We have a cover! I chose the image, of Whitney powering his 26M Maserati through Shelsley Walsh’s Upper Ess on his way to taking a massive 1.6 seconds off the hill record, during the September 1933 meeting. Rather aptly, the event organisers, the Midland Automobile Club, provided the image from their archives.
I asked The History Press to retain the black and silver which Whitney used whenever possible on his racing cars, but I’m bowled over by what their designers, Martin Latham and Anita Pumfrey, came up with.
The gold title is their idea, as is the subtitle picked out in white, and my name in black against the pale track surface. That thin gold rectangle is their idea too, and I love the way the wheels extend beyond it, as though the car is leaping off the cover.
I must admit the gold on black brings back happy memories of JPS Lotuses driven by Emmerson Fittipaldi, Mario and Ronnie, and Senna.
This was Martin and Anita’s only crack at it. There has been no editing whatsoever, and it’s precisely what the cover will look like in a year’s time. I cannot thank them enough.
I just need to get on and hand in the manuscript on time!