Book Reviews
Reviews of the latest media that interest motoring enthusiasts.
McQueen’s Motorcycles
There is no shortage of books out there about Steve McQueen. But while most are focussed on his movies, cars or racing exploits, Matt Stone’s McQueen’s Motorcycles keeps the topics to just that; his motorcycles. McQueen reportedly owned around 200 of them in his lifetime. The first half of the book gives some backstory and into how he developed his love affair… Read More
Chevelle Restoration and Authenticity Guide 1970-1972
At its essence, restoring a car is very simple. Take it all apart, clean and repaint what you can, replace what you can’t, and put it all back together. But, as many of you know, the reality is far more complex. Well, if restoring a Chevrolet Chevelle is something you’ve always had on your to-do list, this book is a good first step; Chevelle Restoration and… Read More
Ford 429/460 Engines: How to Rebuild
When it comes to “hands on” “do it yourself” work in the garage, it doesn’t get much more rewarding than rebuilding your own engine. While it’s not a difficult process per se; you’ve got to know what you’re doing, and attention to detail is critical! Well, if you bleed Ford Blue, and happen to have a 385-series big block in need of a rebuild; save yourself a lot… Read More
Tom Cotter’s Best Barn Find Collector Car Tail
Author Tom Cotter is no stranger to automotive prospecting. This must read titled “Tom Cotter’s Best Barn Find Collector Car Tail”, is his 10th book on barn finds. This time around Connor has curated a wide selection of stories from other treasure hunters ranging from a Plymouth Superbird found in a yard in Alabama, to a Duesenberg in Manhattan. Well not every… Read More
The Complete Book of American Muscle Supercars
The names “Mustang” and “Camaro” have been synonymous with American performance since the 60’s, as muscle cars have characterized the passion and enthusiasm of American gearheads. The Complete Book of American Muscle Supercars by Tom Glatch, pays homage to those who have crafted these dramatic sports cars, and revisits automobiles like the Yenko Camaro, Dodge… Read More
IMSA 1969-1989
One of the biggest books to come across our desk recently is this one, IMSA 1969-1989. But it takes a book that big to tell The Inside Story of How John Bishop Built the World’s Greatest Sport Car Racing Series. Authors Mitch Bishop and Mark Raffauf look back at how the International Motor Sports Association came to be. Bishop’s vision of a true world class… Read More
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