Best of
Cars

2018

The Perfect Car: The Biography of John Barnard


Nick Skeens - 2018
    Written with Barnard’s cooperation and with input from dozens of associates, drivers and rivals, this biography tells the entire story, both personal and professional, of a British design genius. Barnard’s technical achievements are explored in detail — and in accessible language — with special emphasis on his brilliant initiatives while at McLaren (the first carbon-fibre composite chassis) and Ferrari (the first semi-automatic gearbox). The Perfect Car is also a human-interest story, telling a tale of innovation under intense pressure while Barnard endeavoured to maintain a stable family life. This is a landmark book that will be relished by anyone interested in motorsport and design.

Williams: A Different Kind of Life


Virginia Williams - 2018
     The racing car constructor was on his way to Nice Airport on a spring afternoon in 1986 when he lost control of his car, suffering horrific injuries in a crash that left him a quadriplegic. For his wife, Ginny, the accident meant taking on new and unwanted roles as head of the household and family decision-maker, while also struggling to overcome the anger and grief she felt after the accident. In A Different Kind of Life, Ginny tells her story with honesty and humor, set against the glamorous backdrop of Formula One racing. She documents life before and after the devastating accident – from falling in love with Frank at first sight to learning how to cope with his needs after he became severely disabled but remained fiercely independent. A testament to the power of compassion and perseverance, A Different Kind of Life is a moving and inspirational story.

Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car—And How It Will Reshape Our World


Lawrence D. Burns - 2018
    Soon, few of us will own our own automobiles and instead will get around in driverless electric vehicles that we summon with the touch of an app. We will be liberated from driving, prevent over 90% of car crashes, provide freedom of mobility to the elderly and disabled, and decrease our dependence on fossil fuels. Autonomy is the story of the maverick engineers and computer nerds who are creating the revolution. Longtime advisor to the Google Self-Driving Car team and former GM research and development chief Lawrence D. Burns provides the perfectly-timed history of how we arrived at this point, in a character-driven and heavily reported account of the unlikely thinkers who accomplished what billion-dollar automakers never dared.Beginning with the way 9/11 spurred the U.S. government to set a million-dollar prize for a series of off-road robot races in the Mojave Desert up to the early 2016 stampede to develop driverless technology, Autonomy is a page-turner that represents a chronicle of the past, diagnosis of the present, and prediction of the future—the ultimate guide to understanding the driverless car and navigating the revolution it sparks.

Driven: The Men Who Made Formula One


Kevin Eason - 2018
    Driven: The Men Who Made Formula One tells how a small group of extraordinary men transformed Formula One from a niche sport played out on primitive tracks surrounded by hay bales and grass verges into a £1 billion circus performing in vast theatres of entertainment all over the world.Led by Bernie Ecclestone, the billionaire ringmaster, this clique started by scraping a living to go racing and ended up creating space-age cars, turning drivers from amateur gladiators into multimillion-pound superstars, like Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton, while the names of Ferrari, McLaren and Williams are now as familiar around the world as Manchester United or Real Madrid. For 20 years, Kevin Eason watched how these men operated like a sporting Mafia, protecting each other while squabbling over the vast wealth pouring into the sport. As motor racing correspondent for The Times and then with The Sunday Times, Eason was privileged to have a ringside seat as this cabal of wealthy characters ruled and then were pushed out of the sport they created. This colourful and compelling account of the extraordinary flourishing of Formula One explores the quirks and extravagances of the men who converged - in one generation - to shape their sport; disparate characters with a common impulse: they were racers - and they were driven.

Fins: Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit


William Knoedelseder - 2018
    It began in the Michigan pine forest in the years after the Civil War, traveled across the Great Plains on the wooden wheels of a covered wagon, and eventually settled in a dirt road village named Hollywood, California, where young Harley took the skills he learned working in his father’s carriage shop and applied them to designing sleek, racy-looking automobile bodies for the fast crowd in the burgeoning silent movie business.As the 1920s roared with the sound of mass manufacturing, Harley returned to Michigan, where, at GM’s invitation, he introduced art into the rigid mechanics of auto-making. Over the next thirty years, he functioned as a kind of combination Steve Jobs and Tom Ford of his time, redefining the form and function of the country’s premier product. His impact was profound. When he retired as GM’s VP of Styling in 1958, Detroit reigned as the manufacturing capitol of the world and General Motors ranked as the most successful company in the history of business.Knoedelseder tells the story in ways both large and small, weaving the history of the company with the history of Detroit and the Earl family as Fins examines the effect of the automobile on America’s economy, culture, and national psyche.

