Archive for Author 'Helen Hutchings', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Iron Aviator: Cal Rodgers and the First North American Transcontinental Flight

by Christopher C. Wehner

It’s 1911 and $50,000 prize money is to be had for being the first to fly solo across the country. Never mind that you’re only a rookie pilot, legally deaf, and too tall to be a good fit for a little airplane. Rodgers did die in an airplane crash—but not on this trip.

One Track Mind, The Art of Robert E. Gillespie

by Robert E. Gillespie

Go ahead, count the rivets. His father did, which taught young Bob an important lesson: people who know will notice details, which is why he puts them in his work, whether it’s birds of prey or the fighter planes that borrow their names, or landscapes, or the race cars on his home track of Watkins Glen.

Curtiss Aerocar, 1928–1940

by Andrew Woodmansey

The “aero” in the name has nothing to do with Curtiss’ main claim to fame, aeroplanes, but alludes to the slippery shape that lets this “Motor Bungalow” cruise at a higher speed than some cars of the day could reach.

Curtiss Motorcycles: 1902–1912

by Richard Leisenring Jr

If you know your contemporary exotic machinery you know niche maker Curtiss Motorcycles—but that’s not the Curtiss of this book, the champion bicycle racer most remembered as an aviation pioneer contemporary with the Wright Brothers.

The Saga of the Willys Aero

From Second Fiddle to the Jeep to Proudly Wearing the Ford Badge, 1952–1971

by Mark L. James

How an obscure American compact car was built by four different automakers, over twenty years, on two continents, and helped launch the Brazilian auto industry.

A.J. Foyt: Survivor, Champion, Legend (Vol. 1)

by Art Garner

He got his start in a car that had a lawnmower engine—and went on to become the only driver to win the Indy 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Daytona 500, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. This is a big book and it can fit only half that story, which is why there will be a second volume.

The Complete Book of AMC Cars

American Motors Corporation 1954–1988

by Foster & Glatch

It was the largest corporate merger in US history when Nash and Hudson regrouped as AMC. Domestically, the Big Three were and remained the big kids on the block but AMC played well in Europe which would lead to a partnership with Renault.

Alvan Macauley of Packard: Detroit’s Forgotten Automotive Pioneer

by Charles E. Flinchbaugh

So much went right at Packard for so long—surviving the Depression and once outselling Cadillac—and then the company went under anyway, and during the greatest car-buying boom the US had ever seen.

The Austin Pedal Car Story, The Fascinating History of Austin’s J40 and Pathfinder from 1946 to Present Day

by David Whyley

Austin J40 pedal cars may be diminutive. Telling their story is anything but. With over 32,000 produced since the first ones 75 years ago, they are being made again albeit with re-engineered, contemporary mechanical components.

The Phantom Corsair, A Remarkable Journey

by Meredith B. Jaffe

Wildly futuristic not just in looks but in technical features it cost around $24,000 to create in 1936 and if it had gone into production you could have bought one for the low-low price of $15,000—never mind that we just came out of the Great Depression. That’s not the only reason it didn’t happen.

Mascots in Motion, Images and Stories of Automotive Aesthetics

by Steve Purdy

In spite of its title, the images are not exclusively motoring mascots as there are some body parts or trim pieces shot for the artfulness of the reflections that drew Purdy’s eye.

Tractor Wars

John Deere, Henry Ford, International Harvester, and the Birth of Modern Agriculture

by Neil Dahlstrom

A case study of how “power farming” got its start at a particularly precarious time for America and also the wider world. Farm equipment manufacturers were among the largest US companies so the money is big and the egos, too.

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