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

Freestone & Webb, 1923–1958

by James Taylor

“Top Hat” and “Razor Edge” were just some of the clever ideas this coachbuilder had up their sleeve, they won gold medals nine years in a row, and were among the last five big remaining firms. But bespoke coachwork went the way of the dodo bird and it is little consolidation that F&W went out in a blaze of glory.

Concept Cars of the 1960s: Yesterday’s Future

by Richard Heseltine

Heseltine’s premise is that the 1960s were prime time for the concept car, and gives ample evidence of it. The future then posed different questions than it does today so the 200 cars discussed here cover the whole spectrum from of-the-moment practicality to science fiction.

Detroit Steel Artists

by Matthew Kilkenny

Ray Dietrich probably designed more custom and semi-custom cars than any other designer of the Classic Car Era. This is the book about Dietrich and others and those cars.

Adventures in Ferrari Land

by Edwin K. Niles

Was there really a time when used Ferraris were (relatively) cheap enough that even young people could afford them, use them as daily drivers, even race them without qualms? Yes! And Niles was the enabler—thanks to him so many Ferraris found their way to SoCal that they were easier to find there than in Italy.

Cobra Jet: The History of Ford’s Greatest High-Performance Muscle Cars

by Rob Kinnan & Diego Rosenberg

From its launch in 1968 to right now, Ford’s Cobra Jet has moved the needle and so does this fine book that separates the wheat from the chaff in a story that has been told too often for its own good.

Legends & Lore Along California’s Highway 395

by Brian Clune

Have a need to visit  a house shaped like a lemon? Or, more sobering, the Manzanar Internment Camp? Or check if there really are 80,000 hubcaps in the hubcap capital of the world? Heck, that stop counts as a twofer because the 25-ft-tall woman lives here too. Go West, young wo/man!

Internal Fire, The Internal Combustion Engine 1673–1900

by C. Lyle Cummins, Jr.

Follow the history of the internal-combustion engine from as far back as the 1600s to sideshows such as the use of gunpowder as a motive force to its ca. 1900—and still absurdly inefficient—iteration.

The Archaeological Automobile

by Miles C. Collier

Will “the future” consider “the car” a mere phase, possibly ill-fated and best forgotten, in the history of man? Your car matters to you—but is there a higher tier that constitutes “cultural heritage”? Why? And which? And what are the consequences of such questions?

Hot Rod

by Henry Gregor Felsen

Hank Felson didn’t write only car books but this one, part of a rodding series, was his best seller: eight million copies over the years. See why.

Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, The Complete Story

by James Taylor

If you see one you can’t fail to notice it—and admire it. Admit it. If you want to know the story behind it, this book will set you on the right path, and while the car may have been for the ultra rich the book is a paltry $40!

Barn Find Road Trip: 3 Guys, 14 Days, 1000 Lost Collector Cars Discovered

by Tom Cotter, photos by Michael Alan Ross

So, you watch them reality TV car shows, do ya? Think you can make your own barn find and laugh all the way to the bank? Well, you can have fun trying.

Coachwork on the Rolls-Royce Twenty, 20/25, 25/30 and Wraith: 1922–1939

by James Taylor

Cars of this era did not come with standard bodies—you spec’d your own, from your preferred coachbuilder. Several thousand of these “small” Rolls-Royces were built so there’s lots to cover here.

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