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

Jaguar E-Type Factory and Private Competition Cars

by Peter Griffiths

Wait, the sexy “crumpet-catcher” was a serious race car? Campaigned by regular people? To this day? Yes, yes, and yes. And finally there’s a book about all of them, not just the Lightweights!

Fit For A King, The Royal Garage of the Shahs of Iran

by Borzou Sepasi

It’s the last of Iran’s Shahs, the one whose reign triggered the revolution that put the country on an entirely different trajectory, whom most people associate with cars but it all started several rulers before him, and all of that is on parade in this impressive book.

Holy Halls: The Secret Vehicle Collection of Mercedes-Benz

by Christof Vieweg

This book won’t tell you where the 12 nondescript buildings are in which Mercedes-Benz stores its collection of over a thousand cars (!) but it shows you what’s in them. Your calculator will melt down trying to keep up with the tab!

Marcel Pourtout: Carrossier

by Jon Pressnell

One of the big names in French coachbuilding did so much more than the swoopy bespoke bodies people nowadays remember. What Pourtout did not do was keep good records. This book took a brave author to sort it all out.

Legendary Wristwatches: From Audemars Piguet to Zenith

by Stefan Muser

A visual guide to wristwatch styles throughout the decades using watches sold at auction to tell the story. Minimal text but very nice photos.

Time Flies: The History of PacWest Racing

by John Oreovicz

At the height of the CART era, PacWest Racing threw their hat into the ring. Who better to tell that story than a former team member. Even he admits that the rapid rise was as much of a surprise to him as the slightly slower but still irreversible decline.

Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance

Celebrating 70 Years of Automotive Excellence

It started in 1950 with thirty cars of which five belonged to one guy. And then it grew—how and why is what this book is about. Today a PBC trophy is a bucket list item, heck, even just attending as a spectator is.

The Complete History of U.S. Cruise Missiles

by Bill Yenne

When missile launches make the news it’s never a good day, and when cruise missiles are involved, the doomsday clock moves closer to worry-time. This small book isn’t so much a complete history as a quick overview.

Fast on the Sand: The Daytona Beach Land Speed Record Runs of 1928

by Aldo Zana

Record attempts in the early days of the automobile were hairy enough but to race on a surface that changes at least twice a day—the tide—and with unpredictable wind and rain (and glare and mist and shells cutting tires) made it even more dangerous. 1928 cost one of the contenders his life, and it’s still unclear why.

Trailblazer in Flight, Britain’s First Female Jet Airline Captain

by Yvonne Pope Sintes

“Airworthiness” of a different kind is the topic here: can—should—a woman be at the helm of a commercial airliner? You’ll shudder at some of the reactions in her time (1950s), and then you’ll shudder some more because glass ceilings are still very real today.

Concept Cars of the 1960s: Yesterday’s Future

by Richard Heseltine

Heseltine’s premise is that the 1960s were prime time for the concept car, and gives ample evidence of it. The future then posed different questions than it does today so the 200 cars discussed here cover the whole spectrum from of-the-moment practicality to science fiction.

Cobra Jet: The History of Ford’s Greatest High-Performance Muscle Cars

by Rob Kinnan & Diego Rosenberg

From its launch in 1968 to right now, Ford’s Cobra Jet has moved the needle and so does this fine book that separates the wheat from the chaff in a story that has been told too often for its own good.

Newer Entries »
« Older Entries