Paul Frère (1917–2008)

Absorbing to read about the exploits of a driver just below the top rank during this fun period of motor racing, when competitors swapped the cockpit of a formula one car for one of the great sports racers of the fifties and then into a production saloon.

Over the course of a couple of decades, Paul Frere has established himself as the definitive expert on the Porsche 911, it's predecessors and the models derived from the basic 911 platform. This book is not for the faint of heart casual reader. There are endless pages of discussions of changes to transmission gearing, updates to engines, tweaks to suspensions and so on and so forth for hundreds of pages. There is also substantial coverage of the Porsche's racing career, but that could occupy show more a half dozen books by itself and so the coverage in this book is more of an overview, and for that it's surprisingly rather dull reading.

The book contains hundreds of photos, drawings and illustrations, including a color section, so the text is broken up and enhanced by them. Some details described in the text could use further illustration, but I suspect that the true Porsche aficionado (of which I am not one) is better informed.

This book is most definitely not recommended for the casual reader. Even those with a passing interest in automobiles should seriously consider the degree of commitment to which they might wish to aspire before undertaking this book. Only the true Porsche-o-phile might be inclined to give it a try. show less

Motor sport

Motor racing