Ford Total Performance by Author Martyn L. Schorr is the story of Ford trying to win the young baby-boomers as their customers with a change in strategy.
Ford’s racing tradition is older than the company itself and with their “Total Performance” program they created a line of race and high performance cars that have become legends on their own. Author Martyn L. Schorr has a distinctive publishing career as a photo journalist and is the right guy to create this book.
He covers the progress Ford made in racing throughout a period of 10 years ((1961 through 1971).
Starting in 1961 with the Starliner coupe that came with an optional performance package each year comes by highlighting the models, the technical details on the engine and the race results.
From the Galaxie to the Mustang and the Shelby Cobra Daytona, all those wonderful cars which we admire today are placed into the context of those early days. The amount of technical detail and the specifics on special models and packages is impressive. Everyone owning a Ford from this era should have this book, if only for the appreciation of all the engineering and dedication that was put into these cars.
And of course there is a lot on the Ford GT, Ford’s answer to Ferrari at Le Mans, dominating this race in 1966. The author himself was one of the first driving the commercial version in 1967 and reminisces some notes from that day:
“Incredible throttle response as long as I keep the Rs up. Braking and handling, superb, like driving a fully sorted-out race car on the street. A little scary.”
This book takes you on a journey through the best years of American car design and racing history. A journey by the best guide you can find. Enjoy!
This book is published by Motorbooks and available here.
(Author and ISDN: Martyn L Schorr 9780760348581)