17 replies to this topic

[bira]

Can anyone here tell me why the f*** does Valerio Moretti's book about Tazio Nuvolari cost 225 UK Pounds (about $370)???? Anyone here has the book? What is it about it, does it have a piece of Tazio in it? The cover made of gold? what?

I ain't paying so much for a book!

I'm pissed off now...

[Joe Fan]

Bira, my guess on why the book costs so much is that they are marketing a book about driver that very few people know or care about so they are trying make money off a very small market of knowledgable people that do want to read about one of the greatest drivers of all-time. Tazio doesn't have the glamour of having F1 driver beside his name so fewer people care.

[Fast One]

bira--

I had the same problem coughing up $100 for Mon Ami Mate. There was another book about BRM a few years back that ran $160. My guess is that the paper is photo-quality, the pictures are rare, and the profit margin high to cover the cost of a relatively small printing. If this were a David Coulthard diary, or yet another Senna rehash, they could sell thousands upon thousands and make it cheaper. Tragic for those of us who love racing, but aren't wealthy enough to own our own team. With some of these, I feel that if I could afford the book, I could hire the driver or buy the car.

[Don Capps]

Well, I hesitate to even mention what I paid for my copy....because Bira truly will go into orbit: about $40...new...

------------------
Yr fthfl & hmbl srvnt,

Don Capps

Semper Gumbi: If this was easy, we’d have the solution already…

[Felix Muelas]

Bira
To your various questions regarding the book I have just some minor answers :
The edition was limited to 2000 copies back in 1994. Priced at GBP 75 at the time, it was already an expensive buy although a worthy one. It has hundreds of photographs and an account of every single race in which Tazio participated. This account, btw, is not written by Moretti, but it is taken from contemporary press reports (Italian mainly) making it an unvaluable source.
Then there is also an account of every single car (and motorbike) Tazio raced, very complete, plus some 70 pages in three column writing about the man. Finally, a complete bibliography of TN is enclosed.
It is, beyond any doubt, the most complete work on TN I have ever put my hands over, but I have to agree that the price (even the original one) is not exactly affordable.
Seeing these things from my country, that suffers exactly the very same problem as France and Italy in relation to very limited editions of masterpieces (if one compares with UK and USA they are simply abusive)there is little hope that the situation might at any moment make a turnaround. But let's not forget that some years ago we still had to wait for our birthdays to get one single of these books ! The pieces that I got access to in the final sixties and early seventies usually meant that no more birthday presents were available. And I´m talking of translations, not originals...
Now we have become used to reasonable prices (and "sponsored books") on many historical subjects, although we must also reckon that some times the material content is extremelly disappointing and not up to expectations.
So, after all, there is a reason for that scandal price that you have been quoted for the Moretti book (I have been asked recently in France for around 400 GBP for a re-binded book originally published in 1907, but that makes some sense, after all it's a survivor of two WW...) although I will not feel very inclined to pay that price even if TN was my grandfather !
I know the sensation of being caught in a market that is not naturally ours (I mean, we don´t buy the books because we will sell them later at a higher price, we just want to read them and learn from them) is a frustating one, but don´t despair. Things like this forum provide a meeting point where many things can be shared... ;-)
Un abrazo
Felix
The 8W Team

[Felix Muelas]

Don,
there's obviously many more things that I ever anticipated that we have to learn from you...
;-)
Felix

[Dennis David]

Now we're talking about my area! I have the book and while it is excellent $370 is way too much to spend unless it is a special addition which I doubt. Acccording to T.E. Warth's Car Book Value Guide 1998 the price should be around $200 and I paid $125 for mine. This quality of book actually cost more in England than in the US due to demand is higher there. Just like it is cheaper to buy quality German stamps in the U.S. than it is in Germany. I paid about as much for my Grand Prix Suisse as they want for the Moretti book. As far as a biography on Nuvolari Count Johnny Lurani is especially prized. That should only set you back "only" $125 though it doesn't have the photos or quality paper of the other book.

------------------
Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[Dennis David]

I think it's also a matter of perspective. In the past I would pay $100 for one stamp so the same amount for a book almost seems a bargain. I just tell my wife that Oh it's just an old book that i bought and luckly that's the end of the story.

