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

De Dion Bouton, The Veteran Years 1899–1904 

by Michael Edwards

The innovative marque already had plenty of experience with things mechanical before it popularized the motorcar in France and helped established its auto industry. The well-built cars were expensive even in their home market. And then the American imports came.

Bev Doolittle

by Elise Maclay

Can you tell from the cover why she’s called “the camouflage artist”? Look at her paintings, mostly watercolors of the American West, from a distance and you will see things hidden when they’re right under your nose.

Razzle Dazzle, United States Navy Ship Camouflage in World War I

byJames H. Bruns

You may look at a bedazzled ship and wonder, What’s the Point? Doesn’t it draw more attention now? Unlike straight-up camo, it’s not about blending in but obscuring the target’s distance and shape as well as speed and heading.

1 of 1 Muscle Cars: Stories of Detroit’s Rarest Iron

by Wes Eisenschenk

Some cars were only ever built as a singular specimen, others ended up solo acts because no other survivors are known. Either way, chances of seeing one in the wild are slim so this book brings 37 examples to you.

The Evolution of Automotive Technology: A Handbook

by Gijs Mom

Different cultures produce different tech. What?? That’s just one of the points this academic text makes, enlisting 125 years of global automobile history to describe the mutually dependent development of technology and society. From engineering to driver behavior, nothing escapes scrutiny.

Trophy Girl 

by Marlis Manley

A historic novel, centered around the first national race for stock cars at Taft Stadium in Oklahoma City in July 1957, written by an author whose dad really was the first Grand National Champion.

The Graham-Bradley Tractor, A History

by Michael E. Keller

The Graham Bradley was was considered a rich man’s tractor in the late 1930. Less than 2300 were built over its 3-year production and no more than 500 survive. Here the story is told in the context of American agriculture and overall industrialization.

Design & Desire

by Keith Helfet

A flat mountain top took such strong hold of young Helfet’s emotions that he felt moved to train as a designer—and found his calling, and a quarter-century gig at Jaguar. This book was originally intended as a private affair for only family and friends; thank goodness someone convinced him otherwise.

Wheels of Her Own, American Women and the Automobile 1893–1929

by Carla R. Lesh

As if the earliest days of the automobile weren’t fraught enough in regards to the culture at large, the subset of automobilists that was made up of women had layers of additional issues to contend with.

The Legend of the First Super Speedway

by Mark G. Dill

Two companion books about the same thing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway—one for adult and one for YA readers. Gather ‘round for family time!

Hello, I’m Paul Page: “It’s Race Day in Indianapolis”

by Paul Page & J.R. Elrod

Could auto racing reporting be Emmy-worthy? You bet—Page did it twice! He probably could have brought excitement to reading the telephone directory out loud. From the X Games to hot dog eating contests, this memoir covers six decades in the broadcast booth.

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.

« Older Entries