Automotive Books

This is one of those books that can be identified as the book of books on Harley-Davidson. If you own a Harley, this book is a MUST HAVE. If you don't have a Harley, you will want to get one after reading this bok and after looking at all the terrific pictures. It is a two volume set, now out of publish. To find this may be hard, but check for this with Amazon's serach for books that are out of print. Because this book is two volumes and is coffee table size, it can be read, looked at and studied by many. This is the Bible of Harley. Without a question, if anyone picks this book up with the interst of bikes they will love it. FIVE STARS AL THE WAY!

The Author of this two book set succeeds in something that all Harley-Davidson riders have, at one time or another, tried to do. Explain why we have this love affair with 650+ pounds of oil, steel and Milwaukee Thunder, and a lifestyle of unspoken Brotherhood. Words in themselves would not be enough, but the pictures therein speak volumes to us who, "Live to Ride - Ride to Live. I am sure that they will speak the same to you too.

bought it at borders for 25 buck

This two volume set has lots of history, lots of information, and fantastic color photographs of Harleys, Harley riders, and the Harley culture. A great gift for the Harley rider in your life and a great gift for yourself. How often can you get such terrific Harley stuff for so little cost :-)!!

I was introduced to this book by a friend who bought it as a gift for a family member. I asked to borrow it, and to my amazement I could not believe all the information and history the book contained. I immediately started searching the web for a copy. This book is a "keeper" for anyone who owns or has an interest in a Harley! I cant wait to see what Dieter & Oluf write about Harleys next!

This is the book that got my son fascinated with trucks! His day care center has this book and his teachers told me one day that they LOVE my son; because while all the other kids are running around screaming, my son is sitting in the middle of the floor "reading" this book. Needless to say, I had to go out and get it myself, hoping it'd allow me some time to get things done around the house! My son really does love this book. He reads it every day when we get home from day care, and at 18 months old, he still hasn't torn any of the pages because he is SO careful with it. He doesn't want any damage to come to this favorite book of his!

When my now 8-year-old son was about a year old, this was his favorite book. We read it endlessly, to the point that I would hide it in his bookshelf in hopes that we could read something else. But, he would patiently search through his books until he found it -- "The Truck Book." At some point, he totally lost interest in this book and in vehicles, but I've kept the book all these years because I have such fond memories of reading it together. Plus, I have it memorized!

My son Devon loves this Truck Book. He's two months shy of three, already knows his numbers, his letters and can recognize certain words, probably because Sara and I don't have a television and we read him books like this every night. He's really into trucks, trucks of all sizes, but especially yellow ones. The big dump truck with the giant tires on the cover of this book fascinates him. He likes to pretend he's the driver and I'm the guy in the yellow jeep waving up to him. He just pours over this book, ogling the old timey trucks, like the Wienermobile and the milk truck shaped like a bottle of milk. He likes the car carrier, the cranes and the forklifts. He's just a truck loving child and that's okay by us, because it's got his nose in books and that's the best place for it to be.

Jack Priest, Dad in Training

My 2-year-old found this book in his grandma's book box and immediately fell in love with it. We read it at least 100 times during the seven days we stayed at grandma's. He loved it so much, I had to buy another for our house and a new copy for grandma!

My 21/2 yr old son and I have read this over and over. It has helped me name alot of the trucks we see everyday while driving in the car. Now I can answer his "whasthat?" Plus he loves to point out the trucks by the pictures in the book. Just love the Hot Dog Truck. Recommend for the truck lover in your life.

Thats a marvelous book from William Taylor. No, it's not a book, it's the Encyclopaedia Britannica about Lotus cars an their creator Colin Chapman. Unfortunately, the publishing house has spared the slipcase in which the early editions came.

Rolf Homann

The definitive book about the Lotus sport car maker through all its production. Beautiful photos and exhaustive text.

As a Lotus employee during their glory years, 1960-1965, I enjoyed seeing the cars displayed in the book as I saw them produced and watched their successes.
The way the book was compiled and presented would be a must own for any enthusiast of the Lotus Marque. The photographs are excellent, as well as the text, which starts from the very beginning of Lotus history to the present day.
I am more then satisfied with this representation of Lotus Cars
contribution to the automotive world.

