Jim Hall
Chaparral, Texas and the Invention of Modern Racing
by George Levy
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Pub Date 31 Dec 2025 | Archive Date 13 Feb 2018
Quarto Publishing Group – Motorbooks | Motorbooks
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Description
Jim Hall is the Charles Lindbergh of motor racing. The man who changed everything. Here, he tells his story for the first time.
From racing's earliest days, the men who designed and built these land-bound rocket ships viewed the air that moved over, under, and around a car as ithauled toward 200 miles per hour as a nuisance with which they had to contend. It was Jim Hall who first saw how this nuisance could be turned not only into a force for good, but a breakthrough in vehicle performance. Today, racers call it “downforce”—the amount of downward force that can be exerted on a car’s tires to improve how well the vehicle stops, goes, and, most of all, grips the corners.
Hall’s innovations made him both a hero and celebrity throughout the 1960s and ‘70s. He was on the cover of Newsweek and Sports Illustrated and featured in countless newspaper and magazine articles. TheNew York Times alone published 250 stories about Hall over the period. The Chaparral phenomenon reached Europe and Asia, and into seemingly every American home.
Hall’s achievements made him more renowned than understood; he was a famously private individual. Part of it was a natural introspection and an almost obsessive focus on his goals. Part of it was the Texas-cowboy ethos that a man’s actions should count for more than his words. But now, in Jim Hall, he will finally tell his story. How he changed race car design. How he conquered the world’s greatest automakers from a tiny quad of steel-sided buildings on State Highway 349 in Midland, Texas. How he inspired a generation.
From racing's earliest days, the men who designed and built these land-bound rocket ships viewed the air that moved over, under, and around a car as ithauled toward 200 miles per hour as a nuisance with which they had to contend. It was Jim Hall who first saw how this nuisance could be turned not only into a force for good, but a breakthrough in vehicle performance. Today, racers call it “downforce”—the amount of downward force that can be exerted on a car’s tires to improve how well the vehicle stops, goes, and, most of all, grips the corners.
Hall’s innovations made him both a hero and celebrity throughout the 1960s and ‘70s. He was on the cover of Newsweek and Sports Illustrated and featured in countless newspaper and magazine articles. TheNew York Times alone published 250 stories about Hall over the period. The Chaparral phenomenon reached Europe and Asia, and into seemingly every American home.
Hall’s achievements made him more renowned than understood; he was a famously private individual. Part of it was a natural introspection and an almost obsessive focus on his goals. Part of it was the Texas-cowboy ethos that a man’s actions should count for more than his words. But now, in Jim Hall, he will finally tell his story. How he changed race car design. How he conquered the world’s greatest automakers from a tiny quad of steel-sided buildings on State Highway 349 in Midland, Texas. How he inspired a generation.
Marketing Plan
Campaign Focus:
This character-driven biography of Jim Hall is the first and only look at one of the most influential racing drivers, engineers, and team owners of the 20th century.
Key Selling Points:
- This is the first and only biography of motorsports legend Jim Hall. The book was created with Hall’s full participation.
- Jim Hall created the Chaparral race team in the 1960s and went on to dominate sports car prototype racing including Can-Am and endurance racing. Hall also competed in F1 as a driver and Indy car racing as a constructor and team owner.
- The Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas, has an entire wing devoted to Hall and his Chaparral race cars. The museum will be a customer for the book as well.
Key Campaign Activity
Review copy push to targeted print magazines
Pitch to Racing and auto outlets
Pre-publication:
Pre-publication campaign to build anticipation of the reveal including:
- Debut promotional video
- Facebook early advance giveaway
Trade:
- Review copy push to: Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Shelf Awareness
Retail:
- Partner with Sales team to create a coordinated Sales and marketing effort
Consumer:
- Outreach to top automotive and racing blogs: Dean’s Garage, Just a Car Guy, Automoblog, Car & Driver, RacingNation.com, The News Wheel, Road & Track
Publicity/Media:
- Early review copies to: Men’s Journal, GQ, Playboy, Maxim, Esquire, Autoweek, Hagertys, Hemmings, Automobile, Classic Motorsports
- Review copy and photo gallery push to top automotive sites: Automoblog, Car Collector, Motor Trend, Edmunds, Petrolicious, Road & Track, Car & Driver
- Review copy push to top national automotive newspapers: Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Detroit Free Press, Virginian Pilot, Philadelphia Daily News
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9780760353943 |
| PRICE | US$35.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 304 |
