The title clearly defines the task that Michael Argetsinger has set for himself. He has met this task superbly. Walt Hansgen began his career as a road racer in the early 1950s when the sport in the United States was strictly amateur and was primarily a diversion for the wealthy. The author describes not only the Hansgen’s evolution from amateur racer to highly regard professional, but also charts the politics and struggles within the sport during this era. The Hansgens and the Argetsingers were family friends. The author expresses an understanding for his subject that a researcher could not match. We come to know Walt Hansgen as a racer, a successful businessman, and a loving family man. Walt Hansgen is presented as a complete individual. This is a well written book, entertaining and clear. Chapters are short and tightly developed. Each chapter could stand on its own as a magazine article. This quality keeps the reader involved in each step of the story. I highly recommend this Walt Hansgen.

 -Road & Track

The subtitle His Life and the History of Post-War American Road Racing sums up the book’s twin themes succinctly. Hansgen raced with the greats—he was paired with Gurney, Moss, Fitch, and Scott Brown on various occasions—and was by all accounts a good bloke too. He died while testing a GT40 at Le Mans in ’66; this hardback is a worthy tribute to him, and to a vanished era.

-Octane

In Walt Hansgen Michael Argetsinger draws upon the experience of his lifelong involvement in motorsport top paint an incredibly in-depth and revealing picture of Hansgen’s remarkable life and tragic death at Le Mans in 1966.

-Vintage Racecar

Kudos to David Bull for publishing this thumping 400 page hardback. . . . Where this book really works is in relating the omnipresent conflict between Hansgen and race organizers during US sports car racing’s embryonic years. Participation was strictly along social (and ethnic) lines while sponsorship was frowned upon. You really do get the flavour for Hansgen’s personality—never demonstrative but not one to shy away from expressing an honest opinion—and his unswerving loyalty to friends. Of particular enjoyment is the story behind his home-built Hansgen Special which in the early ’50s cost roughly twice as much as the desired C-type option to construct and was, according to everyone else who drove it, utterly terrifying. Recommended.

-Motor Sport

One of the best drivers in postwar American road racing certainly deserves this in-depth and entertaining portrait of his life. Author Michael Argetsinger weaves a most interesting story of Hansgen’s rise in racing through a time when the sport was changing from amateur to pro. Besides this informative look back at this man’s career, the reader gets a redlined ride into what is arguably the most interesting period in motorsport history. You’ll love it.

 -Vintage Motorsport

In a fifteen year career Hansgen started 244 races, winning 106 of them, and placing in the top three in 162, an astounding success rate . . . It is a fascinating story of a man who very clearly left his mark on the world of motor racing.

-BRDC Bulletin