Leading the Way


Steve Letarte - 2018
    

J.D.: : The Life and Death of a Forgotten NASCAR Legend


Brock Beard - 2018
    Watkins Glen, New York. 52-year-old John Delphus “J.D.” McDuffie, Jr. climbs aboard his No. 70 Pontiac, lined up 35th on the grid for NASCAR’s Budweiser at the Glen. For the 653rd time, he pinches a cigar between his teeth and fires the engine. Few take notice of No. 70 as it rolls onto the 2.428-mile road course - only a small group of volunteers, fans, and family back home in Sanford, North Carolina. Even they knew McDuffie had never won a NASCAR race, and likely never would before the big-money teams squeezed him out of the sport. But no one knew that just five laps later, McDuffie would be dead, killed in a terrible two-car accident with fellow racer Jimmy Means. “J.D.: The Life and Death of a Forgotten NASCAR Legend” tells the true story of J.D. McDuffie, one of stock car racing’s most beloved owner-drivers. It’s the tale of a man who honed his skills as a mechanic and built his own team from the ground-up, his No. 70 banging fenders with the likes of Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. It’s also about the close-knit group of supporters who came together to make sure McDuffie made it to the track in a rapidly-changing sport. And it’s about that tragic weekend at Watkins Glen, the investigation that followed, and the legacy he’s left behind. Top to bottom, it’s one of the most comprehensive stories of any race car driver, and a tribute to NASCAR’s blue-collar past.

The Perfect Car: The Biography of John Barnard - Motorsport's Most Creative Designer


Nick Skeens - 2018
    Written with Barnard's cooperation and with input from dozens of associates, drivers and rivals, this biography tells the entire story, both personal and professional, of a British design genius. Barnard's technical achievements are explored in detail--and in accessible language--with special emphasis on his brilliant initiatives while at McLaren (the first carbon-fiber composite chassis) and Ferrari (the first semi-automatic gearbox). The Perfect Car is also a human-interest story, telling a tale of innovation under intense pressure while Barnard endeavoured to maintain a stable family life. This is a landmark book that will be relished by anyone interested in motorsport and design.

Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics and the Making of an Automobile Empire


Luca Dal Monte - 2018
    When he died ninety years later, the company he built stood at the top of a global industry, with the Ferrari name universally recognized for performance, racing prowess, and state-of-the-art Italian design. Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automotive Empire is the definitive account of an epic life.Drawing on years of original research conducted in Italy and abroad, author and Ferrari insider, Luca Dal Monte, uncovers a wealth of new facts about Enzo's origins, ambitions, business practices, and private life. The book revisits all the highlights of Ferrari's rise to greatness: his driving career in the 1920s; his management of racing teams for Alfa Romeo in the 1930s; the launch of his own company and team in the late 1940s, and his unprecedented successes building cars for the road and race track in the following decades. But the book also examines lesser-known and sometimes hidden aspects of Ferrari's career, from his earliest failed business ventures to his political dealings with Italy's Fascist government, Allied occupiers, and even Communist leaders. And it lays bare the internal politics of the Ferrari company and team, whose leader manipulated employees, drivers, competitors and the media with a volatile mixture of brute force, paranoia, and guile.Accompanying the in-depth text are extensive endnotes along with a full bibliography and index. The book is illustrated with four separate sections of photos, exhibits and artefacts, and opens with a foreword by former Ferrari president Luca Di Montezumolo, who previously served as the company's Formula One team manager.This is truly the definitive biography of Enzo Ferrari, one that makes previous accounts obsolete. Its depth, scale, and detail make it essential reading for automotive and motorsport enthusiasts. But other readers will be drawn to a sweeping story of Italian life, business, and culture during the 20th century.

