Ian Walker Racing

Download or read book Ian Walker Racing written by Julian Balme and published by Coterie Press Limited. This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This latest stunning book from award winning publisher Coterie Press, Ian Walker Racing, The Man and His Cars, explores the life and times of Ian Walker. “Walker The Talker” as he was frequently referred to, was an astute businessman whose life offered many challenges. Ian Walker and Ian Walker Racing were prominent names in motor racing in the 1960’s alongside that of Colin Chapman and Lotus, with whom he enjoyed a great friendship. Ian Walker embraced almost all forms of post-war motorsport, from rallying to racing, from driver to team manager, from car manufacturer to car dealer, all achieved in just ten years. As a racing driver he was part of a unique band of North Londoners who would etch their names into the history of motor racing in the late fifties and early sixties. Behind the wheel of a Lotus Eleven he won the 1957 Autosport production sports car championship, almost repeating the feat the following year with one of the first Lotus Elites. Apart from a very successful year racing a Sprinzel Sebring Sprite, Ian Walker was almost always associated with Lotus, both as a driver and team owner. In this latter capacity he ran numerous examples of the marque and even developed his own fastback racing version of the Elan. His exceptionally high standards of preparation and presentation saw Ian Walker Racing universally recognised as the Lotus ‘B team’. Consequently he would provide drives for three future world champions, Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Sir Jackie Stewart, along with a host of other talented drivers including Mike Spence and Paul Hawkins. This exhaustive book looks chronologically at Ian Walkers life, the cars he built and raced, and the people that were part of his great adventure during the heady period of the 60’s, a time that began the transformation of motor racing into the business it has since become.