Archive for Items Categorized 'French', 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.

101 Hours in a Zeppelin

Ernst August Lehman and the Dream of Transatlantic Flight, 1917

by Robert S. Pohl

Primarily based on a large trove of letters by a civilian scientist who field-tested new concepts on military airships this book explores a familiar subject from a new angle.

Baillon Collection

by Rémi Dargegen

Looked at one car at a time, the Baillon Collection is interesting enough but it is the unique circumstances of it being found and brought to market that will forever make it the “find of the century.”

Bugatti Type 46 & 50: The Big Bugattis

by Barrie Price

The first edition of this book is now decades old and in revised/updated form still in print—which must mean it is a reference-level work. Spoiler alert: it is; also, it certainly has remained the only one on this subject.

Alpine: The Quest For Absolute Agility

by Uzan & Fournier

Anyone who says the new Alpine A110 cribbed from the Porsche Cayman must not know anything about the original Alpine or understand that the new car started with a totally blank sheet. And if you heard one barreling down the road, you’d never mistake it for anything else. Alas, Americans won’t be so lucky. This fantastic book will make that loss only harder to bear.

Delage, Records et Grand Prix

by Daniel Cabart & Sébastien Faurès Fustel de Coulanges

The marque went racing within a year of its founding. Outside of Delage circles it is not fully appreciated just how competent their racing cars were. This book puts one of the three distinct periods of success under the microscope. And we mean microscope.

Die Jean Bugatti Story, Eine Dokumentation

by Horst Schultz

Ettore Bugatti’s eldest son was groomed to be the future patron, but he died young. This book makes the point that he influenced both the era before his death and the one/s after it much more than other books allow.

Bugatti taucht auf

by Dea Loher

This very serious German novel is based on two real-life events: [1] a senseless murder in a town near [2] the lake on whose bottom a Bugatti is waiting for someone with enough of a reason to attempt raising it.

Delage, Champion du Monde

by Daniel Cabart & Christophe Pund

The 15-S-8 model discussed here was a World Champion—but few today remember this enormous achievement. This thorough account is accompanied by fabulous period photos.

The Bugattis of Jean De Dobbeleer

by Charles Fawcett

Historically significant because they have not been published before, these almost 400 photos depict some of the many Bugattis this Belgian dealer sent into the world or repaired in the late 1950s.

Farman: De l’Aviation á l’Automobile

by Claude Rouxel, Laurent Friry

Built to last forever, Farman cars fell victim to their complexity and the value of the raw materials from which they were made. As the first serious study of the marque, there’s every reason to believe this fascinating and long-awaited book will outlast its subject.

Ballot

by Daniel Cabart and Gautam Sen

The fastest cars in the world right when they came out (1919). Innovative. Good-looking. Other makers were inspired by them. Today: obscure. Now this monumental 920-page book is a most proper 100th anniversary present.