Derek Powell

This book is simply a work of art. 256 pages in full color about all lotus cars past and present, how did I miss the first edition? Each car has at least 4 photographs: side-on, front, back and three-quarter. Some even have historical photos attached! Each car also has a detailed chart outlining more technical details than you'll ever want to know. Cars included start with the lotus 7, 9 and 11 road cars and include every type of racing machinery imaginable. Everything from the rear-engine type 18 to the glorious and historical type 49 can be found. This, of course, means that every lotus, road going and otherwise is included in the book. Also included are pictures of pit passes, driving suits, drivers, and even a prototype carbon-fiber bicycle. The total tally is 389 color portraits and 734 smaller images. No other lotus book I have read so far compares with this one.

If you either own a Lotus or are contemplating purchasing a Lotus of any age, this is an outstanding book to purchase. It will help you understand the evolution of the marque and your particular automobile. I've read it twice from cover to cover and learned something new each time. A great complement to other model specific series (Elan, Elise, Elite, Europa). It is worth every penny of the price.

The best wish list ever! Everyone should have these toys at least for once in a lifetime.

I was very happy with the book. But, Amazon takes too long to ship products. It arrived several days after I expected it and therefore missed Valentines day. I just ordered some perfume through amazon March 3, it shipped on March 7 and not scheduled to deliver until March 20. I order lots of itmes on line and Amazon is the slowest vendor .

Compiled and edited by Anja Oriol, Luxuary Toys is a beautifully illustrated, 219-page, coffee-table showcase of things that only the fabulously wealthy can afford: Gulfstream private jets, Ferretti and Wally yachts, Ferrari and Bentley cars, and more. Very little text introduces these photographic galleries, but the writings that are present are in English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian. The majority of Luxury Toys is devoted entirely to vibrant, full-page color photographs and some technical specifications charts. For those who do not have millions of dollars to burn, Luxury Toys is an incredible showcase of high-priced and lavish vehicles, and the next best thing to visiting expensive auto, boat, or plane shows.

Small boys and big boys wants the same things : TOYS. It's just the price that change depending on the age.

This book is fantastic. I found also a site where there is a lot of very impressing luxury tous : http://www.europaluxury.com

The luxury as a way of living is an exquisitely illustrated book, which explores the universe of some expensive top of the line products, whose acquirement and enjoyment use to afforded by a select minority; ferretti and Wally yachts; Aston Martin; bentley and Ferrari; Gulfstrema private jets; Cessna Citation x, Jaguar xKR, Porsche Carrera GT are just only a few examples of sumptuous playthings of the affluent shown here - a set of golden dreams objects - that many would desire but few can afford. Your imagination will fly and ignite as well as your information scope around these "toys" designed with first-rate technology, impeccable refinement and top-flight design that conform an important place into the sweet life.

Love it!! Looking for more like it! It sits promenently on my coffee table. It gets opened regularly by everyone. It was a Christmas gift to me, from me. I couldn't get it away from my 24 year old son from moment I opened it. Filled with great history and entertaining writings. Buy it!

Take a nostalgia trip down through the years of motor homes. Of course in the early days they were called motor homes, instead they started with wagons such as those in cowboy movies and in the Gypsy wagons (still to be found out here in the west in use by sheepherders). But soon after the advent of the automobile came specialized bodies that had tents, beds, even a church.

This book begins with pictures from the past, but quickly turns to new photographs taken by the author. Most of these are of vintage vehicles that have been painstakingly restored by their new owners.

There are also a good number of vehicles that might be called home made, but these are home made with style. My own favorite was one made from a surplus Air Force crash truck. Beautiful, but it probably only gets three miles per gallon.

This is a beautiful book of four color pictures that would be at home on a coffee table or in your own RV.

"RVers are some of the friendliest people on earth," writes Doug Keister in his new pop culture history, "Mobile Mansions: Taking 'Home Sweet Home' On the Road" ($24.95 in large size paperback from Gibbs Smith, Publisher). "Unlike the rest of us who are permanently or temporarily moored in our bolted-down communities, they take the bumps in the road of life a little more serenely." And none are friendlier than those who own vintage and classic RVs, the mobile conveyances celebrated in Keister's book.

