Autocourse (e-Book edition)

Autocourse (e-Book edition)
A detailed record of the 1971 season

For Motor Sport loyalists this will be familiar territory. Our own archive discs, which for anyone with a computer opened up quick and easy access to every issue of this magazine from 1924 to 1999, proved a hit even with those whose shelves, garages or attics are bursting with bound volumes of the title. And the same is sure to be the case for the publishers of motor racing’s definitive series of season review annuals.

Old volumes of Autocourse are collectable and, in the case of some specific years, rare. So will the release of the first Autocourse ‘eBook’ in disc format pull the rug on the niche collectors’ market? We suspect not. There’s still a place for paper and ink in the 21st century (at least we hope so!) and anyway the value is in originality, rather than the content itself.

Still, there’s no doubt that having such a fantastic resource as Autocourse available in disc format is great news. So far, just one single volume – the 1971-72 edition – has been released, but the rest are set to follow.

It’s a great era in which to start, both for the sport and Autocourse itself. From the World Champion’s foreword written by Jackie Stewart, through the sobering obituaries for Pedro Rodríguez and Jo Siffert, and on to the features and reviews on Formula 1, sports cars, US racing and more, Autocourse circa 1971 is a feast of great writing and sumptuous photography – just as it remains today.

Easy navigation, strong legibility, quality reproduction and a reliable search function are essential for such releases, and happily this first disc hits all those marks. Roll on the rest of the series.

www.autocourse.com, ISBN 978 1905334650, £19.99