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

Luca: Seeing Red

presented by Chris Harris

Is this documentary film about a key Ferrari leader a biopic or a bromance? In its own words it’s a love letter to the greatest car boss ever. Watch it anyway—there’s good archival footage. And it’s well lit. Being a film, this matters.

Chrome Colossus, General Motors and Its Times

by Ed Cray

The author was a journalism professor not an auto industry expert so he examines GM through the lens of “accountability” vis-à-vis, for instance, planned obsolescence, resisting regulation, and opposing imports. The book is over 40 years old—and still not obsolete.

M18 Hell-Cat: 76mm Gun Motor Carriage in World War II

by David Doyle

This particular “Buick” cost almost a million bucks when new. It was the most effective US tank killer of WWII but as every machine, it required compromises (firepower, armor, mobility). When all is said and done, it was the crews that made it successful, not the design.

Lamborghini – The Man Behind the Legend

written and directed by Robert Moresco

A terrible movie—don’t get your hopes up. We review it because, well, it was a slow day on the ranch.

The Blunt End of the Known Universe: Road Trips and Modern Fables 

by Dave Roberts

With wry wit, this memoir touches on a wide range of subjects and experiences, bookended by two road trips. What through line there is is . . . unconventional.

F1® The Movie

directed by Joseph Kosinski

If you watched actual F1 racing in 2023/24 you might have espied an extra pit box—for the fictional team at the center of this movie. Its $200,000,000 budget rivaled that of some real teams but did it buy the best racing film ever?

The Kalamazoo Automobilist: 1891–1991

by David O. Lyon

You may have heard of a Wolverine, but probably not in an automotive context. Checker is a big name, of course. How about Barley, Blood, Cannon, Cornelian, Dort to name just a few of the makers you’ll encounter in this book. Street names are in many cases all that remains.

Robert and John Pitcairn: Titans of Rail, Oil and Glass  

by William R. Huber

The story of industrialization and transportation in America would be incomplete without the brothers Pitcairn, and their circle of peers and friends. Things they did and ideas they had affect lives still today.

Overnight: Journeys, Conversations and Stories After Dark 

by Dan Richards

A celebration of all things nocturnal, which obviously include matters related to transportation, hence a review here. But the book also speaks to the human condition, from nightmares to hope.

1947: Making the World Over

by Richard A. Leiby

The world is still dusting itself off from WWII and it is clear that the “human factor” that governs the affairs of man is just not working. In fact, the next big calamity is already brewing: the Cold War. From popular to political culture, this book singles out noteworthy matters.

Art of the Automobile in Miniature

by Gerald Amery Wingrove

It’s not surprising to learn that this master model maker started out as a lathe operator. What is surprising are the heights he reached, and the prices his work commands.

The American Highway: The History and Culture of Roads in the United States

by William Kaszynski 

How did KFC start? Who was Colonel Sanders? From actual road construction to the genesis of road-related amenities, this book chronicles the story behind much of what we take for granted today.

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