Best of
Cars

2017

How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Formula 1 Designer


Adrian Newey - 2017
    He is ultra competitive but never forgets to have fun. An immensely likeable man.' Damon HillThe world’s foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britain’s greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir.How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrian’s unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which he’s been involved.A true engineering genius, even in adolescence Adrian’s thoughts naturally emerged in shape and form – he began sketching his own car designs at the age of 12 and took a welding course in his school summer holidays. From his early career in IndyCar racing and on to his unparalleled success in Formula One, we learn in comprehensive, engaging and highly entertaining detail how a car actually works. Adrian has designed for the likes of Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, always with a shark-like purity of purpose: to make the car go faster. And while his career has been marked by unbelievable triumphs, there have also been deep tragedies; most notably Ayrton Senna’s death during his time at Williams in 1994.Beautifully illustrated with never-before-seen drawings, How to Build a Car encapsulates, through Adrian’s remarkable life story, precisely what makes Formula One so thrilling – its potential for the total synchronicity of man and machine, the perfect combination of style, efficiency and speed.

The Mechanic: The Secret World of the F1 Pitlane


Marc 'Elvis' Priestley - 2017
    And yet, without the technical knowledge, competitive determination and outright obsession from his garage of mechanics, no driver could possibly hope to claim a spot on the podium. These are the guys who make every World Champion, and any mistakes can have critical consequences.That's not to say the F1 crew is just a group of highly skilled technical engineers, tweaking machinery in wind tunnels and crunching data through high spec computers. These boys can seriously let their hair down. Whether it be parties on luxury yachts in Monaco or elaborate photo opportunities in gravity-defying aeroplanes, this is a world which thrills on and off the track.Join McLaren's former Number One mechanic, Marc 'Elvis' Priestley as he tours the world, revealing some of Formula One's most outrageous secrets and the fiercest rivalries, all fuelled by the determination to win.This is Formula One as you've never seen it before.

All the Way to Havana


Margarita Engle - 2017
    Along the way, they experience the sights and sounds of the streets--neighbors talking, musicians performing, and beautiful, colorful cars putt-putting and bumpety-bumping along. In the end, though, it's their old car, Cara Cara, that the boy loves best.

For the Record: 28:50 - A journey toward self-discovery and the Cannonball Run Record


Ed Bolian - 2017
    Ed Bolian’s memoir recounts his path from a conversation in high school with Cannonball Run founder, Brock Yates to setting the fastest time ever for driving from New York to Los Angeles. The journey explores goal setting, criminal psychology, and spirituality in the pursuit of finding your true purpose and using what makes you unique to achieve something extraordinary.

The Life We Almost Had


Laura Miller - 2017
    And he was the boy, who could never get on her father’s good side. But none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was that her heart had picked him. But that was years ago. And now, Berlin’s sister is praying for someone to show up to take her brother’s mind off the girl from his past. And surely enough, that someone does. But will this girl be able to cut the chains of his first love or will she just make him fall harder for that little girl he left behind in Sweet Home, Missouri? One week is all they have.

The Lost Art of High-Performance Driving: How to Get the Most Out of Your Modern Performance Car


Ross Bentley - 2017
    With the promise of autonomous vehicles in our near future, and current cars equipped with "driver aides," it's not hard to feel like the art (and science) of performance driving has been all but lost. Don't lose hope! For every device designed to take the act of driving out of your hands, the desire to actively participate in driving a car becomes even stronger for driving enthusiasts. In Speed Secrets: The Lost Art of High-Performance Driving, you will learn exactly how to become an even better performance-oriented driver; whether it's to enjoy a twisty mountain highway, to take that secret back-road route to work, or even participate in a track day on a racing circuit.From how to best use your car's controls, to cornering, to dealing with adverse driving conditions, The Lost Art of High-Performance Driving will make you a better performance driver. Along the way, you'll learn what ABS, traction and stability control, self-braking systems, and semi-automatic transmissions do, and how best to incorporate them into your driving.This is the true guide to speed, and it will help you understand your car more intimately than ever. Most importantly, it will fuel your passion for driving!

