Archive for Items Categorized 'Multilingual / Not English', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Karoserie Petera

by Jan Králík

Petera is not the first name that springs to mind when one thinks “coachbuilder.” However, this Czech firm was one of the most important coachbuilding firms in Central Europe from 1908 to the late 1970s, first making horse-drawn vehicles, sledges and hearses, then automobiles, trucks, coaches, and even gliders during World War Two.

Bagheera: l’irrésistible panthère de Matra Simca

by André Dewael

Dewael founded the Belgian Matra Club in 1987 and so it is only natural that he embarked on the huge task of writing the definitive book on the futuristic Bagheera coupé—the “irresistible panther.” No stone was left unturned.

Ces belles voitures dont a rêvé mon père

by Xavier de Nombel & Patrice Vergès

The authors of this book are fixtures in the French automotive world. Both grew up in postwar France, when cars when cars were difficult to obtain and sometimes extravagantly expensive. Here they describe “their father’s dream cars.”

Joyaux Automobiles des Maharadjahs

by Gautam Sen

A clientele of wealthy Indian enthusiasts with incredibly deep pockets and remarkable eccentricities absorbed disproportionately large numbers of European and American cars, from bejeweled Rolls-Royces to more common fare such as Fiats and Fords.

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

La Carrosserie Française: du Style au Design

by Serge Bellu

(French) Right from the cover photo the book leaves no doubt that French cars look, well, different. This distinction—and it is a distinction—is as true today as it was at the very beginning of the automobile era.

Fuerza Libre 1919–1942: Grand Prix, Sports Cars and Specials Racing in the Pampas

by Guillermo D Sánchez

There is no greater compliment to pay a book than to say it covers new ground. Unless you are South American and lived at the time of the Fuerza Libre, pretty much everything in this book will be new to most.

Edoardo Bianchi, 1885–1964

by Antonio Gentile

Bicyclists will instantly relate the Bianchi name to famous professional racing and mountain bikes. Artists may remember that Picasso had a Bianchi bicycle in his studio and thought of it as “one of the most beautiful sculptures in the history of art.”

The Automobiles of the Maharajas

by Manvendra Singh Barwani and Sharada Dwivedi

The book’s handsome presentation, with its copper-toned, deeply embossed dust jacket that protects the finely-textured fabric over the hardcovers, makes it virtually impossible to resist looking inside. Prepare to be transported far away.

Rolls-Royce: Storia, technical e modelli

by Halwart Schrader

Did you know that in 1912 a Silver Ghost took part in the second edition of the Monte Carlo Rally? That car was the first Rolls-Royce ordered, bought, and owned by an Italian. And it started a love affair between the “Best Car In the World” and the country best known for low, red, uncomfortable, and noisy sportscars for middle-aged teenagers.

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.

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