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BARNEY OLDFIELD
The Life and Times of America’s Legendary Speed King
BY WILLIAM F. NOLAN
Berna Eli Oldfield (Barney) was America’s most flamboyant race driver. He took part in over one-thousand race meets between 1902 and 1918. The machines he drove included Henry Ford’s ‘999’, Alexander Winton’s ‘Bullet’, the Peerless ‘Green Dragon’ and the 200 hp German racer they labeled the ‘Blitzen Benz’ and Harry Miller’s Golden Submarine.
Oldfield commanded thousands of dollars for race appearances. He wore a diamond pinky ring and a sealskin coat. He raced his cars against planes and played chicken with trains, barnstormed the county fairs, and brawled in saloons. He was the first man to go faster than a-mile-minute on a dirt oval. He set records at the dirt tracks and on the beach, raced the road courses and circled the banked board and brick tracks with the fastest of the era. In this full-bodied, colorful account, William F. Nolan superbly recreates the flavor and raw tempo of early-day America when Barney Oldfield was called the Speed King of the World.
See the Acrobat sample for the Contents, Preface, and sample pages, appendix of race results, and the complete index. Purchase from two editions of the book below.
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P R A I S E
For the original edition of Barney Oldfield
“He was the Babe Ruth of the speed tracks...as he moved spectacularly among the giants of his day: Henry Ford, Teddy Roosevelt, Eddie Rickenbacker, boxing’s Jack Johnson, Louis Chevrolet, Diamond Jim Brady, Tom Mix, Mack Sennett...and not many lives reached the heights and depths of his.” Long Beach Press-Telegram
“In many ways, his was the American story...and Nolan doesn’t compromise in establishing the truth of Oldfield’s life. He fills in the gap between legend and history, between the heroic demigod and the myth—giving us an insight into the age of the automobile and the men who pioneered it.” Los Angeles Times
“A tremendous story...of triumphs amid defeats, embracing the whole colorful era in which Oldfield lived.”
Columbus Enquirer
Other critics called it
“...vivid and swiftly-paced” Los Angeles Herald
“...fast, lusty, stormy”
Washington Evening News
“...with plenty of action and high drama” Argosy
And, finally...
“As ‘Daredevil Barney Oldfield’ he became as much a part of the legend of America as Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett were for earlier generations and, in our folklore, his place is just as secure.” Detroit Free-Press
Acrobat Sample
We have a few copies autographed by William F. Nolan.
No extra few, just ask for a signed book.
TWO REVISED, EXPANDED EDITIONS
Edition One: Cloth hardcover with four color dust jacket featuring an image created in 1966 by master painter, Peter Helck, “B.O. and Ford ‘999,’ Empire City Track.”
This high quality book is 6x9 inch, smyth sewn, with a total of 232 pages. Ninety-four of the best photos are featured on 40 pages of high quality matte coated stock. The photos document the many vehicles Oldfield raced; Ford’s 999, Winton Bullet, Peerless Green Dragon, Chirstie, Stutz, Benz, National, Maxwell, Knox, and the Miller Golden Submarine. The text pages of the book also include a number of images—photos and reproductions of ticket stubs, flyers and hand bills. An extensive bibliography, eleven page appendix of race results, and a seven page index complete this definitive book on America’s turn of the century motor sport legend.
Cloth hard cover, 6x9, 232 pages, 40 pgs of photos, 112 B/W images
ISBN 1-888978-12-0, US $32.50. Standard Media Mail shipping for the US is $4.00. Tax on California orders is $2.84. Buy Now
Edition Two: We are producing a very special limited edition of just 250 copies signed and numbered by William F. Nolan. These are bound in black bonded leather, stamped in silver foil, with a four color tip-on reproduction of a painting by Peter Helck, “Dirt Track Mix-Up” featuring Barney at the wheel of a Peerless “Green Dragon.” This special edition also features bound tip-ins of four other paintings by Peter Helck. These additional single side color pages are printed on a modified six color inkjet printer, using archival quality pigmented inks on an acid free paper.
Signed & numbered leather edition with color reproductions of paintings by Peter Helck. Only 250 will be produced. ISBN 1-888978-13-9, US $80.00. Buy Ltd Ed Now
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