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

A History Including the Cleveland and Chandler-Cleveland Marques
by James H. Lackey
Successful automaker, quality product, various styles, competitive prices. Promising. But an unclear product strategy and resulting overextension pulled out the rug.
Early American Bicycle Works, Exploring the Architecture and Innovation of an Industry

by Robert L. McCullough
Today’s bicycle works pretty much the same it did after standardization around 1890. But not many of the original makers survive, at least not in their original form or in that industry. This book looks at various aspects of the industry during its early years.
Pink Cars and Pocketbooks, How American Women Bought Their Way into the Driver’s Seat

by Jessica A. Brockmole
Did automotive advertisers really ignore women from the beginning? Written by a “history nerd” this book came out of her doctoral dissertation and paints a much more complicated picture: automakers had all the right market research intel but their outreach failed.
Driving the Dragon, The Extraordinary Rise of the Chinese Car Industry

by Mark Andrews
Nobody would be surprised to hear that Japan is no longer the world’s largest exporter of automobiles. But that it is China, a relative latecomer, that bested it is not so obvious and it is due to unique political factors.
Robert and John Pitcairn: Titans of Rail, Oil and Glass

by William R. Huber
The story of industrialization and transportation in America would be incomplete without the brothers Pitcairn, and their circle of peers and friends. Things they did and ideas they had affect lives still today.
Crankshaft, A Periodical

by Richard Lentinello
Created—by a one-man band and in small numbers—for the serious collector-car enthusiast who appreciates in-depth, well-researched articles on a variety of original-spec automobiles, foreign or domestic, old or new.
Pontiac Performance 1960–1974: The Era of the Super Duty, H.O., & Ram Air Drag & Muscle Cars

by Don Keefe
Pontiac is still a registered trademark in the GM family but you haven’t seen a new car since 2009. Once upon a time they cranked out some of the most iconic performance cars of the day (as well as some real land yachts).
Early Funny Cars, 1964–1975

by Lou Hart
Does your car have 10,000 horses under the hood? Funny Cars are pretty serious machinery in terms of engineering parameters, and also aerodynamics.
Drag Racing’s Rebels, How the AHRA Changed Quarter-Mile Competition

by Doug Boyce
Drag racing in all its many forms is inherently a sport that attracts people who yearn to color outside the lines. Still, a sport needs rules. Rules require agreement, compromise—or ruthless power grabs.
Building Dutch Air Power in World War II

The Role of Lend-Lease and Aircrew Training in the United States
by Nicholas M. Sambatuk
When the Dutch lost territory to foreign invaders they sent their aircrews to the US to train. What makes the Dutch flying school different from any other is that it remained a fully autonomous Dutch base on foreign soil with limited interaction from American forces.
Drag Racing in the 1960s: The Evolution in Race Car Technology

by Doug Boyce
One of drag racing’s finest and most colorful periods because the NHRA’s fuel ban that began in 1957 and lasted until 1964 accelerated the development of supercharging. Gasser wars, cam wars, plastic fantastic—lots of words to add to your vocabulary.
Building Engines for War

by Edward M. Young
In most wars, military production ramps up by drawing on existing civilian infrastructure. But the tolerances for both technical parameters and work habits may be incompatible so it is the processes themselves that first need to be calibrated.