FOR A medium supposedly on the way out, it’s a pretty good time to be a fan of printed words and images if you’re a fan of local motorsport.

Thanks mainly to the V8 Sleuth team, but happily aided by others as well, there’s a trove of sensational new material perfectly designed to line the bookshelves or coffee tables of racing fans from Amaroo to Willowbank.

A new offering to this mix is the new tome published by Sydney’s Gelding Street Press, ‘Supercars: The Holden vs Ford era 1993-2020′.

The 330-page, hard cover and full colour publication has been edited by noted motorsport journalist Luke West, of Auto Action and Australian Muscle Car Magazine fame.

The book, one of many available now via the V8 Sleuth bookshop, documents the rise of the Supercars championship from genesis in 1993 through to the current, pre-Gen III era.

The book offers chapters surmising each of the seasons in the Supercars era, plus 12 break-out pieces on some of the key movers and shakers who have helped shape the sport from behind the wheel throughout the last two decades.

Now, from the outset it’s worth noting that if you’re a hardcore fan who needs to know what kind of oil can Larry Perkins ran in the 1993 Bathurst 1000 winner (by the way, the forthcoming Perkins book from the Sleuth team will be right up your alley) then you’re not likely to gain a massive amount of insight from this particular release.

Supercars: The Holden vs Ford era is more of a high-level executive summary of the last two decades of the sport more than a full on, deep-dive presentation into the sport: Hardcore fans will likely already know most if not all of what is published here.

That’s not to say it’s not worthwhile; casual fans should enjoy the book, as West concisely details the talking points from each season by detailing the key moments, the top performers and the various outcomes in a no-fuss and easy-to-read way that will make this book perfect for those who don’t care about Cochrane’s political moves or the in-depth details of Project Blueprint.

Imagery is drawn from Chevron publishing’s extensive archives and from noted photographer, John Morris.

While the book is well presented, if anything there could have been more emphasis placed on the use of rare or unseen images throughout the 330 pages.

Some shots grabbed our attention for either not having been published before, or at the very least rarely seen: We’d like to have seen more of the book dedicated to showing that off given the treasure trove that is Chevron’s massive library.

The book does look and feel a good quality, simply laid out and with good stock and printing quality of the images and words that make it easy as anything to flick through the various years of our number one motorsport show’s rise.

Perhaps the best USP of this publication is it’s asking price: at $39.99 it is an extremely well-priced proposition.

If we wanted to ease a more a casual fan into the dense Supercars backstory, without filling their head with the at-times ridiculous levels of detail and complexity our sport is guilty of embracing, this is a very good way to do just that without breaking the bank.

Supercars; The Holden vs Ford era 1993-2020 is available now via the V8 Sleuth bookshop by clicking here.