Fay Taylour, ‘The World’s Wonder Girl’ – A Life at Speed

by Stephen M. Cullen

An Irish motorcyclist travels the world as an itinerant racer, becomes a car salesperson in Hollywood and discovers that quintessential American grass roots activity, midget car racing on dirt tracks. Not unusual enough? There’s more.

The Nature of World War I Aircraft, Collected Essays 

by Javier Arango

Reading about vintage aircraft is one thing, and for many the closest they will get, but Arango had the means and the mindset to actually experience them, first by restoring or recreating them and then flying them—and then writing about it.

Porsche 911 60 Years

by Randy Leffingwell

The 911 world never stands still, even if—to the uninitiated—it may well look that way. There is a reason this model has such staying power, and this fine book will help you appreciate it.

101 Hours in a Zeppelin

Ernst August Lehman and the Dream of Transatlantic Flight, 1917

by Robert S. Pohl

Primarily based on a large trove of letters by a civilian scientist who field-tested new concepts on military airships this book explores a familiar subject from a new angle.

The Last of the Cape Horners

Firsthand Accounts from the Final Days of the Commercial Tall Ships

Edited by Spencer Apollonio

Both the ships and those that sailed on them around the fabled southern tip of South America are known as Cape Horners. While most were put out of business by the opening of the Panama Canal, the last hung on into the 1950s.

The MG Century: 100 Years—Safety Fast!

by David Knowles

A really fine, wide-ranging book by an authoritative writer who has unearthed a few new morsels; If you put MG out of your mind decades ago, it’s time to wake up and realize the brand is now “the export pinnacle of one of the world’s largest carmakers.”

Sir Joseph Whitworth

by Norman Atkinson

You know the name even if you don’t think you do. The British Standard Whitworth system codified an accepted standard for screw threads. He did many more things, in his field and as a man—and he deserves to be better known!

The Fastest Woman on Wheels, The Life of Paula Murphy

by Erik Arneson

Skates–sailboat–horse: if it moves, let’s see if it can move faster. She came to motorsports only in her thirties and then almost by accident, but it stuck and she was good with anything she drove. But she almost missed this biography, dying just a few months later.

Duchamp, A Biography

by Calvin Tomkins

The guy who displayed a urinal at an art gallery opening? The righteous godfather of postmodernism in the visual arts? The quintessential enigmatic artist? Yep, it’s Marcel Duchamp and here’s his story!

Maserati 450S: A Bazooka from Modena

by Walter Bäumer and Jean-François Blachette

Super expensive, hard to handle, engine power that overwhelmed the chassis, sexy Fantuzzi coachwork. Built to suit the upcoming racing regs it became obsolete a few years later when they changed. So few were made you may never see—or hear, a real treat—one.

We Were the Ramchargers: Inside Drag Racing’s Legendary Team, 2nd Ed.

by Dave Rockwell

Passionate auto engineers don’t leave their day jobs behind in their free time but few went as deep into pro motorsports as this bunch of Chrysler engineers. The author, a Ramcharger himself, interviewed more than 40 team members, competitors, and track operators.

Happy Lucky Days – My Life in Racing 

by Bob Evans

Racing in the the glory days of F5000, Evans showed plenty of talent but as his entertaining and candid autobiography shows, scoring points and wins has a lot to do with factors outside a driver’s control.

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