Porter Press

The new book titled Camel Trophy: The Definitive History promises to be the definitive guide to the Camel Trophy which is acknowledged to be the world’s greatest off-road adventure. […]

Porter Press International marked its 15th anniversary in style in 2020, publishing more books than ever before and enjoying its most successful year. Far from resting on his laurels, however, founder Philip Porter is looking forward to continuing that growth. […]

Twenty-five years after its famous début victory in the 1995 Le Mans 24 Hours, the wonderful McLaren F1 GTR is the subject of this major two-volume history – McLaren F1 GTR : The Definitive History by Mark Cole and published by Porter Press. […]

The latest title from Porter Press takes readers behind the scenes at Aston Martin to witness the resurrection of the DB4 G.T., one of the most desirable cars ever made. Aston Martin DB4GT Continuation – History in the Making by James Page is due out this month in the UK with sales in the US shortly thereafter with a cover price of $60usd. When the Aston Martin announced in early 2017 that it would build 25 Continuation examples of this model, first made from 1959 to 1963, author James Page was granted exclusive access to key people involved in the project and to the Aston Martin Works factory where the cars took shape.

Aston Martin achieved its greatest pre-war racing successes with the 1.5-litre Ulster model and the example carrying registration plate CMC 614 is one of the finest of the 28 surviving today. Recently restored to its 1935 Le Mans specification after more than four decades of post-war track action, CMC 614 is also the most-raced Aston of all time. Aston Martin Ulster – The remarkable history of CMC 614, the fifth title in Porter Press’ Exceptional Cars Series, tells the story of this particular car and, more broadly, Aston Martin’s first 20 years. Early Aston Martins gained credibility and prestige by participating in tough long-distance races such as the Brooklands Double-Twelve, the Le Mans 24 Hours, and the Tourist Trophy on the Ards circuit in Ulster where Aston’s 1-2-3 class success in 1934 gave this model its name. CMC 614 was built […]

The First Three Shelby Cobras – The Sports Cars that Changed the Game is the fourth in the Exceptional Cars series from Porter Press. Produced with the same handsome attention to details as their other books, this volume details the story of three cars important to modern sports car history and Cobras in particular –  the first AC Cobras created by the legendary Carroll Shelby in 1962. The prototype Cobra, CSX2000, has been described as ‘the most important modern American car’, although it was built on a British AC Ace chassis with an American Ford V8 engine. CSX2001 was the first production Cobra and CSX2002 the first to race, leading to a series of competition successes that made Shelby’s Cobras famous and a favorite of sports-car enthusiasts throughout the world.

Porter Press International, the publisher of some of the world’s finest motoring books including the award-winning ‘Great Cars’ series, has launched a new entry-level book format under the name of Porter Profiles. The first book in this series is Austin-Healey 300 : The Story of DD 300 by Simon Ham. This more accessible series starts by taking readers back to the swinging sixties and the adventures of one of the most successful Big Healeys of all time – a charming story of a lost era told in 96 pages featuring insightful narrative, evocative archive photos, and new studio shots, all for a cover price of just £20 (currently about $27 USD). The Austin-Healey 3000, introduced in 1959 and manufactured until 1967, was relatively big and brutish for an English sports car. It was received affectionately in the UK but sold […]

Porter Press is delighted to announce the release of their latest ‘Great Cars’ book, number 10 in the series, Lotus 18 – the autobiography of Stirling Moss’s ‘912’. This lavish book tells the story of the car in which Stirling Moss achieved two of his most famous Grand Prix victories. The first World Championship race of the 1½-litre Formula 1 era introduced for 1961 was the Monaco Grand Prix and Ferrari’s powerful new ‘shark-nose’ cars were expected to dominate it, but Moss used all his craft and guile to take a celebrated win in his Lotus 18.

