This is the second book by Francesco Scaletti, and is a matching companion work to his “Ferrari I Quattro Cilindri” which was published in 1998. Like that book, it has been published in a limited edition of 1200 copies, on high quality paper, and has a matching red cloth cover and hard slipcase.

 

The book is a large format hardback, with 280 pages. The title translated into English, “Ferrari the Eight Cylinders 1954 – 1965”, is self explanatory, and all text is in Italian and English, with a preface by renowned long time Ferrari engineer Mauro Forghieri. The book covers the eight cylinder engines used by Lancia and then Ferrari from the time that the company inherited the Lancia F1 cars in the middle of 1955, through to the 158 F1 used by John Surtees during the 1964 season to win the Drivers’ World Championship.

 

There is a wealth of technical detail on the various engines and their development during each season, whilst all the F1 races in the period are reported, together with the 248 SP and 268 SP sports cars raced during the 1962/63 seasons. The photographic content is predominantly black & white, with a smattering of color images, all from the period, sourced from some of the best known archives in the world, which make for a nice nostalgic trip back in time.