FRENCH RACING BLUE: DRIVERS, CARS AND TRIUMPHS OF FRENCH MOTOR RACING

Foreword
CHAPTER I
The Beginnings: Brave Pioneers
CHAPTER 2
The Open Road: Mars, Renault and Pan hard Battle for Supremacy
CHAPTER 3
The Gordon Bennett Flourishes and Fades:The Grand Prix Era Begins
CHAPTER 4
New Names, Smaller Cars: Peugeot Triumphant
CHAPTER 5
The Twenties Begin to Roar: The Rise of Delage
CHAPTER 6
The First World Champions
CHAPTER 7
Bugatti Triumphant
CHAPTER 8
A Fading Blue
CHAPTER 9
A Faded Blue
CHAPTER 10
The Blue Renaissance
CHAPTER 11
Frustrations, Triumphs and a Tragedy
CHAPTER 12
Darkness then Sunshine
CHAPTER 13
The Talbot Years
CHAPTER 14
The Sorcerer's Magic
CHAPTER 15
Aerospace Racers
CHAPTER 16
Rugby, Rowing and Racing
CHAPTER 17
Renault Resurgence
CHAPTER 18
The Lion of Peugeot Roars Again
CHAPTER 19
Renault-Resurgence Resumed
CHAPTER 20
Les Autres
Bibliography
Index

Not only the birthplace of motor racing, France also nurtured the sport in its early years. Blue became the French racing colour when the marques Mors and Panhard contested the early town-to-town races. France created Grand Prix racing in 1906 when a triumphant Renault prevailed. In the years leading to World War 1, Peugeot dominated Grand Prix racing and joined Delage as a sensational winner of the Indianapolis 500.
When Bugatti was eclipsed by the German teams in the 1930s, France turned to sports-car racing with a new generation of spectacular cars. Although Delahaye and Talbot-Lago dominated the sports-car scene, Bugatti made a sensational comeback with two Le Mans wins. After Word War 2, Talbot-Lago and Gordini carried the blue proudly in the new era of World Championship Grand Prix racing. Matra, a new name, put France on top again in the 1960s and 1970s. Then the sleeping giant, Renault, awoke and entered the fray with radical turbocharged cars that brought France fresh glory, carrying their success into the 21st century. Peugeot too returned to gain success at Le Mans.

The saga of over 100 years of French blue in motor racing, and the exotic cars and men who drove them is told in this stupendous and exhilarating account, by motor racing expert David Venables.