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

The Chandler Automobile

A History Including the Cleveland and Chandler-Cleveland Marques

by James H. Lackey

Successful automaker, quality product, various styles, competitive prices. Promising. But an unclear product strategy and resulting overextension pulled out the rug.

Baden-Baden: The Hidden Motor City

by Roland Seiter

If you know your motoring calendar you know that this town in Germany has a place on it, and has for years. But there are a host of other transportation connections thanks to its specific history and the sort of people that were drawn to it.

The Complete Book of Porsche 911 (4th Edition) 

by Randy Leffingwell

Almost like clockwork (every four years or so) an updated edition of this 911 book comes out. It’s a solid cornerstone in a 911 library and, thanks to who the publisher is, a pretty unbeatable value.

Cadillac Style: Volume One 

by Richard Lentinello 

Written and photographed by a former Hemmings Motor News editor, this book is an homage to eighty years of Cadillacs, mostly seen through the eyes of their owners.

Pink Cars and Pocketbooks, How American Women Bought Their Way into the Driver’s Seat  

by Jessica A. Brockmole

Did automotive advertisers really ignore women from the beginning? Written by a “history nerd” this book came out of her doctoral dissertation and paints a much more complicated picture: automakers had all the right market research intel but their outreach failed.

Auto-tecture: Unique Designs for the Contemporary Garage

by Andreas K. Vetter

Tired of sticking the ole car into its little shed? Need some glam, make a statement, be hip? You’re not alone. This idea book is practical enough to include floor plans but, really, is more about the art of living with a car.

The Americans: The Most Iconic U.S. Cars and Their Era

by Blake Z. Rong

The Ghia-badged cover car is certainly eye-catching but would you have pegged the Asimmetrica as American? Or iconic? If such questions do not trouble you enjoy here a highlight reel from Duesenberg SSJ to Tesla Cybertruck.

Corvair Style

by Richard Lentinello

It was voted “Car of the Year” when it came out and its design staff received an industry award. Nine years and 1.8 million cars later it was all over. What happened? This is not the book for probing questions but enthusiastic owner endorsements.

Rolls-Royce Memories, A Coming-of-Age Souvenir

H. Massac Buist

Written in 1926, this memoir offers both a personal and in-depth look into yesteryear when cars and airplanes were new and wondrous. We are given a contemporary account of the doings of Charles Stewart Rolls and F. Henry Royce. It’s like watching the old TV show “You are There.”

Driving the Dragon, The Extraordinary Rise of the Chinese Car Industry  

by Mark Andrews

Nobody would be surprised to hear that Japan is no longer the world’s largest exporter of automobiles. But that it is China, a relative latecomer, that bested it is not so obvious and it is due to unique political factors.

Fabuleuses collections oubliées

by Christian Martin

Whether the collections are fabulous is debatable but the photos here certainly are, and the book itself is a fine example of craft. Behold eight European “collections” that in most cases are glorified junkyards with trees growing through cars and you have to ask yourself what the motives of these people are.

Main Street to Miracle Mile: American Roadside Architecture

by Chester H. Liebs

As the use of the car expanded so did the infrastructure related to it, from automobile showrooms to the layout of city grids to roadside conveniences. This is one of the classics, a foundational text that has inspired many others.