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

Pace Cars of the Indy 500  

by L. Spencer Riggs

From Speedway co-founder Carl Fisher’s 1911 Stoddard-Dayton on the book cover to any of the subsequent ones, the Indy pace car remains an enduring tradition, and it represents enormous PR value to the respective maker.

Ultimate GT40 – The Definitive History, Vol 1

by Ronnie Spain

In 1966 three GT40 Mk IIs ruined Ferrari’s day at Le Mans. This book will also ruin something . . . your bank balance, if you go for all four volumes.

SCARAB: Race Log of the All-American Specials 1957–1965

by Preston Lerner

Lance Reventlow was a quintessential Gentleman Racer of the 1950s. Having a stepfather who won the Targa Florio is an obvious inspiration to a child, having a mother who is one of the wealthiest women in the world can bankroll dreams.

Spellbinder, The Life of James J. Nance

by Stuart R. Blond

If the name of James Nance brings to mind “Studebaker Packard,” it’s not usually in a friendly way. He had the misfortune of presiding over the ambitious automaker’s final years—and is often enough blamed for them. There’s never been a book written about his working and personal life until now so be prepared to reevaluate that assessment.

Wheels of Change, Headlines from a Village on the Edge of the Motor Age

by Joe Baldwin with Tom and Bill Overbaugh

Short of opening a space port in your part of town there is really no way a contemporary reader can grasp how exotic a first-ever encounter with an automobile must have been. Contemporary newspapers help.

Dragster Genesis: The Formative Years of Fearsome Acceleration

by Barry John

No place to hide: two cars, side by side. Run a quarter mile. One wins. As a kid the author studied Hot Rod magazine, later he studied art at college. Youth well spent, apparently, because this book combines both interests.

New York Fifth Avenue Coach Company, 1885–1960

by Oliver J. Ogden

Fifth Ave is the premier north-south thoroughfare in Manhattan, with landmarks such as the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, not to mention high-value residential buildings. Obviously, buses had to look the part.

Corvette, Legend or Myth & Zora’s Marque of Excellence, Vol IV  

A Factual History, The “First Two” Corvettes

by Kenneth W. Kayser

If everything you know of Corvette history comes from books, good for you—but be prepared to unlearn a whole bunch of things in this book by a veteran GM engineer.

Reflections on Automotive History, Volumes I–III

by Bill Vance

Three volumes present a collection of essays on cars and people and the times in which they operated. Out of print but worth looking for!

Factory Air: Cool Cars in Cooler Comfort, An Illustrated History of Automotive Factory Air- Conditioning, Vol 2, 1953: The Magical Year

by Allen B. Simons

Full of previously unpublished information and imagery this second volume shows that AC was becoming fully established in American cars, and more importantly, fully integrated into the cabin as opposed to trunk- or window-mounted add-ons.

Yosemite, The Forest Domain of the Pierce-Arrow

by John C. Meyer III

A commemorative book of a 1982 car club tour of Yosemite National Park where once upon a time a small fleet of Pierce-Arrows had done duty as passenger transports and also fire engines.

The American Car Since 1775

The Most Complete Survey of the American Automobile ever Published

by The Editors of AQ

Fifty years after its first publication you can still find this book without much effort, at less than the original MSRP, and often in “as new” condition—meaning those owners never used the book as it was meant to. Don’t be that person!

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