The Offenhauser is arguably the most successful racing engine ever designed, and this book traces its earliest incarnation (when it was the "Miller") to the last turbo-charged days...Inbetween it powered an staggering number of conseutive Indy 500 winners, plus AAA/USCA sprint and midget champions, not to mention IMCA and amazingly even some road racing wins (not to mention possibly the least succesful grand prix car of all time, the Scarab) The "techie" will find loads of specs, cross-sections, and line drawings, the vintage race fans plenty of photos of the cars of the era. (Note to the author: a larger color section in the next edition please.)A really great addition to those of us interested in the history of auto racing....

I have just finished Gordon White's book on Offenhauser Racing Products, and fascinating is a word that comes to mind to describe the effort. Idid not attend the Indy 500 until 1994 and missed all those wonderful years when the Miller/Goosen/Offenhauser engines dominated the race. I was lucky enough to attend several years of Championship Car races at the old Sacramento Fairgrounds and witnessed the Offy in action. Gordon has done a fine job bringing back some of those memories, and making a strong case in my view that these individuals were American heroes! If you are at all interested in things mechanical, this is a must read!

Offenhauser tells the story of the engine that dominated American Championship, sprint and midget and even sports car racing for nearly a half-century. It is surprising that such a book was not written long ago, but the author has done an amazing job of research into racing's past. He tells both the human story of the men who built the Offy - Miller, Goossen, Sobraske, Meyer, Drake and Fred Offenhauser himself, and the technical and political story of the old four-banger's rise to victory at Indianapolis, its long domination there, its fall in 1965, rebirth with turbocharging and final demise in the 1980s. The collection of photographs is amazing - many I never saw before as well as those of well-known drivers such as Foyt who drove Offenhauser-powered cars. Anyone remotely interested in auto racing should definitely have this book.

this book would make an excellant gift for any vintage open wheel race car enthusiast

Too bad about this book....Great topic, some good pics, but the author just ran the subject into the ground. I don't think he could connect two thoughts if his life depended on it, so to make up for it, he simply spilled out every mundane detail he could dig out about Frank Kurtis and/or his cars. There is a lot of good primary stuff here, but the author did a lousy job of historiography in distilling it into a concise, engaging story.

The pictures COULD have been awesome, but they are not. Many look like they were photocopies or bad digitals that were reproduced. I am surprised the publisher even considered them...in any case, it contributed to the overall fact that the book is a pile. It really is too bad. This is a very cool period of racing and an interesting, albeit, not crucial, part of the history. The neatest thing about the book is the cover. It will look darn nice on your shelf if you end up with a copy. You will like the pictures, but don't try to decipher the author's ramblings. It will only turn you against Frank Kurtis and his very cool cars.

This is book full of cool pictures of cool cars. I really like these early roadsters, so I buy everything I can about them. I have to agree with the other review, though, the writing in this really is bad. There are so many cool pictures, though, that they make up for the writing. If you like roadsters and already know a good deal about them, buy the book. If you are a first timer looking for an introduction to the history, this one probably isn't for you.