Archive for Items Categorized 'Automobiles', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

First Highways of America

John L. (Lawrence) Butler

The US played a pioneering role in terms of cars but lagged in road development. Why? It’s a big country, duh. This book may be old but it belongs on the shelves of any serious transportation historian as it documents the earliest days of road building in America.

Packard: 1940–A Pivotal Year

by James A. Hollingsworth

A pivotal year indeed, and a pivotal book that is getting harder to find. If you have a Packard from the four separate lines of cars offered for 1940, this one book combines a multitude of source material into one convenient reference work.

The Last Train to Basel: Schlumpf, Bugatti and the French President

by Stuart Ager

The Schlumpf Affair of the 1970s involving the secret accumulation of some 500 historic cars by two wealthy industrialist brothers diverting company funds was a big deal in its day and never really, fully explained. Some files are still sealed but this account connects new dots.

Citroën SM: Accidental Death of an Icon

by Stuart Ager

How come an “icon” has a lifespan of only four years? The title implies something went wrong. Original research by a marque expert sheds new light on a complex story.

The Porsche Art Book

by Edwin Baaske (Editor)

Even if Porsches leave you cold and you dismiss the whole “car as art” issue as contrived, you will want to meet these artists and see how they work and think.

Defying Detroit, Automobile Manufacturing in Southern California

by Leslie Mark Kendall

Would you have guessed that Los Angeles County alone was once the second-largest auto manufacturing hub in the US, putting as many as half a million cars a year on the road? It’s quieter now—but still busy.

Formula 1 Champions Car by Car

Every F1 World Championship Car Since 1950

by Stuart Codling

A good driver would be great with a better car, right? Right? Well, there are many more moving parts to this question, but the driver/car combination is what this book examines. Spoiler alert: not every championship-winner driver has a championship-winning car.

How F1 Works: The Sport Explained

by Steve Rendle

Apparently 80 million people globally are watching each race on TV. Even if they know all about the cars and the drivers and teams, did you realize that even the size of the trophies and the color of the podium carpet are regulated? Everything is, and where would you look that up? Here.

The 1954 Hudson Italia

Hudson Motors’ Stylish Swansong

by Mark L. James

Bodied by Touring in Italy this model was primarily intended to gauge public reaction to styling ideas. It did receive positive customer reactions but just over two dozen ended up being built.

Games Without Frontiers: Volume 1, 1966–1974

Matra – Alpine – Ligier – Simca – Renault – Alpine

by Stuart Ager

You can deduce from the cover illustration that this will be one unusual story. This book goes into a lot of behind-the-scenes material—and will require two more volumes to button it all up.

Aston Martin: The V8 Legacy

A Detailed History of the DBS, V8, Zagato and Lagonda Models, 1967–1990

by Matthew Vale

Those models did keep the company afloat and sort of solvent during trying times. This book is meant to be a tribute, an homage and fields many good reasons for appreciating the thinking behind them.

Deadliest Decade: How Speed, Money, and Technology Transformed Auto Racing

by Preston Lerner

Can you guess which decade this book will be about? 1964 to 1973. But it really reaches farther. Bad things are allowed to happen because good things are expensive and inconvenient. Then critical mass is reached. It was ever thus.

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