Rivals, Lancia D50 and Mercedes-Benz W196

This wonderful hardback book by Chris Nixon tell the story of what are perhaps the best and least known Grand Prix cars of all: the Mercedes-Benz W196 and the Lancia D50. From the start Nixon alternates between the two marques, giving a fast-forward racing history of each before switching to normal speed for the detailed development of each car and its part in the racing of 1954-55. Though packed with information, the text is presented in short chapters making it easy to compare these parallel stories, and there’s scarcely a page without a photo, including some rare colour. It’s not all technical: human stories include Gianni Lancia’s struggle to create an F1 team and the devastating loss of Ascari, but in this case the cars are the stars, and the book offers two pin-ups in the form of beautiful colour cutaway drawings. It is illustrated with almost 200 largely unpublished photographs in 212 pages. The book itself is in perfect condition. Reference: BO-RIVALSLANMER-01