Great car reads to wrap up under tree for your gearhead
With the holidays quickly approaching, here are a handful of books you could pick up for the car enthusiast on your shopping list:
History’s Greatest Automotive Mysteries, Myths, and Rumours
Revealed, by Preston Lerner and Matt Stone; Hardcover, 256 Pages, 68 colour and 80 black and white photos, $26.
This book is pure trivia fun. From rumours to urban myths, it’s all about the machines and people that have been somehow entwined in the 100-year-plus history of the automobile. What’s true and what’s not? Authors Preston Lerner and Matt Stone keep things entertaining and not too technical as they introduce you to stories never heard before and shed light on ones that we think we know all about.
“TV” Tommy Ivo — Drag Racing’s
Master Showman, by Tom Cotter Hardcover, 240 Pages, 151 colour and 109 black and white photos, $28.
This is the story of drag racing’s first celebrity showman, Tommy Ivo. As a child star of Broadway, movies and television, Ivo was more interested in being a professional drag racer than an actor. This fascinating story introduces us to those who would become famous in their own right, like a young Don Prudhomme who got his first taste of life on the road working for Ivo.
Flush with cash at the height of his acting career, Ivo built some of drag racing’s finest and wildest cars, taking them on tour in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Fiery burnouts, glass-sided transport trailers and model car replicas, all were innovations brought to the scene by Ivo. Witness the birth of his wild four blown-engined dragster, the Showboat, in 1961.
Author Tom Cotter captures the sights and personalities of drag racing’s golden age. If you’re nostalgic about drag racing, this book is a must-have for your collection.
Rockin’ Garages — Collecting, Racing & Riding with Rock’s Great
Gearheads, by Tom Cotter and Ken Gross; Hardcover, 192 Pages, 217 colour and three black and white photos, $35.
Cars and rock and roll have been together since the guitar was electrified. Idolized in lyrics and featured on album covers to music videos, the combination is like peanut butter and chocolate. Both are good by themselves but together they’re a delight!
Authors Tom Cotter and Ken Gross hooked up with photographer Michael Alan Ross to bring readers backstage into the 20 garages of music’s hardcore gearheads.
You will meet the likes of Jimmie Vaughn, Billy Joel, Brian Johnson (AC/DC), J Geils, Brad Whitford (Aerosmith), Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Kenny Wade Sheppard, Sammy Hagar and others, each spending as much time behind the wheel as they can on the road and the racetrack. Check out their hot rods, customs, muscle cars, motorcycles, race cars, and sports cars, a variety of vehicles that is as eclectic as rock and roll itself.
Snake vs. Mongoose — How a Rivalry Changed Drag Racing
Forever, by Tom Madigan Hardcover, 160 Pages, 46 colour and 76 black and white images, $35 (on sale $26.25 at www. qbookshop.com).
As a kid who grew up in the ’60s on a diet of model car kits and Hot Wheels, the dynamic duo of Tom (The Mongoose) McEwen and Don (The Snake) Prudhomme was legendary. This was the first time a major sponsorship deal was brought to the sport of drag racing. It was McEwen who persuaded toymaker Mattel to back himself and Prudhomme not as teammates but as rivals in the burgeoning class of funny cars. These flip-up fibreglass-bodied machines were powered by nitro-burning, supercharged motors that spat fire and shook the ground with their smoky burnouts.
A visual delight of 1970s pop design and graphics, Snake vs. Mongoose is a must for those who idolized these two characters. In related news, fans are excited to know that a feature film titled Snake and Mongoose is scheduled for release in 2013. Several of Prudhomme’s personal race cars and other vintage dragsters will be front and centre in this movie about drag racing’s greatest rivalry. (www. snakeandmongoosemovie.com)
Carroll Shelby — The Authorized
Biography, by Rinsey Mills Hardcover, 464 pages, 25 colour and 40 black and white photos, $35 (on sale $26.25 at www. qbookshop.com).
The automotive world lost one of its icons this year with the death of Carroll Shelby. The term “legendary” is often over-used but the man from Texas was a true legend in every sense of the word. With his humble roots as a chicken farmer in Texas who loved to build fast cars and race them against the odds, to the developer of some of the most successful racing cars in the world, beating the likes of Ferrari and Porsche at Le Mans. His relationship with Ford Motors brought performance to the streets with the Shelby Mustangs such as the GT 350 and GT 500. Even today, Ford’s premier Mustang carries the Shelby name and iconic snake logo.
Author Rinsey Mills gets the inside story from the man himself with unprecedented access to Shelby’s personal collection of photos and documents. Published a mere month before his death at the age of 89, this is no quick get-published deal. This book is the complete, authorized biography of Carroll Shelby, the story every enthusiast has always wanted to read.