General Automotive Reviews

Tremendously vivid pictures & detailed stories of Shelby American racing history. Includes all racing history for Shelby GT 350s, Cobras (289 & 427), Can Am, etc. Also includes shots of Shelby America's shops and automobile prototypes. Well worth the money.

I was fascinated by this great book. I highly recomend this book to anyone who likes or loves shelby mustangs.

This practical guide to buying, financing and insuring a car (new or used) comes in compact format, so you can bring it along as you go car-shopping. It gives comprehensive coverage on negotiating on a deal, choosing the right financing alternatives, shopping for insurance, and even has a chapter on selling your car. While price negotiation coverage is not as deep as that in the excellent "What Car Dealers Don't Want You to Know," this book explains clearly the myriad terms used by the car industry, terms that are designed to confuse you into paying more than necessary.

Armed with this book, you'll be able to better understand how to get the best deal for the car you want as well as gain the confidence to do it. Highly recommended.

From the consumer's perspective, the new and used automobile marketplace has changed dramatically in recent months. Smart Wheels/Hot Deals: A Guide To The Best Car For The Right Money provides readers with all of the background information and bargaining tools they need to make smart, dollar-wise decisions about acquiring any car or truck for their personal or professional use. The topics covered including making a deal for a new car; buying versus leasing; finding the right used car; negotiating over a used car; how auto insurance works; shopping for auto insurance; making an auto insurance claim; warranties and service contracts; managing repairs; dealing with a lemon; sell a car; and getting out of a lease. If you are considering the purchase of a new or used vehicle, begin with a careful reading of Smart Wheels/Hot Deals to save money, time, and aggravation.

This book, like the others Colin Campbell has written are loftily written and quite valuable in the technical data provided. The book has many schematic drawings of carburetors, Aston-Martin motors, Porsche motors, etc, and delves into the specific math and physics of each component of a sports car.

It is not a book for learning how to fix your sports car, but it is an excellent starting point for understanding the design and performance issues.

All in all, it is enjoyable and rich reading for any enthusiast.

Great book, great drawings and tables. I found it very informative. We need more books like this.

Super-Duty Earthmovers by Eric C. Orlemann hits you right in the face with colorful pictures of gargantuan machines that you rarely ever see. Orlemann shows various angles of the machines with pictures of humans and automobiles for scale, so that you can put into perspective just how large the machines really are. Overall, Orlemann's usage of big colorful crisp pictures along with stats and miscellaneous information makes Super-Duty Earthmovers a very interesting and enjoyable book. This book is a MUST for earthmoving machinery fans!

This book is a must have for anyone that likes large equipment. The pictures are fantastic, and it's a book that you just can't seem to put down. The equipment is mostly the very large machines used in large scale mining. Loads of equipment that you just don't see working along the highway building the next shopping center. The information has been very well researched and gives vital statistics without overloading the reader.

Eric Orlemann is an author that writes books of such high quality, that they are a must have for the equipment enthusiast.

As an owner of a GT-6, any reference book is helpful. This one is very complete except for the lack of more color pictures. I think one of the interesting things about these cars is there isn't a single source for answers. You have to search for "nuggets" of information. This book is a real "find" for anyone needing information on the Spitfire and GT-6 models. Enjoy.

I found this book to be, over all, very informative. Lots of detailed photos (though almost all are monochrome, other than a few in the middle of the book). One should keep in mind, though, that the cars pictured are UK-spec only, there are NO US-spec cars pictured, so it is really only of interest for exterior/some interior originality here in the US. It would be nice if more charts were included, such as interior/exterior color schemes, etc. Overall, though, for any Spitfire owner, this is a must have!

One gets the impression that the ghostwriter had very little contact with Lutz professionally or personally.

What inspired me to buy this book was a review of it on television which included the title of one of the chapters: "The Customer Isn't Always Right." With a CEO who thinks like that, you know it has to be a good read. Lutz explains his common sense approach to leadership in business, which could apply to any field outside of business as well. A must-buy.

As an automotive broadcaster and historian it was my pleasure to write the review of Bob Lutz's book for the October issue of "Car and Driver" magazine. While most people may not be aware of Mr. Lutz's contributions to the industry, those inside of the car business know he has been the most influential individual the car business has offered us in the past twenty five years. In addition, while other's have published their books of "business wisdown" that were full of abstract theories on how to succeed, what Bob Lutz gives the reader to chapter after chapter of his common sense approach to business. Fortunately Lutz's "Rules of Business" don't apply only to the automobile industry. They would apply to any company trying to move themselves forward. In a perfect world every company in America, whether small or large, would buy a copy of Mr. Lutz's book and distribute it to every employee. It is the finest book on corporate wisdown since Robert Townsend's "Up the Organization" over 25 years ago. It is a shame that a talent like Bob Lutz has retired. The automobile industry will miss him and his talents tremendously. Ed Wallace 570 KLIF AM/Car and Driver/Fox News-Dallas/insideautomotive.com

It was an interesting read as we were traveling across the old roads of route 66 however, there was not much information that was helpful. We stayed at a motel in the midwest that was recommended but, it cost much much more than was indicated in the book and was on of the worst motels I have ever stayed in. Take the book as entertainment only.

