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

Béla Barényi: Pioneer of Passive Safety at Mercedes-Benz

by Harry Niemann

Born into the age of the horseless carriage young Barényi had a knack for engineering and an uncommonly acute awareness of unintended safety hazards—so he built himself a racing sleigh with a padded steering wheel! One of his many innovations may well have saved your life.

The Put-in-Bay Road Races, 1952–1963

by Carl Goodwin

What is old is new again. For years now vintage sports car drivers have congregated here for reunions celebrating what is now called “the island’s rich road racing history” but that in period barely made the news. This book unravels the history.

The Man and Car that Circled the Globe

by G. N. Schuster and J. Mahl

Forget the 1965 movie The Great Race. This book tells and shows what it was really like back in 1908, when traveling 22,000 miles in 169 days was as untried as space travel to Mars is today.

Kim: A Biography of M.G. Founder Cecil Kimber

by Jon Pressnell

This epic book is less about the cars than the man behind them, and in this case especially you cannot appreciate the former without the latter. Pressnell leaves no stone unturned to present a multi-faceted picture of a complicated man who took the firm to the loftiest of heights—only to be fired.

Max Hoffman, Million Dollar Middleman

by Myles Kornblatt

Pick up any book about European cars in the US after WWII and Hoffman’s name will be in it. Finally there is a book that looks at his manifold business activities even if the man himself remains as shadowy as some of his deals.

The V-8 Album

by Charles Seims et al

A compilation of facts and photographs pertaining to Fords and Mercurys and a tribute to the flathead V-8 engine that powered them for 21 years, 1932–1953.

Dreamers

by Cornelis van den Berg

If you dream about going into car manufacturing, look at these guys. One of them had actually done it for real—TAD Crook aka “Mr. Bristol.” Long retired, he sat for an interview, from which is spun this narrative nonfiction the publisher calls “accurate, but not always factual.”

Porsche Boxster and Cayman, The 981 series 2012 to 2016

by Brian Long

Having covered this model since it first launched Long could not very well sit this version out. Besides, the 981 cars have especially much going in terms of features, refinement, and reliability—and so does this book.

The Cobra in the Barn, Great Stories of Automotive Archaeology

by Tom Cotter

This was the first book in what would become a series extolling the allure of looking for desirable cars, be it by methodical search or accidental stumble—sometimes literally. The sleuthing, the deal making, the extraction, and the inevitable headaches are captured in experiences many of us had had ourselves (or wish we did).

How to Build a Car: A high-speed adventure of mechanics, teamwork, and friendship

by Lacey & Sodomka

Have you heard the one about a mouse, a frog, and a bird building a car? Not a joke, this charming book for inquisitive young minds explains how a car works—and how you can’t, really, build one on your own.

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.

Allard Motor Company: The Records and Beyond

by Gavin Allard

This extensively illustrated book has more than just the obvious appeal to Allard owners: it reproduces the factory records for all the chassis built, and by this and other means connects many dots across the whole of the British motoring scene.

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