Automotive Books

Where are all the gearheads? The ones with Castrol in their veins? I can't be the only one left out here, can I? Or maybe I'm just the first one to take the time to write about the wonderful memories brought to mind by this fascinating, fabulous--and slightly incomplete--book! Oh, of course. That's it - they're all out there, somewhere, driving these remarkable machines!

Being half a dozen or so years younger than Dan Gurney, my memory bank includes his remarkable career, along with other such names of the marvelous 50s, 60s and 70s in motor cars of various kinds. Names like Carroll Shelby, or Stirling Moss or Denise McCluggage, for that matter. (She was my first hero!) The `sporty car' people were and are my favorites, to this day.

This is truly a neat book - I was amazed at how many of these vehicles I've actually driven! But they left out some of my faves: the Bug-eyed Sprite, for instance! How could they? My then 3-month-old daughter cut her first tooth while riding in one with her father and I, as we were competing in a rally. Or the late 1950s model Morris Minor--the one with the removable gearshift lever. (When the c-clip that held it in place would wear a bit, one could actually remove the lever while driving. Gave a whole new meaning to the `Don't like this gear? Here, find one you like' as you hand the lever to your startled passenger! My Dad used to hand the steering wheel of our 1937 Buick to my astonished Grandmother! She took the hint!)

I will admit that the Yugo may not have been the best thing going, but my grown-up daughter saved my life one night by folding me into her battered little example and taking me to the emergency room when my own trusty car wouldn't start. The Yugo was a truly disposable car, however, as she proved, several times over! At that price, why not?

For the other side of that coin, take a look at the 57 Chevy Nomad wagon, for instance, or the early imported BMWs (mid-to-late 60s) or the 66 Caddy convertible (what a gorgeous boat THAT was! bright red with white leather interior, oooh! or the early Rivieras!) or even a Model A. What wonderful wheels! Speaking of, how about that Freightliner? We had an Autocar. Groovy. And what fun it would indeed be, to be able to spend 24 hours with any one of them. Nowadays, that is. You can relive those glorious days by spending several happy-making hours (or weeks) with this scrumptious, colorful book. You won't ever forget the cars or those hours! Aaahh. The memories! Do try not to drool too much over the photos, though.

From the moment I flipped over the first page on the calendar, I was in love. Every day of the year was a car that made me drool. I couldn't believe the luck I had. If you are a car enthusiast, then this is the calendar for you. Forget those clunky month-by-month car calendars, you only get 12 pictures. In this wonderful flip calendar, you get day-by-day dream cars! The only way life could get any better is if you could get the real dream cars one a day. :-)

Anyone who buys this calendar has to love cars. That's a given. OK, so, what's in this calendar? It focuses primarily on a lot of concept and production sports cars, luxury automobiles, and even a few racing models. It features technical highlights of cool automotive innovations currently in use once in a while, too, for those with technical interests.

Each page's big color picture is accompanied by comments or information about the day's car, written by the editors of Car & Driver. Plus, it comes with an online version of the same calendar. What's not to love? Well, this is one of those calendars that feature the cheap 1-page-for-the-weekend deals, rather than allowing Saturday and Sunday to each have their own page. Which is kind of dumb. But, if you keep it at work, like I do, you won't even notice.

My advice would be to buy this calendar if you're just a fan of pretty much all cars and love seeing automotive art.

I used the techniques described in the book and sold my car in 4 days, for $400 above what I thought I'd get for it. His methods are simple yet very effective.

i am hassan kaleefhe i am Eng. in yarmuk university i want electronic projects books and i hope you helpe me to buy some books.

I like riding in trucks.I like going mudding.I like having fun in a pickup.My dad has a pickup and a 4x4.They are both 72 model.I don't like getting it dirty,but i guess that's what they are built for.I have a 72 modle car.

When you start reading this book, you can't stop before reaching the last page.
Very interesting book on the developement of the Automotive Art and the artists that creates those fantastic artworks.
"Road & Track" and Bill Motta are certainly the pioneers who opened new fields for the automobile and art amateurs.

This is one of Taschen's inexpensive, all color, pictorial reference books, full of cars lifted from fifties ads and loosely organised in date order. It does include thirty or so complete ads. Now you will have a chance to study the photo-realist style of unknown commercial artists and see how they handled all that chrome. I think many of these paintings must have had two artists, one to do the precise detailing of the vehicle and another to handle the much more casual backgrounds and people. There are some photos included, by the late fifties paintings had given way to studio or location photography and I think a little bit of sparkle had been lost from the images.

As far as I can see most of these pictures have been lifted from the wonderful 925 page `All-American Ads 50s' by Jim Heimann, it has a 188 page chapter on car ads and here you get to read the copy as well.

Rather than bore us with a lot of arcane techno-babble about cars, Bill Sherk cuts to the chase and tells very human stories about real people with real cars. Each page or two contains a little story about someone's experiences or adventures with a car, generally from the first half of the twentieth century. The monochrome photos come from people's albums, libraries, archves, and Sherk's vast collection of Canadiana. The context is family, farm, adolescence, small business, and local history. A delightful read, from a thoroughly-Canadian point of view.

Thanks, Pontiac, for having your 75th anniversary the same year that my brother bought one! This was a fun gift that he displays in his living room along with his driving trophies.