Urban Outlaw: Dirt Don’t Slow You Down


Magnus Walker - 2017
    Serial entrepreneur, fashion designer, TV presenter, motivational speaker and one of the world’s most prolific Porsche collectors, the dreadlocked, tattooed hoarder of individual creativity is a very modern incarnation of idiosyncratic success.Raised in the grim, urban decay of Thatcher’s Britain, Sheffield-born Magnus Walker left school with just two O levels and drifted for several years before buying a one-way ticket to America. Now, 30 years and three successful businesses later, by following his instincts, rejecting convention and pursuing his passions Magnus has succeeded against all the odds.Here, for the first time, is the full story of his journey from a Northern steel town to the bright lights of Hollywood, from a boy with little hope to an anti-establishment hero. Along the way we’ll witness his potent combination of inspiration and graft, discover his motivations and his ambitions, and come to understand his philosophy and the keys to his success.Inspiring and exhilarating, URBAN OUTLAW is a compelling tale of succeeding through pure instinct and determination by a man who was brave enough to follow his own path.

Cars 3 Junior Novel (Disney Junior Novel (ebook))


Suzanne Francis - 2017
    Lightning is ready to take on another racing season. But there's a storm brewing—Jackson Storm! He's a rookie next-gen racer with sophisticated high-tech capabilities that make him almost impossible to beat. With the help of a tech-savvy new trainer named Cruz Ramirez, Lightning will work harder than ever to rise to the challenge on his journey toward victory. With more turns than the Los Angeles Motor Speedway, Cars 3: The Deluxe Junior Novelization retells the whole exciting movie!

The Complete Book of Chevrolet Camaro: Every Model Since 1967


David Newhardt - 2017
    See it all here.The Complete Book of Chevrolet Camaro, 2nd Edition continues the story of America's premier performance car. In 2016, the sixth-generation Camaro rolled off production lines and roared onto America's highways, earning best-in-class accolades from all over the performance spectrum. Renowned automotive photographer and historian David Newhardt is here to tell the Camaro's story. This is a Camaro book like no other. The Complete Book of Chevrolet Camaro, 2nd Edition covers the entire production history of Chevrolet's iconic muscle car, from the original concept car (codenamed Panther) to the latest and greatest sixth-generation vehicle. The Complete Book of Chevrolet Camaro showcases every model of Camaro since 1967 in stunning detail, using original and GM archival photography as well as insider interviews and technical specifications. The original model was developed to fight the Mustang in the muscle car wars of the late 1960s; the second-gen cars became icons of American automotive styling in the 1970s; the third-gen cars helped lead a muscle car renaissance in the 1980s; the refined fourth-gen cars continued to demonstrate GM's prowess and engineering know-how through 2002; the fifth-gen Camaro brought back the iconic nameplate in 2010; and now the latest generation has debuted to rave reviews in 2016. This book also features all the production vehicles, prototypes, show cars, anniversary editions, pace cars, and more from the vibrant Camaro culture.

Wheels of Justice


Vickie Phelps - 2017
    Buford McKinney is a mean, evil bully who thinks women are the ground God made for men to walk on. The only reason she stays at McKinney's is the fear of being without a paycheck and ending up homeless. And then there's Rick McKinney, Buford's son. In spite of his daddy's contempt for Connie, Rick is attracted to her and Connie to him. But will their feelings for each other be enough to keep Connie safe? Just how far will Buford go to get rid of her?

Outlaw: Part 3


Katana Collins - 2017
    Hotter than hot. These are the bad boys of the Harrison Street Crew, and they answer to no one. They take what they want. And what they want is you.Volume Three of a three-part volume by Katana Collins.Patrick Flanagan won’t go to jail. Not when he’s got a woman as gorgeous as Michelle aching for his every touch and pushing his lust for her past the boiling point. Even though she’s a lawyer tasked with putting him in prison, he can’t stay away from her. Michelle is falling fast and hard for Patrick, but is he guilty? Or is he innocent? She wants to trust her bad boy from the streets, but is he telling the truth?