Jaguar XK 120: The Remarkable History of JWK 651, second in the publisher’s “Exceptional Car” series, is one of those books that is hard to classify. On the one hand, authors Chas Paker and Philip Porter have done such an amazing job detailing the story of this one particular Jaguar that the book is definitely a history book. On the other hand, this is documentation – documentation of one car, its provenance, and its current state. On on a third hand (we all have three hands right?), this is an art book. The photographs rival any automotive coffee table book on the market today. Regardless, however you classify it, this book is a delight that you can sit and read or just flip through and marvel at the images. The Remarkable History of JWK 651 tells the story of one of the six […]

Stirling Moss is one of the greatest sportsman of all time. He was successful in all forms of motor sport but most particularly in Grand Prix racing. The ‘Beckham of his era’, Moss not only dominated the back pages of the newspapers but regularly made the front pages with his glamorous, jet-setting lifestyle in the ’50s. He raced hard; he played hard. He was the James Bond of motorsport. This new work is, to say the least, a serious biography. Author Philip Porter, a personal friend of Sir Stirling, has composed a detailed history of the man. From his parents and their automotive exploits down to the registration numbers of various cars, this new book is encyclopedic in its coverage. But it is no dry account. Just as his life, book is spiced with humour, tragedy and period flavour with liberal […]

The famous cars made by ERA (English Racing Automobiles) epitomize British motor racing during the 1930s and have a very special place in the affections of patriotic enthusiasts. To honor those cars, J. Mac Hulbert has put together “ERA: The Autobiography of R4D” which is being published by Porter Press. This magnificent book tells the story of a uniquely historic example that has competed almost without a break for 80 years and achieved innumerable successes. R4D was campaigned extensively before and after the Second World War by Raymond Mays, the leading light of the ERA company, before passing through a succession of subsequent owners who have kept this famous car at the forefront of competition to the present day. The extraordinary life of R4D, a formidably powerful and charismatic racing car, is told in fascinating detail in this long-awaited book. […]

Jaguar XK DIY Restoration & Maintenance by Bob Exelby is an impressive book. This is the story of how one man completely restored his XK 120 roadster, transforming it from dereliction into a thoroughly beautiful example of this iconic sports car.  Bob Exelby also took the time to investigate and incorporate numerous detail improvements, making the car even more usable and practical for today’s roads, some 65 years after it was built. All of the modifications were tasteful, though some might still argue with their applicability to a true restoration. Exelby wanted a useable and dependable car in addition to a valued classic.

I have mentioned this book a few times before, but I owe it to you to give a more informative review. Jaguar Design: A Story of Style, is as stunning book both in presentation and in content.  As billed by publisher Porter Press, this is, essentially, the story of three men — Jaguar company founder and owner Sir William Lyons, aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer and current Design Director Ian Callum — and how they shaped the cars that made Jaguar famous. The line that really struck me, and it actually occurs in Ian Callum’s introduction, is in answer to the question, “Should not form follow function?” To this Callum replied, “Yes, of course, but one of the functions of a Jaguar is to be beautiful.” In a nutshell, that hits at the core of what makes a Jaguar a Jaguar, and what […]

Saving Jaguar covers the period in Jaguar’s history leading up to and encompassing the takeover by Ford it does so with a clarity that comes from honesty. […]

  This superb book tells the story of one of the most historically interesting of all Jaguar D-types – a car that has raced more than any other D-type. The long and varied life of XKD 504 is recounted in full, from its role as a works car used extensively for testing fuel injection, to two seasons of racing throughout Europe with Ecurie Ecosse, to four busy years of national competition in the hands of first Mike Salmon and then Peter Sutcliffe. This book provides fascinating insight into every aspect of this D-type’s history, supported by a fine collection of period photographs. Any Jaguar enthusiast will enjoy this addition to the ‘Great Cars’ series. Key content Life as a works car, including its important testing role and two races in 1956. Two seasons with Ecurie Ecosse, including sixth place in […]

At Sir Stirling’s suggestion, Porter Press have reprinted their most popular Scrapbook on the 60th anniversary of his amazing 1955 year which of course included the Mille Miglia win and first GP victory. The first editions are already going up in price; they have limited it to just 900 second edition copies. The first of a series of Stirling Moss scrapbooks which now includes as separate volumes 1926-54, 1956-60, and 1961, the 1955 Scrapbook evokes memories of the heyday of classic motorsport. Stirling Moss is a national treasure. Arguably the world’s greatest all-round racing driver, he was a hero to several generations of schoolboys and enthusiasts throughout the world. Moss is now so iconic his name is often used as a metaphor for “racing driver” – the name alone invokes mental images of speed, bravado, the jet-set lifestyle and a […]