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

Via Corsa Car Lover’s Guide

by Ronald Adams

For the traveler with automotive interests, the specificity of these books far surpass the generic tourist guides. The first two releases in this new series cover Arizona and Southern Germany. Having lived in both of these places, this reviewer can say with conviction that they are thorough enough to surprise even the locals with their level of detail.

Survivor: The Unrestored Collector Car

by Kris Palmer

Yes, “it’s original only once.” But when is fading paint hallowed patina and when is it ugly “car acne”? What is the dividing line between benign neglect and being just cheap? Is a Bugatti more deserving of restoration than a bread and butter first-generation Honda Accord?

Flying Cars, Amphibious Vehicles and Other Dual Mode Transports

by George W. Green

This book lists just about everyone from 1900 to 2010 who has ever publicly stated an intention to build either a flying car, a car/boat combination, or any other land/sea/air multi-use vehicle. Green briefly summarizes what is known about each effort and in rare cases, its success or failure.

The British at Indianapolis

by Ian Wagstaff

The race that bills itself as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” turned 100 in 2011. This book celebrates the British contribution to the race, not just the drivers but the mechanics, engineers, designers, and even officials.

Gotha de l’Automobile Française

by Claude Rouxel and Laurent Friry

To cut a long story short, this is THE book to have on French car manufacturers if you have an interest in the upper crust cars of the Twentieth century.

Chrysler Engines 1922–1998

by Willem L. Weertman

Even if you have only a vague awareness of cars you’ve surely heard of the “Hemi.” And you probably know there is such a thing as a “Viper” with its snarling aluminum alloy V-10 (modified by Lamborghini, then Chrysler-owned). Or the exotic Chrysler Turbine Cars of the 1960s. . . . This book puts it all in context.

Alfa Romeo & Mille Miglia

by Andrea Curami

Published in the year of Alfa Romeo’s 100th anniversary, this book follows the Porsche and Mercedes Benz volumes in a series of books by the late Andrea Curami (d. 2010) about the Mille Miglia efforts of specific marques.

Legendary Car Engines: Inner Secrets of the World’s 20 Best

by John Simister

The engine as object of desire—all this book is missing is centerfolds! The point of this exercise is not to offer a clinically detached appraisal of engineering doohickeys but to give visual expression to the notion of an engine being the heart or soul of a car.

Jochen Rindt: The Story of a World Champion

by Heinz Prüller

In the Clermont-Ferrand paddock during the French GP meeting of July 1970, Jochen Rindt sat with his fellow-Austrian, journalist Heinz Prüller, in the Firestone caravan. They had collaborated on a book four years earlier, and now that Rindt was romping away with the World Championship, they agreed to write another.

Aston Martin V8

by William Presland

Built from 1969 to 2000 Aston Martin’s V8 cars represent a fairly late entry into the V8 segment. Customers had been clamoring for a larger mill for years and Aston began development in 1963, aiming for a 1967 release. The new car that was to go with the new engine, the DBS, did get done in time but the new engine designed by Tadek Marek took another two years.

The Fate of the Sleeping Beauties

by Ard & Arnoud op de Weegh, Kay Hottendorff

This is one book that could have used a subtitle! Not only are there several others with the words “sleeping beauties” in their tile, one of them covers the exact same subject—except . . . it tells a vastly different story and its sins of omission and commission are the raison d’être for this new one.

Red Hot Rivals: Ferrari vs. Maserati — Epic Clashes for Supremacy

by Karl Ludvigsen

More than 10 years before Enzo Ferrari ever built a car under his own name, Maseratis were a thorn in his flesh. They were so uncatchable that after three years of provocation he was seriously thinking of buying some himself. This is the spark that ignited the fire that would smolder for decades and that is the topic of this book.

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