SpeedReaders.info

Three To Go Mario!
written and illustrated by Andy Evans

Andy Evans’ first-ever published piece was in a magazine, one of the commercial publications often referred to as a “buff book”, and one for which I happened to be doing editing work at the time. Andy’s story was a warm, from-the-heart remembrance of an experience he had had while spectating at a vintage race. He had been permitted—invited even—to sit in a rather special Maserati 250F that had been campaigned by no less a luminary than Stirling Moss by its present-day owner Peter Giddings, who himself is no less respected. It was a pleasure to work with Andy helping him fine-tune his piece.

He and I had no further contact for several years, until quite recently when he sent me an email on another matter entirely. In my reply I mentioned having noticed that he now had a published book to his credit. He asked if I had seen the book and in response to my telling him that I had not, he hoped that if I did eventually see it that I would like it, adding that he would very much like to hear my reactions.

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The Alphabet and The Automobile
by Murray L Smith, illustrations by Charles W Queener

Typically A-B-C books are for little kids. It is obvious at first glance, however, that The Alphabet and The Automobile wasn’t intended for those lively little minds with short attention spans. Those kiddos are captivated by A is for aardvark and a Blue Train for B is likely to elicit a squeal of “Oh, show me Thomas the Tank!”

But right there on the same page where all the “legal” stuff is (like the ISBN and copyright info, etc) we gain enlightenment courtesy co-author/illustrator Chuck Queener. He explains the artwork in the book came, for the most part, “from a series…I originally created 1996-2000 for (co-author) Murray Smith’s Louis Vuitton Classic at Rockefeller Center in NYC. Seeing the interest my grandsons took in looking at these pieces (prompted) their mother to suggest an alphabet book.”

Queener’s brush strokes do more than merely put watercolor to paper—they sing, they talk—and others recognize this too for his paintings hang in some pretty prestigious collections. He’s well steeped in all-things automotive having raced for a short time, and instructed others to drive competitively as a Jim Russell Racing School instructor. Before moving east, as he describes it, he “got involved with the Ferrari Owner’s Club and this evolved into my founding Cavallino”. Plus he’s held staff positions at publications like Road & Track, Motor Trend, and Ski. There’s more, but you get the idea.

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Sidecar Scooter
by Bruce Caldwell

Scooter has an adventurous life and his story fills the pages of this delightful book called Sidecar Scooter. Bruce Caldwell turned a (mostly) true story into a tale of tails and Charlie O Hayward created just-for-this-book full-color, full-of-personality artwork to illustrate it. The book they created will, by turns, tug on your heartstrings, make you laugh, and (look out, a bit of word play is coming) give you warm furry feelings.

It matters not whether you are reading this book to little children, or are a bigger kid reading it for yourself, or an even bigger-kid (sometimes referred to as an adult); you will find enjoyment on every page—and cars ‘n motorbikes too. When he is in his sidecar, Scooter rides beside a 2001 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic Electra Glide FLHTCUI. Other family conveyances that are part of the story are “Rosie” and “Roxy”, respectively 1954 and ‘56 Chevy trucks, each of which have been updated with smallblocks, automatics, and a few other “tricks”, as you’ll see. And there are other cars on the pages too—all an integral part of the tale.

It’s a brief book, so the review is brief too and can be summed up with: Truly, there is not one single pen or brush stroke between the covers of Sidecar Scooter that isn’t perfect.

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Jimmy Murphy and the White Duesenberg
and
Nuvolari and the Alfa Romeo
by Bruce Carter

Both the adult and the child in me enjoyed and appreciated these two books, available as a boxed set that is handsomely protected by the hard-sided slipcase, or as individual books (although I can’t think quite why anyone would want only one). Jimmy Murphy and the White Duesenberg and Nuvolari and the Alfa Romeo were each written by Bruce Carter (the nom de plume for British motoring author Richard Hough), with illustrations on practically every page by Raymond Briggs. Both were originally published in 1968. Now they are back and printed true to the originals including on acid-free stock and hardbound. Each book tells a story of one exciting event selected from the racing life of each man in a suspenseful way that keeps the reader, regardless of age, turning the pages.

Jimmy Murphy is in Europe to run in the 1921 Grand Prix held at Le Mans. No American driver or American-made car was favored or expected to win. Two laps from the end and in the lead, the Duesenberg’s radiator was holed by a rock, and the tires were worn down to the cords. Whether you’re reading this book aloud to a young person, or the youngster is reading for him- or herself, you’ll be caught up in the moment. The Nuvolari story has the same suspenseful formula. The story finds him late in his career, still driving his Alfa, but now against the newer, faster Auto Unions and Mercedes in a race, the 1935 Grand Prix, that is being contested on German soil.

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The Red Car
by Don Stanford

“It was red, fire-engine red. It was low, as Steve’s MG was low, but it had none of the chunky look of the yellow car outside. This one was lean and racy and angular, with fenders that made no attempt to curve or blur into the body lines, but stood out in a clean sharp sweep over the wheels.

“The wheels were enormous; they were almost ludicrous at first glance. They were gleaming silvery wire wheels, standing high and narrow with the rakish scarlet body of the car slung low between them, looking even now as though it were crouched close to the ground, ready to spring forward. The car looked almost alive. It had a personality all its own–an arrogant, insolent, challenging way of looking you right in the eye and saying ‘Drop dead!’”

The above passage is from a slim paperback novel called The Red Car. It was written by Don Stanford and published by Scholastic Book Services in 1954. The car he is talking about is a 1948 MG TC roadster that Stanford’s main character, sixteen year-old Happy “Hap” Adams, is seeing for the first time. The car has been heavily wrecked by having been driven off a mountain road and young Hap hatches a wild scheme to bring the little sportscar back to life. There are certain defining moments when you are growing up. Events that shape your life and your future. For me it was finding a copy of The Red Car at the public library when I was twelve years old.

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