Racing Demons

Porsche and the Targa Florio
Michael Keyser, Mark Koense & Enzo Manzo

If you weren’t already keen on the subject, you’ll be hooked by this book’s stunning opening shot, a full page of a Steyr on opposite lock scrabbling out of a ditch in the 1924 Targa Florio. It sets the tone: technically a history of Porsche on the legendary road race, this work is anything but blinkered, giving generous space to the German firm’s rivals. Author Keyser is well qualified: not only did he drive a 911 to 10th place in 1972, he also made a documentary film on the race, filming from another Porsche during practice.

After a lavish history of Vincenzo Florio and his race, then a tour around the Piccolo Madonie, Keyser dives into 1953, Stuttgart’s first entry, and details each year from there to the race’s extinction. The text is entertaining and there is a run of striking Targa posters plus an index of all Porsche entries, but it’s the wonderful photos that grab you – Parkes dragging his deranged Dino 206 back to the pits, van Lennep sliding a 908/2 along the Armco like a Scalextric car, Redman giving a mechanic a lift with a huge fuel can. Costly, but captivating. GC

Published by Autosports Marketing Associates Ltd, ISBN 978-0-615-80440-8, $150