Replete with 200 color photographs, most taken by Keister himself on location, the book explores not only the history of the recreational vehicle but allows the reader to see inside courtesy of the author's crisp, clear interior shots. From Camp Dearborn, Mich., to Quartzsite, Ariz. (with a quick stop in Chico), Keister documents the development of what used to be called "autocamping."

Autocamping was popularized by Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone (of tire fame), along with an unlikely companion, a naturalist named John Burroughs. After about 1915 the group called themselves "the Vagabonds," attracting newspaper attention everywhere they went. The group was not exactly rustic -- Firestone brought his butler along to help him better appreciate "roughing it."

Later on, the "Tin Can Tourists" organization was established in 1919; they "took their name from the tin can provisions that they subsisted on and, some say, also from the Tin Lizzies many of them drove."

The Great Depression and better roadways put Americans on the road. It was the golden age of the travel trailer. Subsequent decades saw the development of house cars, refined camp cars, family buses, truck campers, vans and motor homes (which had their start with the Frank Motor Home in 1958 which morphed into the Travco Motor Home in 1965.) There are other storied names in the book: Volkswagen, Winnebago, Newell, Barth, Flexible.

Keister devotes a chapter to each kind of "mobile mansion" with a focus on "personal visions" in the last chapter. Pride of place here goes to "Draco," a four-wheel-drive motorhome created by Shahn Torontow of Victoria, British Columbia, who constructed it so his photographer wife, disabled by Lyme disease, "could still go on backcountry photographic expeditions. The bones of Draco are an Oshkosh M-1000 Aircraft Rescue Fire Truck." There's also a wheelchair lift, 14-inch wide tires, a winch and "a 335-horsepower Caterpillar 3406A diesel-pusher engine." The contraption was photographed in Chico. Dishes have magnets glued to their bottoms so they "stick" on steel plate walls and a "macerator-type toilet liquifies waste ... (which) can be pumped into the exhaust system where it is vaporized at over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit."

Pop culture connections abound. Converted Greyhound Scenicruisers (last made in the mid-1950s) help bands reach their next gigs; Charles Kuralt (the CBS "On the Road" guy) used an FMC ("Food Machinery Corporation") motor home; Barbie's "Disco motor home" came from Mattel; Mae West owned "a 1931 22-foot house car build on a Chevrolet truck chassis" -- it slept four and sported a rear balcony where West could address her fans; Ozzie and Harriet used an Alaskan Camper; John Steinbeck traveled with his poodle Charley in 1960 in a GMC pickup truck and Wolverine camper; the Partridge Family's hippie bus was a '57 Chevy school bus; and Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters drove a converted bus, too.

Sprightly fun, Keister's homage to mobile living costs less than 10 gallons of gas -- and lasts a lot longer!

Interesting and informative especially for an RVer. I especially liked the historical progression leading from Gypsies to today. I also appreciated a look at some of the more unique campgrounds like Quartzsite and the Slabs.

But I wish he had more coverage of modren travel trailers. They make up a large part of today's RV sales and they shouldn't be writen off yet.

The BEST review anyone can give a Photo themed book is to reference the pictures and allow them to truly illustrate the subject matter. Beyond his articulate prose, Mr. Keister speaks so lovingly to the subjects of this book with his images. Seldom do I enjoy BOTH the photographs and the text of a book...... Congragulations to Douglas Keister on a well-researched and beautifully photographed history of truly vintage mansions on wheels!

5 Stars is not enough for this book. This book is the last word on the Packard automobile. From pre-war majesty to post war mediocrity it is all here. This book has many rare photographs and it is utterly breathtaking. What destroyed Packard in the end was changing tastes. Packards were the old moneyed conservitive cars for people who wanted an elegant car but not to show off, Cadillacs by contrast were the reverse, brash glitz - mobiles. The problem was in the 1950's brash glitz-mobiles were in vouge and Packard did try and adapt to the times with it's 1955-56 cars which like Cadillacs came in bright pastel colors, but by 1955 Packard was considered to be an old folks cars by the young affluent car buyers of the 1950's and it was gone. Ironic, Cadillac has the same problem today trying to lure back younger buyers from European and Japanese imports.

