The Vintage Culture of Outboard Racing

Rating:
Summary: long overdue
Review: Mostly disappointing book, not because of poor research or bad style, but poor subject. This book mostly concerns itself with the political infighting in outboard racing in the early 1950's. I know the header says it covers history to the late 1960's, but that is wrong, apparently written before the final editing cut was done. Almost completely devoid of any technical information about the motors themselves, slightly shakey on chronology at a few points. If the subject as I have described it is of interest to you, you will find this a very enlightening and interesting book, exceptionally well researched and presented.

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Culture Galore!
Review: Peter Hunn has done it again with yet another fabulous book on Outboards! Being a member of the Antique Outboard Motor Club Inc. and the Antique & Classic Boat Society one is always on the look out for good books that deal with and speak to our fond affection for vintage outboards and boats. This book more then fits the bill.

In The Vintage Culture of Outboard Racing, Hunn covers a wide, and intricately related, variety of topics. He starts off by giving the reader the necessary background on where the facination for outboard racing competition began and then quickly takes you to the haydays of the 1930s through the 1950s. Along the way you get a sense of the attraction of this sport for both the professional outboard racer and the average family member that was struck with the racing bug. Chapters Four and Five, that deal with Clubs and Organizations and Outboard Racing's Civil War respectively, are pretty indepth and may not be for the everyday outboarder but for those of us that cannot get enough these two chapters make for an interesting read and provide important information. The middle of the book, Part III: The Culture of a Sport, was a delight. Hunn could not have written on this subject without speaking to Hank Bowman and his outboard writing syndicate. A terrifc amount of very relavent information. Hunn definitely took me back to my youth with the chapter on Cottage Racers. I read through it like a Mercury 30H on the straight away! I was so glad to see the inclusion of the women racers of the period, as they brought much to the sport being champions in there own right. The chapters on Racing Collectibles and the pertainent information in the Appendics were equally enjoyable.

Hunn's previous books, The Old Outboard Book, The Golden Age of The Racing Outboard and Beautiful Outboards could be looked upon as the the first three books in the series. The Golden Age of the Racing Outboard certainly provides one with equally indepth and facinating information on the racing outboards and boats that the racers in this book used. The pictures alone tell the story. In fact one might say that it laid the ground work for the Vintage Culture of Outboard Racing.

All in all a well thought out and put together book. If you love outboards and outboard racing you will 'race' through this book. Mr. Hunn when can we expect your next outboard offering?

Rating:
Summary: Vintage Culture Galore!
Review: Peter Hunn has done it again with yet another fabulous book on Outboards! Being a member of the Antique Outboard Motor Club Inc. and the Antique & Classic Boat Society one is always on the look out for good books that deal with and speak to our fond affection for vintage outboards and boats. This book more then fits the bill.

In The Vintage Culture of Outboard Racing, Hunn covers a wide, and intricately related, variety of topics. He starts off by giving the reader the necessary background on where the facination for outboard racing competition began and then quickly takes you to the haydays of the 1930s through the 1950s. Along the way you get a sense of the attraction of this sport for both the professional outboard racer and the average family member that was struck with the racing bug. Chapters Four and Five, that deal with Clubs and Organizations and Outboard Racing's Civil War respectively, are pretty indepth and may not be for the everyday outboarder but for those of us that cannot get enough these two chapters make for an interesting read and provide important information. The middle of the book, Part III: The Culture of a Sport, was a delight. Hunn could not have written on this subject without speaking to Hank Bowman and his outboard writing syndicate. A terrifc amount of very relavent information. Hunn definitely took me back to my youth with the chapter on Cottage Racers. I read through it like a Mercury 30H on the straight away! I was so glad to see the inclusion of the women racers of the period, as they brought much to the sport being champions in there own right. The chapters on Racing Collectibles and the pertainent information in the Appendics were equally enjoyable.

Hunn's previous books, The Old Outboard Book, The Golden Age of The Racing Outboard and Beautiful Outboards could be looked upon as the the first three books in the series. The Golden Age of the Racing Outboard certainly provides one with equally indepth and facinating information on the racing outboards and boats that the racers in this book used. The pictures alone tell the story. In fact one might say that it laid the ground work for the Vintage Culture of Outboard Racing.

All in all a well thought out and put together book. If you love outboards and outboard racing you will 'race' through this book. Mr. Hunn when can we expect your next outboard offering?

Rating:
Summary: long overdue
Review: This book is a valuable source of information on the people who built the sport, the races, classes, and so forth. The big names you'd expect to find like Dean Chenoweth and Hank Bowman are covered but so are many more lesser known people (both male and female) who really made the sport what it was. I found the stories about development of various clubs, the APBA, suburban stockers and cottage racers to be fascinating reading. The author even lists all the different classes as they developed. The chapters on collectibles like toys and accessories make you want to go out and start buying stuff. Overall, this is a rewarding book. It's got some material on motors but Hunn really covers those in more detail in Golden Age of Outboard Racing. Overall, a surpising approach that also has some unusual photos.