Cadillac Style: Volume One 

by Richard Lentinello 

Written and photographed by a former Hemmings Motor News editor, this book is an homage to eighty years of Cadillacs, mostly seen through the eyes of their owners.

Pink Cars and Pocketbooks, How American Women Bought Their Way into the Driver’s Seat  

by Jessica A. Brockmole

Did automotive advertisers really ignore women from the beginning? Written by a “history nerd” this book came out of her doctoral dissertation and paints a much more complicated picture: automakers had all the right market research intel but their outreach failed.

Auto-tecture: Unique Designs for the Contemporary Garage

by Andreas K. Vetter

Tired of sticking the ole car into its little shed? Need some glam, make a statement, be hip? You’re not alone. This idea book is practical enough to include floor plans but, really, is more about the art of living with a car.

Daredevil at the Wheel: The Climb and Crash of Joan LaCosta

by Tony St. Clair

She really did set the women’s speed record, in 1926—and she really did get arrested for armed robbery, in 1929. This is a wild story, exceedingly well researched and compellingly told.

The Americans: The Most Iconic U.S. Cars and Their Era

by Blake Z. Rong

The Ghia-badged cover car is certainly eye-catching but would you have pegged the Asimmetrica as American? Or iconic? If such questions do not trouble you enjoy here a highlight reel from Duesenberg SSJ to Tesla Cybertruck.

Corvair Style

by Richard Lentinello

It was voted “Car of the Year” when it came out and its design staff received an industry award. Nine years and 1.8 million cars later it was all over. What happened? This is not the book for probing questions but enthusiastic owner endorsements.

Rolls-Royce Memories, A Coming-of-Age Souvenir

H. Massac Buist

Written in 1926, this memoir offers both a personal and in-depth look into yesteryear when cars and airplanes were new and wondrous. We are given a contemporary account of the doings of Charles Stewart Rolls and F. Henry Royce. It’s like watching the old TV show “You are There.”

Driving the Dragon, The Extraordinary Rise of the Chinese Car Industry  

by Mark Andrews

Nobody would be surprised to hear that Japan is no longer the world’s largest exporter of automobiles. But that it is China, a relative latecomer, that bested it is not so obvious and it is due to unique political factors.

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.

Main Street to Miracle Mile: American Roadside Architecture

by Chester H. Liebs

As the use of the car expanded so did the infrastructure related to it, from automobile showrooms to the layout of city grids to roadside conveniences. This is one of the classics, a foundational text that has inspired many others.

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.

The Bimota Story 

by Ian Falloon

It may be one of the most famous names in the Italian motorcycle industry but it also had more brushes with death and more owners than any that survived. Kawasaki is the largest single stakeholder these days but they leave Bimota to making utterly Italian-flavored bikes.