If you are a Packard fan, you must have this book. It can probably answer any questions you might have about the marque. It also has numerous great pictures also.

This has to be the most complete research product published today.

The individual model histories are written by experts most familiar with their respective assignments and yet it is written as if you were in the room with the people who founded Packard Motor Cars along with the designers, assemblers and even those who tested them.

At over 800 aprox 8" by 8" pages, certainly not a work you will read in an evening but definitely not easy to lay down.

I ordered this book expecting something nice and I wasn't disappointed. The reviews wee terrific and apparently it is the best, most authoritative book on the subject....so what else could I expect but excellence. Very nice book....beautifully presented, lovely pics,interesting and relevant text, classy binding/cover...yeah, well worth the money.

This is the real deal for the " Packard enthusiast " one does not often get the opportunity to purchase a book that has all the historical background ,technical detail , actual political & economic timeframes , key people ,Actual Highway & Road conditions "if you could say that at the time " hence the building of the Lincoln Highway , etc .

It is a great read i strongly suggest that all interested parties of "The Packard Motor Automobile " purchase this book .

Another fine example of dedication , persistance & research from the team at Automobile Quarterly , well done !!

Decent coverage and review of the GTO for most enthusiasts. Background information and pictures are clear and well presented. Another great addition to my collection.

First, you need to know that I owned two new GTO's. I absolutely loved them. Especially the first one, a 1966 GTO Convertible; the first year the GTO was its own car.
This book is great. It has great pictures of all of the different GTO's. Even the '73 which few people even know existed. It actually had some information I did not know!
Good history of how the legend started and how GM reacted to it both before and after the totally unexpected popularity.
This car is considered the definitive muscle can. It was new, fast and a looker to boot. It lead the way for all of the other muscle cars.
If you were (are) into cars of the late 60's and early 70's you will like this book.

Great book for the goat owner. Learn about your vehicle and it's brothers. Great pictures, great info. Sure brings back memories.

This book is definitely one of the best books written on the Pontiac GTO. It combines great photography with a good chronological story on all the GTO's from 1964 to 1974. Excellent read! Caution to other buyers: the recently released paperback titled Pontiac GTO: Four Decades of Muscle by Steve Statham (published May 2003) has exactly the same content as this book. So if you own this book already, don't bother buying Four Decades of Muscle

I've just purchaed a 1973 GTO and bought 5 books on the subject. This is by far the best one. The pictures are wonderful and the analysis is both insightful and inspirational in an entrepreneurial sense (getting the GTO done over GM's massive corporate bureaucracy.) A must-read for the true GTO or musclecar fan.

The was a CHristmas gift to my husband who absolutely LOVES this book. Regular delievery was quick and the book was packaged well! Thank you!

In my opinion, this is by far the best book out about the history of the Porsche 917 race car; (I have not read the newly released one by Gordon Wingrove yet; I heard that is good too because he was behind the scenes, in the pits etc working on these cars.) Mr. Morgan's book however takes you through the history of the 917, from the early beginnings of testing on up to the 917/30 version and it's banning from Can-Am racing. The photos are awesome and great source for reference for a model builder, such as myself. You will not be disappointed- trust me!! I will be ordering Gordon's book here shortly and I'll try and leave a review of that one as well!

I purchased this at the same time as Porsche Prototype Era: 1964-1973 in Photographs and this was the superior book. It was a consise, complete and fascinating look into the 917 family from it's roots through the 917k and finally the Can Am effort. There were also many personal stories and anecdotes and it wasn't a dry technical dissertation.

If you have any serious interest in this family of cars, I'd highly recommend it. Porsche Prototype Era is more dedicated to the photos with a sort of "skim" of the history but this is the book you'll remember.

I was twelve in 1971 and lived in Liege. My dad got us tickets to the 1000km of Spa. Sitting along the grid across from pit row. To this day I can close my eyes and see two powder blue Gulf 917's entering the final straight from Virage de la Source. As I remember it Oliver let up just before the finish and Derek almost got pasted him. (I think he may have let up a little too) the hairs on the back of neck still stand up...WOW.

The magic of the 971's touched my life. This is a wonderful book. Pick it up and let the magic rub off on you.