Outlaw: Part 1


Katana Collins - 2017
    Hotter than hot. These are the bad boys of the Harrison Street Crew, and they answer to no one. They take what they want. And what they want is you. Volume One of a three-part volume by Katana Collins.Patrick Flanagan lives outside the law. The cops don’t like him. The law doesn’t trust him. He may come at you with a charm and a handsome smile, but make no mistake—he’s as reckless and bad as they come. But when a total bombshell with stilettos and a power suit comes blazing into his life, this bad boy is about to be so, so good…

Porsche 70 Years: There Is No Substitute


Randy Leffingwell - 2017
    Fasten your seatbelt and hit the gas. Porsche is one of the most important and iconic automotive manufacturers in history. From its first 356 to today's technical tour de force, the 918, Porsche has advanced from strength to strength for nearly seven decades. In Porsche 70 Years: There is No Substitute, author Randy Leffingwell offers a richly illustrated and detailed book that captures the full story of one of the world's leading automotive companies. Beautiful, contemporary photos and rare historical images accompany in-depth analyses of milestone cars and events.  Created with Porsche's cooperation, the book brings to light the engineering anddesign stories behind Stuttgart's most famous cars--such as the 356, 904, 917, 911, 928, 935, 956 and others—as well as its key players. Comprising the most comprehensive overview of the company's entire history, Porsche 70 Years truly has no substitute.

Outlaw: Part 2


Katana Collins - 2017
    Hotter than hot. These are the bad boys of the Harrison Street Crew, and they answer to no one. They take what they want. And what they want is you.Volume Two of a three-part volume by Katana Collins.Ambitious lawyer Michelle Chiccarini vowed like hell she is going to do her best to prosecute as many criminals as she could. Even if that means trying to put away Patrick Flanagan, a man who can make her pulse quicken and fill her head with dirty, wicked thoughts just by looking at him. She’s got to put him behind bars. But how can she do that, when she can’t even resist his touch?

Optimum Drive: The RoadMap to Driving Greatness


Paul F. Gerrard - 2017
    As a professional racing driver himself as well a driving coach for over 20 years, the author Paul F. Gerrard has penned his unique perspective on what causes people to stagnate with the idea of being merely good, when each of us has the potential to be great. Gerrard believes that peak performance is within our grasp. He lays out his step-by-step process for attaining peak performance with detailed nuance threaded throughout. If you have ever been curious about maximizing your own ultimate potential, Optimum Drive is for you!Mental toughness: Greatness is as hard to quantify as it is to achieve…probably not a coincidence. In this debut book, Optimum Drive, professional driver Gerrard helps you understand the mental toughness that it takes to reach that greatness. He starts off by taking you onto the track as he explores what driving at 200 mph can teach us about who we are. Using his experiences from behind the wheel at death-defying speeds, Gerrard breaks down the psychology of driving, what it takes, and how we can use it to achieve greatness in life.Flow psychology and staying in the zone: The key to the mental toughness that Gerrard believes it takes to achieve peak performance is the nirvana-like sensation of flow psychology or being in the zone. Flow psychology, or being in the zone, is a mental state in which one who is performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and joy. It is through flow psychology that Gerrard introduces a blend of holistic mindset combined with a competitive edge, which is essential to successful professional driving. This mix of guts, tenacity and endurance is the foundation of Gerrard’s philosophy for attaining greatness.Natural vs. earned talent; After flow psychology, you will learn about natural vs earned talent and how the way we drive is representative of who we are. From braking, cornering and accelerating to anticipation vs. reaction, refining a process that defines our greatness in or out of the car.

Red Car, Green Car


Roger Priddy - 2017
    Each spread focuses on a single color, with lively text and fun illustrations of familiar things on the left-hand page, and a little car on the right. Children can then pull the tab and watch the car magically change color and reveal something a little unexpected! Little ones will love deciding which color is their favorite, while learning key first words and color recognition.

Match Race Mayhem: Drag Racing's Grudges, Rivalries and Big Money Showdowns


Doug Boyce - 2017
    In the history of the NHRA, IHRA, and other sanctioning bodies, many classes exist in an effort to make sure the cars racing against each other are as equal as possible. It is a noble, if not futile, pursuit. Two cars face off that have very similar statistics in terms of weight, transmission type, fuel type, estimated horsepower, and all other sorts of measurables. The byproduct is that often the races that were "fair" were not the races that the fans wanted to see.During the golden age of drag racing, fans didn't care as much about class racing as much as they wanted to see scores settled, rivalries battled, and interesting matchups. There were the manufacturer rivalries, Ford versus Chevy, Chevy versus Mopar, Mopar versus Ford, as well as numerous driver rivalries. Match races were also a great way to feature wildly popular cars that no longer had a class in which to compete, yet the fans still wanted to see them. So popular and intense were these races that many track promoters didn't bother to promote class racing at all. Instead, they used the match races as headliners, similar to the marquee at your local arena or a billboard in Las Vegas, all resulting in putting more fans in the stands. And the drivers loved it too. Although the prize money for national events was fairly average for the day, the extra appearance fees and prize money to lure the most popular match racers to events increased the driver's take exponentially. Many of the most popular pro drivers quit class racing altogether just to go match racing.If you are a fan of any class of drag racing from any era, Match Race Mayhem: Drag Racing's Grudges, Rivalries and Big-Money Showdowns is a fun addition to your racing library.

