THE AUTHORS OF THE
AMAZING DENZEL
With over 20 years spent studying, researching, and collecting Denzel sports cars, authors Jim Perrin and Mark Brinker bring passion and authority to this two-volume set.
Jim Perrin
Jim Perrin has a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, with both degrees being in metallurgical engineering.
His career included a range of technical and management positions. His specialties included mechanical properties of metals and the effects of radiation on metals. His research in these fields led to opportunities to present the results at technical conferences in both the U.S. and a half-dozen foreign countries, as well as publishing numerous technical papers.
Perrin always had an interest in cars, and when he was 23, he bought the first of many Porsches. He became an avid Porsche enthusiast, owning a variety of 356 examples as well as Porsche race cars over a period of many years. He became active in the Porsche Club of America, and eventually became the national president. His interest in researching the history of Porsche automobiles led to his appointment as the Historian for the Porsche 356 Registry Club, a position he has held for over 30 years. Perrin had been collecting memorabilia relating to Porsches for a long time, and he came up with the idea that there needed to be a meet for similar collectors to get together to buy, trade, and socialize. This led to the establishment of the annual Porsche and Vintage VW Literature, Model and Memorabilia Meet. This event has now been held in Los Angeles for over 30 years and attracts over a thousand enthusiasts every year. His interest in Porsche Speedsters led to the ownership of nine of them and to becoming a co-author of Porsche Speedster Typ 540: Quintessential Sports Car.
Perrin had researched the history of many individual rare Porsches for owners, and one of them, Tommy Trabue, asked him to research the history of a particular Denzel. That started what grew into a great interest in studying and researching Denzels. Over the next 20-plus years he amassed an archive of Denzel material including articles, correspondence, interviews, factory brochures, technical documents, and photos. Perrin, along with Tom Niedernhofer, is a co-editor of the Denzel Bulletin, an occasional newsletter with Denzel-related information.
When Kurt Ritthaler decided to sell his Denzel in 2000, Perrin was the immediate purchaser. That was followed by the purchase of a barn-find Denzel, for which he and his wife Brenda drove to New Mexico to trailer back to their home in Ohio. The second Denzel was eventually sold to Mark Brinker, and that led to the rewarding collaboration which resulted in this book, The Amazing Denzel Sports Car. Perrin and his wife continue to own and enjoy DK 160, which has just undergone a complete restoration.
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The Amazing Denzel Sports Car Volume 1 and 2
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Mark Brinker
Mark R. Brinker is a graduate of Tulane University and Tulane University School of Medicine. In addition to his medical career as an Orthopaedic Surgeon specializing in complex fractures and fractures that refuse to heal, Brinker is an automotive enthusiast, collector, racer, historian, and journalist.
Brinker’s interest in the automobile began as a child growing up on Long Island. His father Allen had a passion for sporty daily drivers and his Uncle Steve was a street racer in the 1950s. His mother was, and remains, a movie buff and Brinker vividly recalls falling hard for the cars of “James Bond,” “Grand Prix,” “Johnny Dark,” “Bullitt,” and “Le Mans.”
Brinker has owned and raced a wide range of post-war sports cars including those from Italy, Germany, France, the United States, and Japan. He enjoys showing cars and has collected First-in-Class Trophies at numerous Concours including the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Amelia Island, The Concours d’Elegance of America at St. John’s, and Keels and Wheels. He has also vintage raced with CVAR and General Racing Ltd., including a decade of racing at Steve Earl’s Monterey Historic Automobile Races at Laguna Seca. Most recently, Brinker has set eight land speed records at the Bonneville Salt Flats, two of which he still holds.
A prolific writer, Brinker co-wrote the screenplay for the major motion picture “Untraceable,” which was released in 2008 staring Diane Lane. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles and has written numerous medical textbooks. In the automotive realm, Brinker co-authored Vintage American Road Racing Cars: 1950-1970 which was nominated for the Dean Batchelor Award. He also co-authored A Quiet Greatness: Japan’s Most Astonishing Automobiles for the Collector and Enthusiast. For more than a decade he also penned a monthly column for Vintage Racecar entitled “Hidden Treasures.” In addition, Brinker has also written feature work for Octane, Sports Car Market, Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Petersen Museum’s Finish Line, Vintage Racecar, and Vintage Roadcar.
A Denzel has been a long-time fantasy car for Brinker who first met his co-author, Jim Perrin, in 2008 while researching a magazine article he was writing on Denzel sports car DK 158. The two men so enjoyed the conversation that a long-distance telephone and email friendship flourished. The catalyst for this book was Brinker’s October 2019 trip to Perrin’s home in Westerville, Ohio for a first ever face-to-face meeting. During that trip Brinker was astonished by the enormous array of Denzel-related materials and research that Perrin had assembled over two decades. After much discussion the friends knew that they had to write the definitive English language treatise on the subject, The Amazing Denzel Sports Car.
That certainly would have been enough Denzel ground to cover for one trip but there was more. Perrin had arranged to pay a visit to “Ken’s Body & Chassis,” an old-world style restoration shop where master craftsman, Ken Mauger, works his automotive restoration magic. There in the back corner of the shop sat Perrin’s gorgeous pair of Denzels (DK 148 and DK 160). After catching his breath, and after circling the cars for what must have been the better part of an hour, Brinker’s Denzel dreams came true with the purchase of DK 148.
Brinker lives in Houston, Texas with his wife Newie, their daughter Sloan, and two Maltese — Tootie, and Charlie. This is his third automotive book.
NOMINATED FOR PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR
The Amazing Denzel Sports Car was a runner-up for the Historic Motoring Awards 2023 Publication of the Year (presented by Octane in association with CHUBB).
Ozzie Lyons photo | petelyons.com