Thank you Peter Morgan, and you too Dad.

I build scale model cars and this book is a great reference tool. It covers all of Porsche's racing cars of the '60s leading toward the development of the 917 and recounts all the roadblocks and pitfalls along the way. People who are not saavy about the real world of large-stakes motorsport can be surprised to learn about how much rule-bending goes on. "Unfair advantages" are aggressiviely sought through research and experimentation. An interesting aspect of the 917 is much refinement and modification was needed to turn this complicated and dangerous car into a successful racer.

unbelievable shots of big time problems on the drag strips. quarter mile chaos is truely the perfect name for this book. Reyes worked all over the country and got all the great shots of kaboomers from coast to coast.Loved it!

I enjoyed this book very much. I collect a lot of drag racing books and I belive this is one of the best. The photos are very good, and it is enjoyable to read. I belive the late 1960's to the middle 1970.s are some of the greatest times in drag racing history. The funny cars looked great , like the muscle car of the days. cuda, mustang, challangers, gto, camaro.javelin .corvette plus many others. Bob McClurg did a fine job.

I'd love to see more color shots, but there's some great rare black and white pics that still make the book worth a look.

I actually have not gotten this book yet, but I don't even have to see it to know that it's an amazing collection of images from the most exciting days of the sports' history.

I grew up loving both drag racing and photography, and in fact, I shot for Leslie Lovett of NHRA occasionally in Englishtown and Indy back in the late '70's. Steve Reyes was my hero back then for his unbelieveable ability to be in the right place at the right time and his artistic skills to capture the visceral qualities of the sport...the massive power, the pure display of American virility as seen in beautifully designed and adorned race cars (much more important in drag racing than in NASCAR or even CART), even the seductive smell of burning nitro are somehow imbued in Reyes' images, especially his night images from OCIR. To me, many of his images seemed to transcend the simple recording of the SoCal racing scene...they were created with a deep appreciation and love for the titanic, mythical qualities that defined the sport. I don't want to gild the lily here, but I think some of his images are works of art of museum quality.

I'm so glad to see his work resurfacing in this book, and it's on the top of my wish list for my upcoming birthday.

I ordered Quarter Mile Chaos as a birthday gift for my boyfriend. We attended a drag race last year and it was awesome so I couldnt wait to get the book. When it arrived, I read it cover to cover and was really impressed with the pictures. I didnt realize the pictures were from years ago and I was worried my boyfriend might not relate to them but I was so wrong. He knew so much about almost every picture in the book. It was a pleasure watching him look through the book. Thank you.

I picked this book up the moment it was available, and I had no regrets. After being semi-dissapointed with the automotive infromation in the author's similar book, titled Rally, this one blew my socks off. There is a wealth of information about the history of certain rally cars you can only find information about here, including the Lancia Beta coupe, Citroen SM and DS rally prototypes, Mazda RX7 group B, renault 17 Gordini, and so on... The Photography is paralel to none, and the value of this book to a true rally fan cannot be underestimated. The expensive costs of this book, seeing as it is out of print, are not unreasonable, considering the immense quality this publictaion presents to the reader. An abosolute treasure!

If you are into Rally Cars this is it! Once again Klein gives us a great book on RALLY. I can wait till his Safari Rally book comes out! WOW! So many pictures, so much info. HUGE! CHEAP! BUY THIS BOOK NOW!!!! Learn what real racing is: RALLY! No turning left for hours on end here, real cars on real roads REAL FAST!!!!!

Richard Klein has done it again. A superb book and a must for rally fans. It's huge and has many detailed color and B&W pictures. Great for historical reference.

By far, the best rally book ever published. I'm not crazy about the format. I would have preferred a more chronolgical approach (other than what happened to be mentioned in the brief one page summaries at the beginning of the chapters). That way, the sense of competion is better conveyed. But, the material covered more than makes up for this. A very necessary book about a sport that gets so little press, especially in the States. A must-have, for the enthusiast.

i collect books on cars and this is one of my favorites. it gives the reader a good look at rally car construction including safety, engine and transmission design. with very good photography and well written text the book covers just about every rally car ever made from the modern subarus, puegots and mitsubishis all the way back to the old audis, minis and saabs. i highly recomend it.