc. The book starts out with an easy to read index followed by 40 pages devoted to a short history of Maserati. This is followed by a 20 page section devoted specifically to racing that concludes with a listing of the various competition victories, by date, race, car type and driver plus separate lists of speed records, powerboat records and powerboat championships. The remainder of the book, a total of 290 pages is devoted to a model-by-model review. Each model is clearly identified and there is a brief description of its development and evolution including the production history and any specials that may have been constructed.
This text is accompanied with contemporary photographs, drawings and illustrations and exhaustive technical specifications including, engine, drivetrain, body/chassis and performance specifications. If applicable, there is a separate listing of chassis and engine numbers by production date. Major model changes are also identified along with the total number of units built. The book closes with a listing of production totals by model, period of production and total units produced, and a bibliography. This hardbound book is protected by a pleasing dust jacket and the publisher should be unquestionably proud of the quality of the paper and the binding. While we would never suggest that this book would displace the Box & Crump books from your collection, it is certainly a worthy substitute, or a great addition.
