Motoring
Motoring Book of the Year
The Awards have a simple yet important goal: to champion the very best in automotive literature – honouring outstanding books, authors and publishers. Whether it’s marque histories, biographies, general motoring, motorsport or vehicle design, the Awards aim to celebrate the exceptional quality and diversity within automotive publishing.
The Awards feature four main categories, covering both motoring and motorsport books, divided by price:
- Motor cars and motoring – titles priced below £50.00 and above £50.00
- Motorsport – titles priced below £50.00 and above £50.00
One of the shortlisted titles will take the coveted overall Royal Automobile Club Book of the Year Award.
Additionally, the awards include:
- The Graham Robson Trophy for Best Debut Author – recognising an outstanding book by a previously unpublished author.
- The Lifetime Achievement Award – honouring an individual (or business) who has made a significant contribution to automotive publishing.
For 2025, the six-member judging panel consists of independent experts from across the automotive and publishing industries. Representing specialist media are Mick Walsh (Classic & Sports Car), Damien Smith (Motor Sport), and Mark Dixon (Octane), alongside Ian Titchmarsh of the British Racing Drivers’ Club. The panel also includes Ben Horton of specialist bookseller Horton’s Books and Christian Whitehead of Blackwell’s in Oxford, representing the retail sector.
The panel is chaired by esteemed motorsport writer and commentator Simon Taylor, who will also host the Awards ceremony.
To ensure each book receives full and thorough consideration, the Royal Automobile Club encourages all automotive authors and publishers to submit their eligible titles as soon as they are published. The closing date for submissions is Thursday 31 July 2025.
The winners will be announced on Wednesday 29 October 2025, at the Club’s historic Pall Mall clubhouse, in the presence of distinguished guests from the worlds of publishing, motoring and motorsport.
For further submission details, please download an entry form and accompanying guidelines.
2024 WINNERS
The Motoring Book of the Year
The Austin Pedal Car Story, by David Whyley, Porter Press International, £85.00
Books about motor cars and motoring, costing no more than £50.00
Morgan: An English Enigma, by Martyn Webb, The Crowood Press, £45.00
Books about motor cars and motoring, with no price limit
BMW: Behind the Scenes, by Steve Saxty, Seven Spoke Publishing, £239.95
Books on a motor sporting subject, costing no more than £50.00
Goldie, by John Mayhead, National Motor Museum Publishing, £20.00
Books on a motor sporting subject with no price limit
The Last Eyewitness, by Doug Nye, Porter Press International, price £195.00
Graham Robson Award for Best Debut Author
Bob Evans, Happy Lucky Days: My Life in Racing, BHP Publishing, £32.00
Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr Clare Hay
Previous Winners
Previous Winners of the Motoring Book of the Year Awards
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)