Here's an example of how sick it can get. I recently received free, a CD-Rom of Pomeroy's Grand Prix Car Vol 1-2. It's complete in PDF format ready for printing while the books cost over $1000 for the set. Do I still want the books, you bet and I'll probably by them this year before the price goes up too high.

It's all about sitting in your own library/study, closing the door and oppening up a book. Suddenly you're a thousand miles away. I think that Don knows what I'm talking about. My library includes books on military history, racing and travelling.

------------------
Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[bira]

I researched the matter a little more and it seems the book appears in two versions:

1) Author: Moretti, Valerio
ISBN: 1874105383
Pages: 272
Date: 31-May-1994
Publisher: Veloce Publishing Plc
Type: Fine Binding
Price: £225.00

2) Author: Moretti, Valerio
ISBN: 1874105375
Pages: 272
Date: 31-May-1994
Publisher: Veloce Publishing Plc
Type: Hardback
Price: £71.25


Can anyone please tell me what is "fine binding" and why it warrants for a price three times as much as the "hardback"? And also, do you know if I'd be missing on content if I went for the cheaper version? And finally, would you say it's worth the high cost (the 71.25 one)? - I know I never regretted buying Mon Ami Mate, so if it is anything similar I will buy this one as well.

Felix, - I really liked your reply. Thanks everyone, for your help.

Bira

[bira]

p.s.

I just found a place that sells "When Nuvolari Raced" first edition for $162, and the same price for a first edition copy of the Nuvolari book by Count Lurani.

What do you think? What should I go for?

[bira]

sorry to bother you again, heh, but I have another question.

Through my searches after the Nuvolari book, I came across this book - "THE DEVIL BEHIND THEM: Nine Dedicated Drivers Who Made Motor Racing History" by John Bentley.

Anyone read it? Can you recommend it (or not)?

Thanks,

Bira

[Dennis David]

The Moretti book is more complete while Lurani was a fellow racer and peer. Hard to say though I would want both get Moretti's book if you only can afford one. The Lurani is valued because he was a compatriot. I'll get back to you on the Bentley book. How much do they want for that. Also you will not lose anything for the cheaper edition except the other one was the limited edition the content is exactly the same except for the LP with an interview of Tazio on it.


Just kidding!

------------------
Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[bira]

ok, thanks Dennis.

The Bentley book costs about $36 (there are some more expensive copies of it, and some less).

[Dennis David]

I paid $30 for mine and it's listed at $40. I think that it is worth it at that price because the author actually trys to give the reader a feeling for the driver's actual personality. I was looking for a short bio on Sommer and Seaman at the time.

------------------
Regards,

Dennis David
Yahoo = dennis_a_david

Life is racing, the rest is waiting

Grand Prix History
www.ddavid.com/formula1/

[tinkerwinker]

I think one of the reasons books like this increase in value so rapidly, is that they are limited editions, this Nuvolari book is limited to 2000 copies, once they're gone, that's it, you'll have to search the second-hand or auction sites

[arttidesco]

Any one want to buy my Christmas Present copy of My Championship Year 'Jenson Button' Foreword by Ross Brawn, in read once condition for $200 plus ?

Send me message

[taylov]

I think one of the reasons books like this increase in value so rapidly, is that they are limited editions, this Nuvolari book is limited to 2000 copies, once they're gone, that's it, you'll have to search the second-hand or auction sites

With books like this, timing is everything. I thought the book was too expensive for me when it first came out but kept it on my "list of possible purchases" for some years.

This proved to be the right decision, as it later appeared on the "sale books" shelves at a well-known London motor book specialist at £29.99. If you can still get a copy at a sensible price, snap it up. The book is a gem and the price can only go in one direction.

Tony

[arttidesco]

Speaking of well known London motor book specialists many years ago (20 plus) I found my self in South Kensington on the odd occasion with half an hour to spare and went into a fabulous motor book specialist shop just round the corner from the Tube Station (turned right coming out of the tube) where I purchased several reference books on 917's, Formula 1 and such like, a couple of weeks ago I went back to find that it had gone, any one know either the name of the book shop or if it has moved ?

The owner of the general book shop that remains had no idea what I was talking about