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

Restoring Museum Aircraft

by Robert C. Mikesh

Remember how you used to see non-original polished metal, even chrome, in the engine compartments of cars in serious concours d’elegance? Well, times have changed, and so have the philosophical approaches to automotive restoration.

The Wankel Rotary Engine, A History


by John B. Hege

A simple design, compact size, light weight, nearly vibration-free operation . . . so why is no one using this engine? In the 1970s automakers were tripping over themselves to license it. This book explains what happened. Or didn’t.

Professor Porsche’s Wars

by Karl Ludvigsen

Ferdinand Porsche’s very successes had the unintended consequence of making him an increasingly indispensable national asset. This proximity to power kept his order books full, but at what cost?

Fast Jets, The History of Reheat Development at Derby


by Cyril Elliott, with contributions from John Goodwin

Afterburners are a slick piece of technology. The Rolls-Royce company played a crucial role in pioneering and finessing such work.

Proprietary Engines for Vehicles

by Nick Baldwin

Proprietary engines have been used by the millions yet the subject is not well represented in the literature. This tiny book is just a tantalizing teaser—but better than nothing!

The Automobile: A Century of Progress

by James K. Wagner (Coordinator)

Unlike a chronology, this book is written the way a car is engineered: as an overall “system” in which any one part relates to the other.

The Knife and Fork Man, The Life and Work of Charles Benjamin Redrup


by Bill Fairney

It was said that engineer Redrup who worked in a simple home workshop made his engines with little more than a knife and a fork. He made engines for air, water, and land use but this book is the first to explore his work fully.

Race Man Jim Travers and the Traco Dynasty

by Gordon Chance

Traco was never a household name, and its founders didn’t care if it was, but it was probably the largest producer of racing engines in the world. Written by an engine builder who also did his Traco stint, this book explains the who, why, what, when, where.

Amédée Gordini: A True Racing Legend

by Roy Smith

There was a time when The Sorcerer and his cars were fixtures on the racing scene and some of the greatest names hitched their wagon to his train. Technically, Gordini could mix it up with the best but financially. . . . This book puts it all together.

Automotive Encyclopedia

by Toboldt, Johnson, Gauthier

This is the sort of book your mechanic reads! If you want to have a more substantive relationship with your automotive care provider, you should read it too!

Northrop Flying Wings

by Graham M. Simons

What occupied Jack Northrop’s mind in the 1920s would take until the late 1980s to be fully realized. Being ahead of one’s time is a difficult enough cross to bear; add to that financial woes, political bickering, a military that can’t make up its mind—and life becomes a drag. And drag is the very thing Northrop hated.

By Precision Into Power: A Bicentennial History of D. Napier

by Alan Vessey

From the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution into the 21st century, Napier engines and precision machinery made progress—literally and figuratively—possible. This book takes a stab at telling that story.

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