Private Entrant: Racing with Rob Walker

Publication: London, Cassell and Company Limited, 1965 Formatting: 8vo, pp. 194. Condition Report: Very Good. The volume is bound in the publisher's original navy blue cloth, which remains sharp and clean with only trivial bumping to the spine extremities and sharp corners. The binding is firm, square, and tightly bound, with all hinges perfectly intact. Internally, the text-block is remarkably bright and largely free of foxing, though the page edges display faint, uniform age-toning commensurate with its vintage. The original dust jacket is well-preserved and unclipped (bearing the original "30/- NET" printed price on the rear flap); it exhibits only mild edge-wear, light rubbing to the corner tips, and a few superficial creases along the upper edge of the front panel, presenting highly attractively overall. Catalogue Note: This is a true first edition of Michael Cooper-Evans’s highly regarded account of the Rob Walker Racing Team, confirmed by the 1965 statement on the copyright page. The volume is notably complete with its original dust jacket, featuring a vibrant full-colour photographic front panel and a prominent publisher's advertisement for Peter Garnier's Sixteen on the Grid to the rear panel. The text is generously illustrated with monochrome photographic plates that capture the granular, behind-the-scenes reality of a private Formula One entry during the mid-twentieth century. While this title does occasionally appear on the open market, surviving copies that retain such a crisp, unclipped state of the wrapper, free from significant loss or heavy fading, have become increasingly uncommon and desirable to specialist motoring collectors. An intimate and meticulously observed chronicle of Formula One's golden era, Private Entrant offers a rare glimpse into the operational realities of the legendary Rob Walker Racing Team. Moving beyond the glamour of the starting grid, Michael Cooper-Evans documents the relentless hard work, financial tightropes, and mechanical ingenuity required to compete as an independent outfit against factory-backed giants during the World Championship seasons. It stands as an essential primary source for motorsport historians and vintage racing enthusiasts alike.…