Motoring Book of the Year
Entries now open for the Royal Automobile Club Motoring Book of the Year Awards 2024
The Royal Automobile Club Motoring Book of the Year Awards are now open for entries. The Awards are open to all motoring and motor racing books published between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.
Now in their eleventh consecutive year, the Motoring Book of the Year Awards are considered the most prestigious accolades in automotive book publishing.
‘Our Awards have a simple aim: to champion the best automotive books, authors and publishers,” said Jeremy Vaughan, Royal Automobile Club Head of Motoring. “We are once again encouraging as many authors and publishers as possible to submit their new titles for the awards. Whether it be marque histories, biographies, general motoring, motorsport or vehicle design, we want to celebrate the outstanding quality and diversity of automotive books’.
‘The list of past winners is a roll call of outstanding literary success – from The Lamborghini Miura by Simon Kidston and Jon Pressnell, How to Build a Car by Adrian Newey, The Self-Preservation Society, 50 Years of the Italian Job by Matthew Field and Fit for a King: The Royal Garage of the Shahs of Iran by Borzou Sepasi to Driven To Crime by Crispian Besley.
‘Our independent judges always have a tough time choosing from outstanding work to produce the shortlist that we publish in September. I’m sure that this year will be no exception.’
The four categories for which titles are eligible include two for books on cars and general motoring costing both below and above £50.00, and two for motor sport books below and above £50.00. One of them will also take the coveted overall Royal Automobile Club Book of the Year Award. In addition, the Graham Robson Trophy for Best Debut Author recognises an outstanding book by a previously unpublished author, and The Lifetime Achievement Award honours an individual or business who has made a major contribution to the automotive publishing industry.
The six-strong judging panel of independent experts includes Mick Walsh of Classic & Sports Car, Gordon Cruickshank of Motor Sport and Mark Dixon of Octane from specialist media, plus Ian Titchmarsh from the British Racing Drivers’ Club. Representing retailers will be Ben Horton of specialist bookseller Horton’s Books and Christian Whitehead of Oxford bookstore Blackwell’s. The judging panel is chaired by motor sport writer and commentator Simon Taylor, who will also host the Awards ceremony.
To ensure that their books can be given the fullest consideration in every detail, the Club urges all automotive authors and publishers to submit an eligible title as soon as it is published. The closing date for submissions is Wednesday 31 July 2024. For further submission details, please click here to download an entry form and accompanying guidelines.
The winners will be announced at the Club’s historic Pall Mall clubhouse on Wednesday, 30 October 2024, amongst guests from the worlds of publishing, motoring and motorsport.
2023 Winners
The Motoring Book of the Year
Driven To Crime, by Crispian Besley, Evro Publishing, priced £40.00
Motoring Book of Year (Below £50.00)
Max Hoffman Million Dollar Middleman, by Myles Kornblatt, Veloce Publishing Ltd, priced £30.00
Motoring Book of the Year (No Price Limit)
Kim A Biography of MG Founder Cecil Kimber, by Jon Pressnell, Dalton Watson Fine Books, priced £115.00
Motorsport Book of the Year (Below £50.00)
Speed Queens: A secret history of women in motorsport, by Rachel Harris-Gardiner, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, priced £22.00
Motorsport Book of the Year (No Price Limit)
Bentley Speed 8: The Comprehensive Story of Bentley’s Last Le Mans Winner, by Andrew Cotton, Sportfahrer Verlag, priced £225.00
Graham Robson Award for Best Debut Author
Andy Saunders, The Automotive Alchemist, Dalton Watson Fine Books, priced £90.00
Lifetime Achievement Award
Karl Ludvigsen
2022 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
Fit for a King: The Royal Garage of the Shahs of Iran by Borzou Sepasi (Dalton Watson Fine Books), priced £110.00
