BELLEVUE, Wash. (July 5, 2024) – “On the Prowl: The Definitive History of the Walkinshaw Jaguar Sports Car Team,” by Neil Smith, is now available from David Bull Publishing, and may be purchased at Bull Publishing.
“On the Prowl” tells the rich and fascinating story of TWR’s Jaguar sports car programs with the help of those who were there.
When Jaguar won the storied 24 Hours of Le Mans five times in the 1950s, it transformed a company known for smooth and luxurious cars into a true sporting icon, creating fast and beautiful models such as the C-type, D-type and the beloved symbol of the Swinging Sixties, the E-type.
First-time author Smith tells the tale of how the stage was set for a bright future for the marque, but a tumultuous decision to merge with BMC, known for the Mini, in 1966 eventually landed Jaguar inside Britain’s worst car company, British Leyland, and threatened the very future of the prestigious marque.
As a new management team sought to right the ship in the early 1980s, they turned to motorsports as a tool for rebuilding Jaguar’s reputation, with a series of racing programs in the United States run by Bob Tullius’ Group 44 and a parallel touring car effort in Europe led by the fiercely competitive and determined Scotsman Tom Walkinshaw.
Under Walkinshaw’s no-nonsense leadership, his TWR team took few prisoners on the race track, garnering prestigious wins and championships before laying claim to the right to take on Jaguar’s ultimate goal: a return to victory at Le Mans.
Bolstered by more than 650 images and period documents, many never before published, the development of the mighty XJR sports-prototype racers is described in detail, along with the fascinating stories of creating success on track.
With the help of interviews with some of Jaguar’s most successful drivers, including Derek Warwick, David Brabham, Eddie Cheever and Andy Wallace, as well as key technical team members such as designer Tony Southgate and team managers Alastair Macqueen and Tony Dowe, the book goes far beyond the race results of the TWR team, uncovering how and why it achieved such enormous success.
Alongside the TWR story is the equally important background of the meteoric rise and sudden fall of Jaguar itself during the 1980s, mirrored by the fortunes of sports car racing at the same time, all of which is covered in great depth by the author, in an engaging and highly-readable style that races along.
About the Author:
Irish-born, British-raised and California-domiciled, Neil Smith’s love of motorsports came from his father, himself a former grasstrack motorcycle racer. He attended his first Group C race, the 1985 Brands Hatch 1000 km, at the age of 9 and from that point on became a scholar of sports car racing and its history. In 1994 he moved to the United States, but not before making the first of many trips to the Le Mans 24 Hours, traveling alone on a charter flight with a small backpack containing nothing more than a few clothes and a hat. After kicking off a career in the technology industry, he began writing a motorsports-focused blog called The Fastest Lap, which led to work covering IMSA and Grand-Am for the predecessor of Sportscar365, one of the top sports car racing news websites. A continued fascination with Group C and IMSA GTP was the catalyst for the research that led to “On the Prowl: The Definitive History of the Walkinshaw Jaguar Sports Car Team,” Smith’s debut book.
He has participated in numerous racing and track activities, including as a co-driver in the U.S. national rally championship, a team owner and driver in the 24 Hours of Lemons and at numerous track days behind the wheel of cars such as a Porsche 944, Subaru STI and various Alfa Romeos. Smith lives in Northern California’s Sonoma region with his wife Kristin, teenage daughter Poppy, an introverted terrier and some aloof chickens. When not following motorsports, he can often be found playing guitar in a ’90s tribute band.
About the Publisher:
David Bull Publishing is dedicated to the goal of producing the best books in motorsports. Founded in 1995, the company has consistently won praise from readers and the media for the editorial quality and presentation of its titles.
The company’s first book, “Sebring: The Official History of America’s Great Sports Car Race,” was named Book of the Year by the American Auto Writing and Broadcasters Association. Every year since then David Bull Publishing has consistently received excellent reviews and won awards, including the prestigious Dean Batchelor Award, the Motor Press Guild’s Best Book Award, as well as several gold and silver medals from the Independent Book Publishers Association.
In 2018, Bull’s groundbreaking biography “Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automotive Empire” was featured in the New York Times and other major media outlets. In 2015 Sam Posey’s “Where The Writer Meets The Road” was named the Motor Press Guild’s Best Book.
Founder David Bull passed away from a long illness in 2021, and the DBP team has picked up the mantle. Titles for 2024 include: “Ferrari in America: Luigi Chinetti and the North American Racing Team,” by Michael Lynch with János L. Wimpffen; “On The Prowl: The Definitive History of the Walkinshaw Jaguar Sports Car Team,” by Neil Smith; Volumes IV (1980-1989) and V (1990-1999) of “Twice Around the Clock, The Yanks at Le Mans,” by Tim Considine; and Randy Leffingwell’s “Against All the Others: Porsche’s Racing History Volume 1, 1968.” https://www.bullpublishing.com/.