Library Additions

Two additions to my Ferrari library arrived this week: “Original Ferrari V8” by Keith Bluemel and “Inside Ferrari” by Michael Degni. 

Bluemel’s “Original Ferrari V8” is a seminal work, that while not thorough enough, nor accurate enough, to be a real restoration guide, is about the best book widely available on these cars. Prices for this book reached $200 in 2015 but prices have since retreated. I paid around MSRP ($40) for this copy to replace a previous copy I had sold several years ago.

However, the more interesting book of the two is Degni’s “Inside Ferrari. This is an informal history of the company and its facilities/factories rather than the man himself or his cars and scuderia. There are plenty of period photos of the cars being crafted through the years.

There are two chapters documenting the Modena, then Maranello, factories from 1929-1959 and another from 1960-1990. As such, the book is a perfect accompaniment to Ludvigsen’s “Ferrari The Factory – Maranello’s Secrets 1950-1975” since it covers the period of rapid industrialization at Maranello in the 80s that Ludvigsen’s does not.

There is a chapter on the independent carrozzeria that built Ferrari’s bodies until the amalgamation of Carrozzeria Scaglietti in the 70s. Scaglietti, Pininfarina and Fantuzzi are all covered.

There are separate chapters on the foundry – the historical heart of the Maranello factory, and the construction of the engines – the heart of each Ferrari that roles out of the factory. A separate chapter documents F40 production since that represented a significant deviation from the main V8 and V12 production lines in 1989 when many of the photos for the book were taken.

“Inside Ferrari” is currently a bargain; listed at $5-$10 second-hand on Amazon. Any vintage Ferrari enthusiast would do well to add it to his or her library in my opinion.

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Disclaimer: 308restoration.com describes the restoration work I perform on my car and only my car. I am not a professional mechanic. The website content is presented for entertainment purposes only and should not be seen as any kind of advice, information, instruction or guidance for working on any other car. The opinions stated here are my own and no-one else’s.