Automotive Upholstery and Interior Restoration


Fred Mattson - 2017
    After disassembling and gutting your car, you can often feel that you're in way over your head. Taking the time to acquire the skills for upholstery may feel like a daunting task, but what if an experienced upholsterer presented every skill you needed for restoring your upholstery in a step-by-step format?This book does just that. Every task you've struggled with in the past is presented in an easy-to-follow, clear, and concise format. Starting with a list of necessary tools, Mattson guides you through various tasks including seat restoration; door panel removal, patterning, assembly, and installation; headliner removal and installation; carpet cutting; and convertible top restoration. The presentation allows for a thorough understanding without spending a dollar at a trade school. Every photo in this book is in color and provides a hands-on approach that shows you how to repair and restore the car's interior to concours, show-quality specifications.Other books in the marketplace may show you a beautifully restored interior, but they don't show you how to produce that beautiful interior. Automotive Upholstery & Interior Restoration helps you develop the needed skillset with instruction from a professional upholsterer without having to spend thousands of dollars outsourcing the restoration.

How to Swap Ford Modular Engines into Mustangs, Torinos and More (Performance How-to)


Dave Stribling - 2017
    If you are considering swapping one of these high-tech engines into a non-original chassis, this book is a vital component to the process.

Shelby American Up Close and Behind the Scenes: The Venice Years 1962-1965


Dave Friedman - 2017
    Prepare for a ride like none other. In 1962 retired racing great Carroll Shelby was looking for his next big move. He'd started a racing school at Riverside Raceway in California, but he really wanted to build his own sports and racing car. He found a promising platform in the British AC Ace, and set about stuffing an American V-8 between the AC's dainty fenders. Thus was born the Shelby Cobra.Shelby set up shop in Venice, California, later in 1962, marking the beginning of the classic Cobra era. It was a near supernatural combination of brilliant designers and wrenches, ever-faster cars, championship-winning teams and drivers, and sheer chutzpah.The Venice shop spawned the 289 Cobra, Daytona Coupe, 427 Cobra, Mustang GT350, Sunbeam Tiger, and more. Eventually the Venice facility could not handle the work, especially when Ford tapped Shelby to create a high-performance version of its new and wildly successful Mustang. Moving to a larger facility and the closer relationship with Ford seemed to diminish the fast and loose nature of the original enterprise. Some of the mojo was lost.Shelby American Up Close and Behind the Scenes takes the reader inside the Venice shop in the critical 1962-1965 period. Author/photographer Dave Friedman was Shelby's official shooter, and he documented everything from Cobra construction to paddock wrenching to race wins. Shelby American Up Close and Behind the Scenes is an insider's look via Friedman's documentary photography and first-person stories from Shelby's key players. It's a must-have review of this critical period in both Shelby's history and the history of American racing.

GTO: Race to Oblivion


Roger Corea - 2017
    He has only two choices: steal the most valuable Ferrari ever made and spend the rest of his life in prison, or have his wife and seven year old son killed by a vindictive assassin.The story begins with the priceless Ferrari GTO prototype being delivered to Genoa by two valued members of Enzo Ferrari’s inner circle, Antonio Grimaldi and Giancarlo Bandini. The GTO will be placed inside a watertight container aboard the SS Andrea Doria, for shipment to Chinetti Motors, a Ferrari dealership in New York City. But the Italian ocean liner sinks near Nantucket in the North Atlantic in July of 1956.Three generations later, Tommy Grimaldi’s best friend, Mike Bender, decides to spend his inheritance attempting to salvage the GTO. When Tommy learns that the name of the person who delivered the GTO to Genoa was also a “Grimaldi”, he and his good friend, Rebecca Ricci, research Tommy’s heritage. Not only do they learn the shocking truth about Antonio, they also uncover a deadly scheme involving Mike.GTO is an amazing story about courage and the ability to turn adversity into a meaningful and productive life. It is about being strong in the face of a devastating injustice and doing the right thing, no matter how compelling the circumstances are to do otherwise.