Archive for Author 'Sabu Advani', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Kim: A Biography of M.G. Founder Cecil Kimber

by Jon Pressnell

This epic book is less about the cars than the man behind them, and in this case especially you cannot appreciate the former without the latter. Pressnell leaves no stone unturned to present a multi-faceted picture of a complicated man who took the firm to the loftiest of heights—only to be fired.

Imagine too! Towards the Future

by Patrick G. Kelley 

It’s rare enough that a concept car makes it into production but just think of how many drawings never even make it to the modeling stage. Worse, concept drawings are by definition throwaways and get tossed as soon as their “job” is done. Good thing someone is saving them!

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.

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.

Allard Motor Company: The Records and Beyond

by Gavin Allard

This extensively illustrated book has more than just the obvious appeal to Allard owners: it reproduces the factory records for all the chassis built, and by this and other means connects many dots across the whole of the British motoring scene.

Wheels Within Wheels, An Unconventional Life

by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu

The name of Beaulieu looms large in British history, and not just in a motoring context although the clever book title so obviously alludes to it. His life would have been unconventional even without the law he changed, not as a lawmaker but as a defendant.

Ferrari F40

by Gaetano Derosa

At a cost five times higher than its predecessor and offered only to VIP customers, the Ferrari Forty would seem to have limited appeal. Instead, bidding wars ensued and the order book swelled. This book draws on a lot of Ferrari publicity material to explain why the car is so special.

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.

Auto-Opium: A Social History of American Automobile Design

by David Gartman

Mass production gives rise to social conflict, social conflict is reflected in the aesthetic qualities of vehicles. All clear? How’s this: working Americans demand beautiful, stylish, and constantly improving cars to compensate them for the deprivations of mass production. Not an easy book, this!

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.

A History of Auto Racing in New England

Dick Berggren, editor

Unless you live there you probably had no idea how long ago racing started in that region. This excellent book connects many dots that extend far beyond those six states.

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