Book Reviews
Reviews of the latest media that interest motoring enthusiasts.
Jeff Gordon: His Dream, Drive & Destiny
NASCAR entered the 1990’s as basically a regional, Southern-based stock car racing series, barely flirting with national relevance. But by the end of the last century, it was America’s fastest growing sport; with multi-million-dollar network TV deals, big corporate sponsorship, and garage areas that resembled Hollywood red carpets more than downhome race tracks.… Read More
COPO Camaro, Chevelle & Nova: Chevrolet’s Ultimate Muscle Cars
You may have heard of COPO Camaros; and maybe even know that COPO stands for Central Office Production Order, and that it was the backdoor way for those “in the know” to get the ultimate muscle cars from Chevrolet. But you probably won’t know the full story until you read Matt Avery’s COPO Camaro, Chevelle & Nova: Chevrolet’s Ultimate Muscle Cars. It’s a treasure… Read More
The Complete Book of Classic Volkswagens
The name pretty much says it all for this Must Read. It’s The Complete Book of Classic Volkswagens: Beetles, Microbuses, Things, Karmann Ghias, and More by John Gunnell. If it’s air-cooled and built by Volkswagen in the 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s; you’ll read about it here. Accompanying the wealth of facts and figures, are plenty of technical drawings and period… Read More
Can-Am 50th Anniversary
No matter which racing series you follow today, it’s an unfortunate fact that all of the cars racing against one another, are more alike than they are different. But there was a time when that wasn’t the case. George Levy celebrates those times in Can-Am 50th Anniversary: Flat Out with North America’s Greatest Race Series 1966-1974. Can-Am was one racing series… Read More
The Definitive Camaro Guide: 1970½ - 1981
While 1st gen Chevrolet Camaros draw most of the collector car attention, it’s a matter of fact that the original Camaro was a hastily assembled compromise based on the Chevy II, so that GM would have something to counter the wildly popular Ford Mustang. It wasn’t until the ground-up design of the 2nd generation that GM really had something on their hands. And… Read More
Tyler Alexander: A Life And Times With McLaren
If you’re a follower of Formula 1 racing or just high performance cars, you may think you know everything there is to know about team McLaren. Chances are, you don’t. But there’s no better place to get the full story than directly from someone who was there from the beginning. Tyler Alexander. Released just prior to his death unfortunate passing, this… Read More
The Complete Book of Classic Volkswagens
The name pretty much says it all for this Must Read. It’s The Complete Book of Classic Volkswagens: Beetles, Microbuses, Things, Karmann Ghias, and More by John Gunnell. If it’s air-cooled and built by Volkswagen in the 50s, 60s, 70s, or 80s; you’ll read about it here. Accompanying the wealth of facts and figures, are plenty of technical drawings and period… Read More
Porsche: The Classic Era
Call us crazy, but even with all of the Porsche books we’ve read over the years, we can’t get enough of them. The latest to cross our desk is Porsche: The Classic Era by Dennis Adler. The first part of this book focuses on Ferdinand Porsche’s early years as a highly sought after automotive engineer who always dreamed of building an affordable sports car. But that… Read More
Automobile Design Graphics
In the automobile’s infancy, the biggest hurdle for the burgeoning industry wasn’t necessarily designing and building cars, but creating a demand for them. Thus began the art of automobile advertising. The manufacturers that have survived to today, realized early on that the key to success wasn’t necessarily about the product you build, but the lifestyle you can… Read More
Stars & Cars: Mythical Pairings
Stars & Cars: Mythical Pairings by Jacque Braunstein is a loving look at the close relationship of cars with film and television actors. 20th Century icons like Steve McQueen, James Dean, Don Johnson, Clint Eastwood, and Vin Diesel, all were emotionally involved with cars both on and off camera. also looks how entire film projects use the car culture as a core… Read More