SUPERVELOCE

Silverstone 1950 the first post war Grand Prix and the birth of Formula One The king and queen alongside 150 000 spectators watch in dismay as Italy s Alfa Romeos scream past to claim the first three places British cars are hopelessly outclassed by Alfa Romeos and Maseratis How can it be they all wonder that Italy its industry reduced to rubble by Allied bombs so recently has set new standards of speed and style that leave the rest of the world for dust Italy s ability to outflank its more powerful and better equipped neighbours is nothing new At the turn of the century Italy made so few cars that its output wasn t recorded by 1907 Italian cars and drivers swept the board in the first Grand Prix season In Superveloce Peter Grimsdale explores the mystery of how a country with no industrial revolution hampered by poverty came to represent an innovation and flair that other countries struggled to match Grimsdale traces a century of Italian design genius the rise of great marques such as Ferrari Fiat and Alfa Romeo We see the lives of fiercely charismatic and competitive drives like Ascari Varzi and Nuvolari Does the secret lie deep in Italy s cultural heritage in historic links between art and machine going back to da Vinci Or is it simply spr