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

Streamliner

by John Wall

Combining salesmanship and media savvy, Loewy created brand images for major corporations but also made himself into a national brand through the assiduous courting of journalists and tastemakers to become the face of both a new profession and a consumer-driven vision of the American dream.

The Works MGs

by Mike Allison & Peter Browning

MGs were capable and therefore popular—and not super expensive to boot. No wonder they became the budding racer’s favorite mount. This book too has stood the test of time.

The Perfect Car

by Nick Skeens

If volatility of temperament is a measure of competence then Barnard should be counted a genius. And he is, because he really was. The exasperating perfectionist who cut down anyone and anything in his way makes for an intense story.

The Cadillac Northstar V-8, A History

by Anthony Young

First seen in the Pininfarina-designed Cadillac Allante, the technically complex Northstar has powered cars as diverse as grocery-getters and a Le Mans prototype. Phased out in 2011, without a direct replacement, this long-serving powerplant gets a good look here.

The Tasca Ford Legacy: Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday!

by Bob McClurg

How did Tasca become the premier Ford performance dealership in the US? By being way more than a retailer. Fielding their own race cars, developing their own performance parts, and offering excellent customer service gave them the sterling reputation that is the company’s currency even today.

The 1968 London to Sydney Marathon

by Robert Connor

Nothing like it had ever been done before. Spectators numbering in the millions observed it along its far-flung route, school children followed it with their fingers on the map. It was epic; and, finally, there’s a book about it.

Kings And I, My Life With Rolls-Royce Cars

by A. David (Lieberdavid) Burdoin

One man’s cars, why he liked them, what he did with them, and the people he met along the way. (No actual kings involved!)

Schweizer Carrossiers – Von den Anfängen bis 1970

by Ferdinand Hediger

Up to the WWII era no serious concours d’elegance would have been without examples of Swiss coachwork. Some of the names in this overview of select Swiss coachbuilders have become so obscure that they may well surprise even native readers.

For the Love of Old Cars: The Jack Passey Story

by Ken Albert

Too few people outside the hardcore collector community seem to know Jack Passey. He may be “Mr. Lincoln” but many other makes found in him a good custodian and early champion of the old-car movement.

Hot Rod Empire

by Stone and Carleton

A young California photographer has an idea that turns into a quarter billion dollar publishing conglomerate. To our readers, how he did it is less interesting than why, and this book tells that story.

American Automobiles of the Brass Era

by Robert D. Dluhy

Not exactly bedtime reading, this book is brimming with data but for those who want to skip the raw numbers it also offers insightful Big Picture analysis in the form of text and graphs.

The First Beetle: Resurrecting a 1938 Prototype

by Becker, Struwe, Grundmann

Over twenty millions of these things had been built. What are the odds that a genuine prototype of this quintessential throwaway car would have survived 70 years? It did, and this is the story of its recommissioning.