How to Build a Car
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Narrated by:
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Richard Trinder
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By:
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Adrian Newey
About this listen
'Adrian has a unique gift for understanding drivers and racing cars. He is ultra competitive but never forgets to have fun. An immensely likeable man.' Damon Hill
The world’s foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britain’s greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir.
How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrian’s unrivalled 36-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which he’s been involved.
A true engineering genius, even in adolescence Adrian’s thoughts naturally emerged in shape and form – he began sketching his own car designs at the age of 12 and took a welding course in his school summer holidays. From his early career in IndyCar racing and on to his unparalleled success in Formula One, we learn in comprehensive, engaging and highly entertaining detail how a car actually works. Adrian has designed for the likes of Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Mark Webber, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, always with a shark-like purity of purpose: to make the car go faster. And while his career has been marked by unbelievable triumphs, there have also been deep tragedies; most notably Ayrton Senna’s death during his time at Williams in 1994.
Beautifully illustrated with never-before-seen drawings, How to Build a Car encapsulates, through Adrian’s remarkable life story, precisely what makes Formula One so thrilling – its potential for the total synchronicity of man and machine, the perfect combination of style, efficiency and speed.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2017 Adrian Newey (P)2017 HarperCollins PublishersCritic reviews
‘Quite superb…This book pulls off the remarkable feat of being a first-class autobiography and textbook all in one. For those studying the evolution of the F1 car between the late ‘80s and now, it decodes all the mysteries previously hidden by competitive secrecy while revealing the man behind most of the greatest cars of that time period.’ Motorsport Online
‘In this gripping memoir, Newey reveals the highs and lows of his race to the top.’ Mail on Sunday Books of the Year
‘The greatest Formula One designer of his – or any other – age.’ Sunday Times
‘Newey has a legitimate claim on the title of "Britain’s greatest living engineer".’ Daily Telegraph
‘Adrian Newey has created more winners than all the super-brain computers in Formula One put together.’ The Times
‘Creative genius… the leading Formula One designer of his generation… refreshingly honest.’ Guardian
‘The most accomplished man in the world’s most glamorous sport… The Michelangelo of motorsport.’ New Yorker
‘If you love finding out how things work, if you’re a car nut, if you’re intrigued by the sport’s politics and even if your interest in Formula 1 is but a passing one, you absolutely must read this book.’ Octane Magazine
‘How to Build a Car encapsulates through Adrian’s remarkable life story, precisely what makes Formula 1 so thrilling.’ Car Mechanic
‘How to Build a Car gives a tremendous insight…fantastically entertaining.’ Daily Express
‘Honest…hilarious…inspirational.’ Motorsport Magazine
‘Illuminating reading.’ F1 Racing Magazine
‘How to Build a Car is an emphatic hit. It’s one of the most enjoyable F1 books I’ve read in quite some time.’ WTF1
‘How to Build a Car is an essential read for all fans of motor racing.’ F1 Fanatic
‘Adrian Newey is one of Formula 1’s finest technical brains… The prose is sharp, punchy… you learn almost without realising.’ Autosport
What listeners say about How to Build a Car
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Dangerman
- 24-01-21
Easy to listen to and a compelling tale.
I fell out of love with F1 a long long time ago. This audiobook brought back the memories of things I loved about it back in the day. Very well narrated, a great story and loads of technical info to keep a geek like me happy. .. highly recommended for content and narration.
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- Jonathan
- 05-07-18
You probably need to be an F1 fan to enjoy
Excellent listen if you are interested in the development of the F1 car from the mid eighties to the present day. Not a great deal of focus on the personalities if this is what you are after. Let down by a slightly boring delivery and much mispronouncing of names.
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- Keith Binding
- 09-04-20
An absorbing insight in to motorsport engineering
Excellent narration of a fascinating insight in to the personalities and high politics of F1. A book for the general motorsport enthusiast as much as for out and out petrolheads. Worth listening to for Newey's perspective on Ayrton's death at Imola alone and also for his take on the Williams/Head and Dennis approaches to people management.
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- kiket2ride
- 23-10-19
Amazing life story
Great stories from one of the best F1 designers in world history. Not only smart and i interesting, but Adrian was so funny
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- Adam H
- 08-08-21
Great book written by an absolute legend!
An interesting in site into the life and work of one of the greatest F1 car designers of all time.
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- Simon
- 05-12-19
If you’re at all interested in F1...
... you’ll love this audiobook. Adrian’s story fills in a lot of the gaps and answers questions you might not have known you had.
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- Ian G
- 03-04-19
Fascinating insights into racing car design
A truly educational listen. Enjoyed it from beginning to end. What an incredibly talented engineer. The benefits of learning from failure while coming up with innovative solutions to complex problems.
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- Web Guy
- 29-10-18
A must read for real F1 technical nerds
A wonderful story of the impact Adrian has had on the development of F1 over many, many years. If you’re interested in the details of F1 you have to read this. Forget the yawn fest which is the Ross Brawn strategy book (probably okay for management theorists) this gives you the interesting details of how the cars are designed and developed. You’ll be gripped.
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- T. Sutcliffe
- 17-09-20
Nice change
It was good to hear from the other side of the garage, Adrian is a very talented person. Yes there were a few pronunciation issues, but overall well red.
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- Chris
- 14-01-22
Just a magnificent story and journey. Legend!!
A wonderful walk through the early life and career of such an incredible talent!! Really interesting, and an insight in to the F1 pit lanes and garages - and a whistle-stop tour of building and designing multiple championship winning cars!! You're a legend Newey
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