Tesla Model S


Emily Rose Oachs - 2018
    The combination of high-interest subject matter and light text is intended for students in grades 3 through 7"--

Withholding Nothing


Victoria Bright - 2018
    First, my "good idea at the time" revenge plan lands me in hot water. Then I total my car. A few thousand dollars in damages later, and I'm snagging a job as a phone sex operator and searching for a roommate to help with my "stay out of jail" fund. And my new roomie? The smoking hot douchebag fixing my car. What more could go wrong?O’SheaMy life is a bigger mess than the totaled-out sedan I'm piecing back together. After my girlfriend rejects my proposal, I end up searching for new accommodations, not to mention spending my evenings and entertainment money on a phone sex operator. It's a bit of harmless fun to help me forget…until I meet my new roommate. Because the second I do, I recognize her voice. The one that's promised me filthy, dirty things over the phone. And now that the truth is out, I want to share a lot more with her than refrigerator space.

Tom Cotter's Best Barn-Find Collector Car Tales


Tom Cotter - 2018
    Tom Cotter's Best Barn-Find Collector Car Tales†‹ pulls together his best barn find stories from America and around the globe.  Tom Cotter bought his first barn find some 50 years ago and has never looked back. Over the proceeding decades, he has continued to unearth automotive gems, some of which reside in his garage and others found just for the pleasure of the hunt. Tom's passion for automotive archaeology has made him a nexus for other barn finders, whose stories he has collected for more than 20 years. He’s further expanded the scope of his passion as host for The Barn Find Hunter, a Hagertys-sponsored webcast with over 20 episodes now available.Tom Cotter's Best Barn-Find Collector Car Talespulls together the very best stories from Cotter’s previous books and adds several new tales, all of which are presented in this handsome hardcover edition. From Shelby Cobras, to classic Duesenbergs, to Harley hoards and lost supercars, Cotter brings to light the most amazing, outrageous, and unexpected finds he and his barn-finding brethren have discovered.

Drive Me Crazy


Mysti Parker - 2018
    But he didn’t get his thrills behind the wheel. Drivers wanted speed and handling, and he could make that happen. He’d been hours away from working his dream job with a pit crew when a freak accident took that chance away.Now he works a crap job as a parade float builder in Brooklyn. Then Ellison Carlisle, a rich girl from Kentucky, has the nerve to tell him to accept his fate. What does she know about pain? But damn, she’s got the curves to match her smart mouth, and that's a mouth he’s having a hard time resisting.For Ellie, moving to Brooklyn was supposed to be a fresh start. She’s homesick, but getting away from painful memories in Lexington is worth the change. Until she meets Luke, the hotheaded city boy who’s entirely too sexy for his attitude.Her track record for boyfriends is 0 for 3. Is it worth the risk to try to break that big chip on Luke’s shoulder, or is he another lost cause?*****A hotheaded city boy clashes with a headstrong country girl in the first book of this hot NEW series from award-winning author Mysti Parker and co-author MJ Post! Preorder now for just $0.99! The race begins January 19. Start your engines...

Mustang by Design: Gale Halderman and the Creation of Ford's Iconic Pony Car


James Dinsmore - 2018
    When Ford launched the Mustang, it created an automotive revolution. Award-winning designer and stylist Gale Halderman was at the epicenter of the action at Ford, and, in fact, his initial design sketch formed the basis of the new Mustang. He reveals his involvement in the project as well as telling the entire story of the design and development of the Mustang.Authors and Mustang enthusiasts James Dinsmore and James Halderman go beyond the front doors at Ford into the design center, testing grounds, and Ford facilities to get the real, unvarnished story. Gale Halderman offers a unique behind-the-scenes perspective and firsthand account of the inception, design, development, and production of the original Mustang. With stinging losses from the Edsel fresh in minds at Ford, the Mustang project was an uphill battle from day one. Lee Iacocca and his assembled team had a herculean task to convince Henry Ford II to take a risk on a new concept of automobile, but with the help of Hal Sperlich's detailed market research, the project received the green light. Henry Ford II made it clear that jobs were on the line, including Iacocca's, if it failed.The process of taking a car from sketch to clay model to prototype to preproduction and finally finished model is retraced in insightful detail. During the process, many fascinating experimental cars, such as the Mustang I two-seater, Mustang II prototype, Mustang Allegro, and Shorty, were built. But eventually the Mustang, based on the existing Ford Falcon, received the nod for final production. In a gala event, it was unveiled at the World's Fair in New York. The Mustang received public accolades and critical acclaim, and soon it became a runaway hit. After the initial success, Ford designers and Gale Halderman designed and developed the first fastback Mustangs to compliment the coupes. The classic Mustang muscle cars to follow, including the GT, Mach 1, and others, are profiled as well.The Mustang changed automotive history and ushered in the pony car era as a nimble, powerful, and elegantly styled sports coupe. But it could so easily have stumbled and wound up on the scrap pile of failed new projects. This is the remarkable and dramatic story of how the Mustang came to life, the demanding design and development process, and, ultimately, the triumph of the iconic American car.

