Faster

How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler's Best

Neal Bascomb

• Publisher: Mariner Books
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN:
  9781328489838
• Print ISBN:
  9780358508120
• Subtopic: Jewish History

The New York Times bestselling author thrillingly recounts how an underdog driving team beat Hitler's fearsome Silver Arrows in the 1938 Pau Grand Prix.

They were the unlikeliest of heroes. Rene Dreyfus, a former top driver on the international racecar circuit, had been banned from the best European teams—and fastest cars—by the mid-1930s because of his Jewish heritage. Charles Weiffenbach, head of the down-on-its-luck automaker Delahaye, was desperately trying to save his company. And Lucy Schell, the adventurous daughter of an American multi-millionaire, yearned to reclaim the glory of her rally-driving days.

 

As Nazi Germany pushed the world toward war, these three misfits banded together to challenge Hitler's dominance at the apex of motorsport: the Grand Prix. Their quest for redemption culminated in a remarkable race that is still talked about in racing circles to this day—but which, soon after it ended, Hitler attempted to completely erase from history.

 

Bringing to life the Golden Era of Grand Prix racing,  Faster chronicles one of the most inspiring, death-defying upsets of all time: a symbolic blow against the Nazis during history's darkest hour.

Winner of the  Motor Press Guild Best Book of the Year Award & Dean Batchelor Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Author’s Note
• Prologue
• Part I
• The Look
• The Rainmaster
• The Speed Queen and Old Gaulish Warrior
• Part II
• Crash
• The One Thing
• The Shadow
• A Very Good Story
• Part III
• Rally
• The Winged Beetle
• “Le Drame du Million”
• The Duel
• “One of Us Will Die”
• “Find Something”
• The Dress Rehearsal
• Victory at Pau
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Sources and Bibliography
• Index
• Blueprints
• Also by Neal Bascomb
• About the Author
• Connect with HMH