Motoring Book of the Year (Below £50.00):
Trans-Africa Land-Rover: The Story of Philip Kohler and his Epic Overland Adventure by Martin Port (Porter Press International), priced £30.00
Motoring Book of the Year (No Price Limit):
Marcel Pourtout: Carrossier by Jon Pressnell (Dalton Watson Fine Books), priced £110.00
Motorsport Book of the Year (Below £50.00):
Racing Green: How Motorsport Science Can Save the World by Kit Chapman (Bloomsbury), priced £20.00
Motorsport Book of the Year (No Price Limit):
Strictly No Admittance: The Inside Story Of The ‘Lightweight’ E-type And The XK Engine Which Powered It – The Last Works-Built Jaguar To Race At Le Mans by Peter D Wilson (PJ Publishing), priced £95.00
Graham Robson Award for Best Debut Author:
Twin-Cam Extravagance – The History of Lagonda Rapier & Rapier Cars by Chris Wiblin (The Rapier Register), priced £50.00
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Doug Nye
2021 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
The Lamborghini Miura by Simon Kidston and Jon Pressnell (Kidston SA)
Motoring Book of the Year (Below £50.00):
Tipping Point – Designing a Great British Underdog by Andy Plumb (Lead-In Design)
Motoring Book of the Year (No Price Limit):
Joseph Figoni: Le Grand Couturier de la Carrosserie Automobile Volume 1, Alfa-Romeo by Peter M Larsen and Ben Erickson (Moteurs!)
Motorsport Book of the Year (Below £50.00):
Mr Le Mans, Tom Kristensen by Tom Kristensen with Dan Philipsen (Evro Publishing)
Motorsport Book of the Year (No Price Limit):
Delage Records & Grand Prix by Daniel Cabart and Sébastien Faurès Fustel de Coulanges (Orep Editions)
Graham Robson Award for Best Debut Author:
The Rise of The Sidevalves by Tom Fryars (Gorton Publishing)
Lifetime Achievement Award:
Mark Hughes
2020 Winners
The stories behind two American motorsport legends – Richie Ginther and Shadow – were awarded top honours at 2020’s Royal Automobile Club Motoring Book of the Year Awards.
Richie Ginther: Motor Racing’s Free Thinker by Richard Jenkins scooped Motoring Book of the Year, which is presented to an exceptional book that is judged to have a wide appeal and which costs no more than £75.00. Specialist Book of The Year – awarded to a book that represents a feat of impeccable research and flawless writing regardless of its retail cost – went to Shadow: The Magnificent Machines of a Man of Mystery, written by Pete Lyons and published by Evro.
The awards took place as a virtual event on 28 October 2020.
2019 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
The Self-Preservation Society 50 Years of the Italian Job by Matthew Field (Porter Press International)
Specialist Motoring Book of the Year:
John, George and the HWMs: The First Racing Team to Fly the Flag for Britain by Simon Taylor (Evro Publishing)
Lifetime Achievement Award:
John Haynes OBE creator of the iconic Haynes Manual and founder of the Haynes Publishing Group was posthumously awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his significant contribution to the UK’s motoring book industry.
2018 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
How to Build a Car by Adrian Newey (Harper Collins)
Specialist Motoring Book of the Year:
Reid Railton: Man of Speed by Karl Ludvigsen (Evro Publishing)
2017 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
Watching the Wheels: My Autobiography by Damon Hill (Pan Macmillan)
Specialist Motoring Book of the Year:
Delage – Champion Du Monde by Daniel Cabart and Christophe Pund (Orep Editions)
2016 Winners
Motoring Book of the Year:
Brian Redman: Daring Drivers, Deadly Tracks by Redman himself and Jim Mullen (Evro Publishing)
Specialist Motoring Book of the Year:
Squire: The Man, The Cars, The Heritage by Jonathan Wood (Classic Motor Cars Ltd)
2015 Winner
Motoring Book of the Year:
The Magnificent Monopostos: Alfa Romeo Grand Prix Cars 1923-1951 by Simon Moore (Parkside Publications)
2014 Winner
Motoring Book of the Year:
John Surtees: My Incredible Life on Two and Four Wheels by John Surtees (Evro Publishing)
