Ziggy
01-03-04, 01:31 PM
Forza Amon! A biography of Chris Amon by Eoin Young.
It was with much anticipation that I finally recceived this book as a Christmas present. Having first become aware of Mr Amon during the movie "Grand Prix" and his uniquely elegant helmet design, information on his career was almost impossible to find.
Amon's rapid rise in motorsports started in 1960 as a club racing phenom in his native New Zealand. Through shrewed car dealing's and a lot of luck, the then 17 year old Amon caught the eye of the racing world driving a Masserati 250F at Levin. Reg Parnell, a major figure in motorsports in England, laid the ground work for Amon to travel to Europe in 1963. I loved the line in the book by Amon, "the first Grand Prix I ever saw I was in"!
Parnell died suddenly in 1964 and the team was taken over by his son Tim. Tim Parnell did not share his father's legendary status and the equiptment suffered. Amon refers to 1964 as "a lost season" yet it was the year that the famous "Ditton Road Flyers" were born. Amon lived in a house with fellow racers Peter Revson, Bruce Harre, Mike Hailwood, Tony Maggs, Howdon Ganley and Bruce Abernethy. Amon drove for Carrol Shelby's team at LeMans in a Daytona Coupe where they where disqualified while leading their class for an illegal jump start. His services where retained by Ford however... winning the LeMans 24 hour race in 1966 driving a GT40 in a controversial finish.
Amon signed with Ferrari for the 1967 season, no doubt on the strenght of his sports car prowress. Amon blew everyone away in an open test the "Old Man" fell in love with the talents of the quick Kiwi. The cars, the contract, the testing and development work, not to mention the heartbreak, dissapointment and unfortunate death are great reading. It fills alot of holes in both Amon's career and the era in general.
Failure after failure regulated Amon to join the fledgling March Team in 1970 (chaos) then Matra in 1971 (some success) and then Tecno Team in 1973.The Tecno years are hilarious in their futility, as the quintessential Italian preperation is defined for a generation.
Amon even struck out on his own trying to shake his luck for the good, forming his own team in 1974, with results in line with an underfinanced team. Chris wrapped his career up with the Ensign Team in 1976.
Amon is now a farmer in his native New Zealand. His star shone bright over the motorsports world in a time when many of our hero's where made. To quote Jackie Stewart in the books excellent forward, "Chris Amon was one of the best racing drivers I ever knew or saw in action, You hear talk of Fangio and Moss and many other greats over the years, but because Chris didn't win on the Grand Prix circuit, his name many not sit naturally alongside those of some of the other headliners, but my goodness he was talented"
High praise indeed
Ziggy
Forza Amon!
Eoin Young
Haynes Publishing
Haynes Publishing North America Inc.
861 Lawrence Drive, Newbury Park, CA 91320
available at www.motorsportcollector
It was with much anticipation that I finally recceived this book as a Christmas present. Having first become aware of Mr Amon during the movie "Grand Prix" and his uniquely elegant helmet design, information on his career was almost impossible to find.
Amon's rapid rise in motorsports started in 1960 as a club racing phenom in his native New Zealand. Through shrewed car dealing's and a lot of luck, the then 17 year old Amon caught the eye of the racing world driving a Masserati 250F at Levin. Reg Parnell, a major figure in motorsports in England, laid the ground work for Amon to travel to Europe in 1963. I loved the line in the book by Amon, "the first Grand Prix I ever saw I was in"!
Parnell died suddenly in 1964 and the team was taken over by his son Tim. Tim Parnell did not share his father's legendary status and the equiptment suffered. Amon refers to 1964 as "a lost season" yet it was the year that the famous "Ditton Road Flyers" were born. Amon lived in a house with fellow racers Peter Revson, Bruce Harre, Mike Hailwood, Tony Maggs, Howdon Ganley and Bruce Abernethy. Amon drove for Carrol Shelby's team at LeMans in a Daytona Coupe where they where disqualified while leading their class for an illegal jump start. His services where retained by Ford however... winning the LeMans 24 hour race in 1966 driving a GT40 in a controversial finish.
Amon signed with Ferrari for the 1967 season, no doubt on the strenght of his sports car prowress. Amon blew everyone away in an open test the "Old Man" fell in love with the talents of the quick Kiwi. The cars, the contract, the testing and development work, not to mention the heartbreak, dissapointment and unfortunate death are great reading. It fills alot of holes in both Amon's career and the era in general.
Failure after failure regulated Amon to join the fledgling March Team in 1970 (chaos) then Matra in 1971 (some success) and then Tecno Team in 1973.The Tecno years are hilarious in their futility, as the quintessential Italian preperation is defined for a generation.
Amon even struck out on his own trying to shake his luck for the good, forming his own team in 1974, with results in line with an underfinanced team. Chris wrapped his career up with the Ensign Team in 1976.
Amon is now a farmer in his native New Zealand. His star shone bright over the motorsports world in a time when many of our hero's where made. To quote Jackie Stewart in the books excellent forward, "Chris Amon was one of the best racing drivers I ever knew or saw in action, You hear talk of Fangio and Moss and many other greats over the years, but because Chris didn't win on the Grand Prix circuit, his name many not sit naturally alongside those of some of the other headliners, but my goodness he was talented"
High praise indeed
Ziggy
Forza Amon!
Eoin Young
Haynes Publishing
Haynes Publishing North America Inc.
861 Lawrence Drive, Newbury Park, CA 91320
available at www.motorsportcollector