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

BRM: A Mechanic’s Tale

by Dick Salmon

A linguist might point out the negative connotations of the word “tale” (fiction, untruth even), but here—absent any evidence to the contrary—we take it to mean “narrative of events,” in other words a story. Think of it as a memoir, interrupted by frequent elbow jabs. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge.

Can-Am Cars in Detail: Machines and Minds Racing Unrestrained

by Pete Lyons & Peter Harholdt

If you know your cars and you saw the cover photo without any text, you’d know right away you’re looking at a Can-Am car. Ain’t nothin’ like it. The subtitle says it all: Unrestrained. Unrestricted. Formula Libre. Anything goes.

The Corvette in the Barn: More Great Stories of Automotive Archaeology

by Tom Cotter

If it was the word “Corvette” that caught your eye, do realize that this book isn’t just about that. The Corvette story is neither the first nor the biggest one in this book, in fact there are several, but it makes for as good a title as any.

Go Faster: The Graphic Design of Racing Cars

by Sven Voelker

If you are a motorsports enthusiast you already know that there must be hundreds, thousands of race cars that could be discussed. If you bought this book sight unseen on the strength of its title, you’d probably expect a visual primer on the evolution, purpose, and practical application of the use of graphics on racecars. Well . . .

Inside the Archives

by Jesse Alexander

It is surprising is that the images Alexander now selected for this book he once thought deficient in some way, lacking whatever indefinable essence the artiste was looking for.

Woodward Avenue: Cruising the Legendary Strip

by Robert Genat

To anyone who has an affinity for car and youth culture in America, Woodward Avenue is an iconic name when it comes to cruising and street racing. “Detroit” is hardly synonymous with “hotbed of culture” and what happened on Woodward Ave. happened in a thousand other places but…

The Rise of Jaguar: A Detailed Study of the “Standard” Era 1928–1950

by Barrie Price

Jaguar is certainly on the rise today, with their new crop of XJ models being hailed as landmark cars and possibly the best ones the company ever built. A far cry from the fragile, eccentric original XJ, and, given the firm’s ups and downs, not at all a development one could have expected.

Fast Ladies: Female Racing Drivers 1888 to 1970

by Jean François Bouzanquet

This is the English translation of a French book. The topic of female racing drivers has been a wildly neglected one in the literature and even this book scratches only the surface by focusing only on European drivers (with two American exceptions, McCluggage and Skelton) and on only 49 of them in detail.

Grand Prix Battlegrounds: A Comprehensive Guide to All Formula 1 Circuits Since 1950

by Christopher Hilton

This well-thought out book is another feather in Hilton’s already crowded cap. He isn’t just disgorging dates and facts and figures but paints a picture. In this book he is your tour guide, and like every good tour guide, he shows you things even the locals don’t know.

French Etceterini Miscellanea

A review of three slim specialty French books:

La 4CV Bosvin-Michel-Spéciale by Robert Bosvin

La Saga sportive de la Renault 4CV by François Rivage

Sportives tricolores, 1950–70 by Jean Paul Decker

The Classic Citroëns, 1935–1975

by John Reynolds

First things first, this book really goes beyond 1975, devoting the penultimate chapter to the 1974–1989 GSX and a brief final chapter to the 1976–2000 cars built by the PSA Group in the post-Michelin era. Then cars of the “classic” era to which the title alludes are quite different from what came later.

Alfa Romeo: From 1910 to 2010

by Maurizio Tabucchi

Alfa Romeo is in the enviable position of celebrating 100 years of operations, 1910–2010. All sorts of books will laud the centenary, and Italian publisher Giorgio Nada of Milan has produced two. One is a €500, 200 page limited edition of 1998 copies by various authors and then this much more affordable tome.

Newer Entries »
« Older Entries