The World’s Most Expensive Watches
by Ariel Adams
Don’t let the title put you off—this book is not about mindless consumption. There’s a reason, mostly, why some things are expensive and you’ll find out why here. The book itself is very opulent, and not even all that expensive.
Pensive Racing Drivers
by Max Küng
The quiet moments, before a race when the mind settles in on the task at hand, or after, when the last hand has been played. Even the victor lugging his magnum of champagne looks oddly spent. These are the moments captured here.
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.
Honda/Acura NSX: Honda’s Original Supercar
by Brian Long
Conceived as “the everyday supercar” the NSX delivered, often enough besting the higher-priced competition. The press and engineering folk loved it, the buying public not so much.
Raymond Henri Dietrich, Automotive Architect of the Classic Era & Beyond
by Necah Stewart Furman
Ever seen a Gibson Firebird, or a Carioca? One of them is not a car, the product category for which Dietrich is most remembered. This mammoth biography is the first to paint a full picture, drawing on material new to the record.
Ferrari 1960–1965: The Hallowed Years
by William Huon
A great book made greater by Bernard Cahier photos throughout, remarkably well printed. It is hard not to look at the candid photos of so many drivers and not have a sense of gloom—these were tragic years in regards to safety.
Max Hoffman, Million Dollar Middleman
by Myles Kornblatt
Pick up any book about European cars in the US after WWII and Hoffman’s name will be in it. Finally there is a book that looks at his manifold business activities even if the man himself remains as shadowy as some of his deals.
Bourne to Rally: Possum Bourne, The Autobiography
by Possum Bourne with Paul Owen
The fickle finger of fate . . . this autobiography was completed just days before 47-year-old Bourne had a fatal road accident. While that makes the story especially poignant, there’s a lot of practical stuff here how to keep a racing career humming: talent is essential but not sufficient by itself.
Porsche Boxster and Cayman, The 981 series 2012 to 2016
by Brian Long
Having covered this model since it first launched Long could not very well sit this version out. Besides, the 981 cars have especially much going in terms of features, refinement, and reliability—and so does this book.
Bugatti Type 46 & 50: The Big Bugattis
by Barrie Price
The first edition of this book is now decades old and in revised/updated form still in print—which must mean it is a reference-level work. Spoiler alert: it is; also, it certainly has remained the only one on this subject.
Ronny Bar Profiles: German Fighters of the Great War Vol 1
by Ronny Bar
If you deal with World War I aviation you will have seen Bar’s artwork before. He was a modeler before he became an artist so he knows what level of detail and realism to show. There are only six aircraft makers covered in this book but in dozens of variations.
Ferrari F40
by Keith Bluemel
It was among the most expensive cars of its time, yet the company sold three times as many as they had forecast. It changed the way other makers looked at supercars and it also changed how Ferrari thought about its own cars. See why here.