The American Speed Shop: The Birth and Evolution of Hot Rodding


Bob McClurg - 2018
    Books and magazines have covered the cars, builders, pioneers, engineers, early racers, muscle cars, street racers, etc.. Most take a nostalgic and fun look at the cars that many have loved their entire lives. Some even cover the lifestyle, the hobby as it involves people, and the effort, time, and commitment people put into it. It is more than just a hobby to most, and to many, a certain wave of nostalgia comes over them when remembering what the car scene was like "back in the day."The local speed shop is an important element of the nostalgic feeling that people have when fondly remembering their hot rodding youth. Speed shops were not just parts stores, they were a communal gathering place for car guys wanting to talk smart, bench race, and catch up on the local scene, as well as to solicit the expert advice from the owner or staff behind the counter.Here, longtime hot rodder and industry veteran Bob McClurg brings you the story of the era and the culture of speed shops as told through individual shop's histories and compelling vintage photography. He covers the birth of the industry, racing versus hot rodding, mail-order, and advertising wars. You learn about the performance boom of the 1960s and 1970s, lost speed shops as well as survivors, and a overview of the giant mail-order speed shops of today.

The Road to Inequality: How the Federal Highway Program Polarized America and Undermined Cities


Clayton Nall - 2018
    For decades, federally subsidized highways have selectively facilitated migration into fast-growing suburbs, producing an increasingly non-urban Republican electorate. This book examines the highway programs' policy origins at the national level and traces how these intersected with local politics and interests to facilitate complex, mutually-reinforcing processes that have shaped America's growing urban-suburban divide and, with it, the politics of metropolitan public investment. As Americans have become more polarized on urban-suburban lines, attitudes towards transportation policy - a once quintessentially 'local' and non-partisan policy area - are now themselves driven by partisanship, endangering investments in metropolitan programs that provide access to opportunity for millions of Americans.

Speed Read Mustang: The History, Design and Culture Behind Ford's Original Pony Car


Donald Farr - 2018
    Get a full look at every iconic Mustang model, from the first car to bear the name that became the fastest selling car of all time, to the astounding 526-horsepower supercar Mustang produces today. In sections divided by topic, you'll explore the design and launch of the first Mustang at the 1964 World's Fair; a history of every generation of Mustang; the various body styles, options, and accessories; a review of the performance models; a profile of Carroll Shelby and the Mustangs he designed; special editions, like the Sprint, ASC/McLaren, and police pursuit vehicles; and, of course, the Mustang's racing legacy. Each section ends with a glossary of related terms, and informational sidebars provide fun facts, historical tidbits, and mini-bios of key people in Mustang history. Sleek illustrations showcase Mustangs in their many forms. With Motorbooks’ Speed Read series, become an instant expert in a range of fast-moving subjects, from Formula 1 racing to the Tour de France. Accessible language, compartmentalized sections, fact-filled sidebars, glossaries of key terms, and event timelines deliver quick access to insider knowledge. Their brightly colored covers, modern design, pop art–inspired illustrations, and handy size make them perfect on-the-go reads.

Hot Wheels: From 0 to 50 at 1:64 Scale


Kris Palmer - 2018
    Officially licensed with Mattel, this in-depth retrospective reveals what makes these cars unique, how the models are designed, and all the work that goes into the play to ensure Hot WheelsTM maintain their position as the greatest toy cars ever made. This special anniversary book is lavishly illustrated with rare design drawings and prototypes from Mattel’s archives as well as fantastic photos of all of the great Hot WheelsTM vehicles from across their 50-year history—and it comes in a replica Hot WheelsTM car-carrying case. It’s the perfect vehicle for Hot WheelsTM fans of all ages!