Automotive Books

I just got this book because Road & Track had recommended it for the holidays and it is fun! Charles Queener's illustrations are zippy and beautifully rendered, and Coooper racer Murray Smith writes with an insider feel and a light touch and has picked interesting facts to foreground. Road & Track had said the Smith is a smart and fiesty guy; that all comes through. The original prices of the cars when they were built are included most of the time, and that's pretty jaw-dropping too.

If you're a car enthusiast in the USA and you even know what an Alvis is - you're one step ahead of most. Pre and post war Alvis cars had a great reputation for engineering and build quality and this book does a lot to show you why. Passionately written in much detail by a club member, this book has got to be the definative work on the pre-war Alvis "Speed" models. It features many development photos and stories, and walks you through all the aspects of these cars. Great new and period photos round out this great book.

Enthusiastically written and profusely illustrated, this is the best book I've owned on post war / Three-Litre Alvis cars. Granted, this isn't a subject that receives much coverage from automobile book publishers, but if you know what an Alvis is, or have only heard about them, this book will round out your knowledge - and then some. Several well-restored cars were photographed especially for this book, and the text is written by an Alvis Owner's Club member who leaves no stone unturned in this very interesting and comprehensive history. If only all car books were written with this level of detail and personal passion!

This book neatly sums up the history of AM GENERAL. One has to wonder what might have been, if the parent company American Motors had managed to hold on a bit longer, would it be a dominant force in the auto market today? Quite possibly, give the fact that the company went out of business just as the SUV craze was taking hold, and AMC did have the iconic JEEP in it's line up. And of course, AM GENERAL produced profits for the company, through it's miliary contracts, more on that a bit later!
As for AM GENERAL, I wonder how many HUMMER owners know that their vehicle began as an offshoot of the JEEP?
One interesting omission in the book. AMC had to divest itself of AM GENERAL in the early 1980s. It seems that the American government was OK with Renault taking over the car end of the business, but did not want AM GENERAL, a miliary contrator, falling into the hands of a Socialist foreign power, that is to say, France !!

This book is a compilation of auto enthusiast magazine articles from the past, and thus it offers an insight into what was expected from a car. AMC was always the small fish in a big pond, surviving only by filling market niches that the BIG THREE ie GM, Ford, and Chrysler ignored. Had it not been for the foreign import invasion from Europe and especially Japan, AMC would likely still be around today. But the small Kenosha, Wisconsin company barely managed to compete against it's Detroit cousins, and the import onslaught was the final nail in the coffin. Still, one has to wonder what a 2008 Ambassador, Matador, Hornet, Javelin, Rebel, and especially Pacer might have looked like !!

If you are interested in the hottest custom bikes around (1993 and before), this book showcases the top Harley customs and their builders. The book gives a builder profile (bio) & then discusses their bikes and how they began building, in detail. Bikes styles range from outrageous to classy. All photos are in color and many are full page or double page spreads. Each chapter in the book highlights a well-respected custom bike builder. These men are truly artists in their fields, bridging mechanical know-how with aesthetic artistry. These are not just stock bikes with a few add-on, after market accessories! Bike artists include Donnie Smith, Al Reichenbach, Arlen & Cory Ness, Dave Perewitz, Bob Bauder & Pete Chapouris, and Don Hotop.

This is a huge, gorgeous book for the money. In addition to information about every tractor in America, the machines are presented in large, beautiful, color photos. The way the author tells it, the history of the tractor plays a big part in the history of this country, and it makes for good reading even if you are not a tractor enthusiast.

At about the time with colorful diesel locomotives were coming about, Russ Porter began taking pictures in color. By the late '50's he was taking pictures of the growing dependence on diesel power, along with the declining number of steam locomotices seen pulling freights, fan excursions, and sitting somewhere awaiting the scrap dealers cutting torch. In this book he has collected three hundred or so of these pictures, all in color and put them into this book.

Most of the pictures center around where he lived in Chicago. And in those days there were a lot of railroads, now long gone, operating in the range of his camera. And there is still something very romantic about seeing the Chief of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe pulling out of Chicago on its way to Los Angeles. I really want to go get on it.

A beautiful set of pictures of the end of steam, and of diesels that are long sense gone as well.

This book provides the reader with factory paint codes and descriptions for American cars built from 1945-95. It is particularly valuable for car restorers/collectors who are in the process of repainting their car and need to know the correct color. A restored car is always worth more if it is painted in the original factory color.

American Car Design Now is the benchmark book in car design as business management, as sculpture and as psychology. It lays a foundation and sets a standard for intelligent writing on car design, writing that trains your eye to see more. The book is built on interviews with key designers and design managers at Ford, Chrysler and General Motors. In three major sections it reveals and explores how managers make decisions about the broad concepts and how basics such as proportion and line, as well as defining details make or break the visual success of a design. The author coaxes inarticulate designers to reveal how they work, how the mind, the eye and the hand create car designs that thrill or bore us. Visual concepts in the mind of the author reveal things that would go unnoticed by designer and observers unequipped with these concepts. Visual analyses of the designs of specific cars show how and why many great car design concepts become dull blobs when translated into production cars. Analyses refer to photos illustrating the author' points. A rich set of interviews with significant car designers is appended. Finally there is a fundamental glossary of car design terms that is a must-have.

Car-design is a complex intersect of art, business and psychology that this book captures but does not simplify. You will earn what you learn from this book, but your effort will be rewarded. My only complaint that this book's handsome graphic design often does not track the text closely enough. Some photo references are incorrect, missing or distant from their discussion. Nevermind that: this book is essential reading for anyone involved in car design. Buy it now; get express shipping; take time off to read it.