This book is quite simply in a league of it's own. I have only done (partially) two of the eleven routes. It's the little things this book has that counts and the highlights of the trip that are listed at the beginning of each chapter are handy.
Of course, this book can't be everything and I would seriously recommend also taking a good comprehensive USA Guide Book from say 'Frommers' with you as sometimes the book misses out on some things along the way that a comprehensive guide book can fill in. I would also recommend having a good road map. The maps in the book aren't the best and since you're not on the Interstate you don't want to take a wrong turn and be in the middle of nowhere lost.
So, If you're planning a Road Trip in the USA check this book out. You won't regret it (plus it's just such a neat book to have in the bookshelf that will never grow old).

I used this book on a trip following the Mississippi, from New Orleans to Chicago, and it made my road trip epic. Without it, I would have missed spectacular yet obscure sights like the restaurant shaped like a mammy in Mississippi and the world's largest ketchup bottle in southern Illinois. You will miss so much if you just drive on the eight-lane interstates, yet seeing the cool stuff on the two-lane roads can be hit or miss without someone to show you the way. Let this book be your guide. A gem for all road trip pilgrims.

My wife and I became interested in Motorcycle riding, and I looked for a book from an Author that shared this interest. Melissa Pierson shares the intimacy she has uncovered for Riding in this book. Along the way, we experience her first motorcycle purchase, personal relationship problems, and ride with her to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Canada, and a difficult riding trip through Germany. She shares with us how the outsider may view the female motorcycle rider. She also gives various accounts of past female riding in history and the motivations behind it. Her enthusiasm for motorcycles is infectious but she is quick to point out the dangers of riding and gives multiple accident stories to dramatize this effectively.
My only negative view on the book is that the latter half of the book involved her seemingly high view of the Moto Guzzi Motorcycle. I don't know personally if these motorcycles are reliable, but she shares breakdown after breakdown story with these cycles, that I began skipping pages that delt with this and I could not help wondering why she would have not picked a more reliable cycle like a Yamaha or a Honda. Other than that, the book is good and would only strenthen interests in freedom riding, and motorcycles in general. (Minus Mrs. Pierson's bias shared for Motor Guzzi's)
David Carlin

I read this book after I'd been riding only a couple of months - at the recommendation of a more experienced rider. "Yes!" I exclaimed - Melissa had captured "in English" what I was feeling but could not articulate. I made a vow to give this book to my girlfriends who couldn't understand why I took up riding "in midlife."

It's 2+ years (and 36K miles) later, and probably time to revist the book as more experienced motorcyclist. Not to critique the book, but to learn more.

Melissa is a gifted writer, who uses motorcycles (and motorcycling) as a metaphor for life itself. She also weaves into the novel 'facts and figures' about motorcyling in the US.

It is a wonderful read - and should be a gift to those loved ones who ask "Why?" This is _not_ 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' - the only thing the two books have in common is their use of a motorcycle to talk about life. I think ZATAOFM is much less accessible to the non-rider than 'The Perfect Vehicle' - it is also darker.

The writer often reminds us her avocation is poet. And she certainly writes like it, tossing in obscure words--argot, benighted--with ease. But it's her self-deprecating sense of humor that makes the book, and she's good for an out-loud chuckle every few pages.

She reserves her tart tongue for the American Iron riders, observing their interest in "freedom" rarely goes beyond loutish behavior, and chronicles the many slights suffered by female riders. She is an apologist for the group as a whole, but her claim that cyclists "organize charity events for children" is faint praise since, nowadays, it's tough to find a group which doesn't.

Her history chapters are well written, but otherwise this book did not change my mind about cycling and its devotees, except to make me wonder whether cyclists, with their gangs, riding groups, events, etc., contrary to the stereotype, are not the most *social* creatures on the planet.

In all a rewarding book, partly because it brings a woman's voice to the subject matter.

Reading like a novel with protagonists, antagonists, and two plot climaxes, CAR is the well-written story of the design and manufacture of the 1996 Ford Taurus. The average reader will get a fascinating insight into the drama and conflict that goes into designing and manufacturing a new automobile. Business people, especially those interested in workplace teams, will find it an opportunity to benchmark (for better or worse) their own organization's behavior against those of a large and well known corporation embarking on a new way of designing and building a product. The book stereotypes engineers socially, but otherwise portrays them in a favorable light

I find that Mary Walton has done an outstanding job in this work. Were it simply a journal of names and events, it wouldn't entertain so well. I read and enjoy the car magazines. I've also worked for GM at a design and manufacturing facility, it could have been the Ford Ms. Walton describes. And although it appears to my fellow reviewers to be an unforgivable faux pas, I actually own a Taurus of this era and I'm quite pleased with it on it's own merits. A limited production styling and engineering exercise is exciting in it's own way, but this story is what happens with the cars actually purchased in the American market, the ones we hold on to for 14.5 years. The Japanese do things a little differently, not necessarily better. Look at the debt loads of the Japanese manufacturers today. Drive a Camray then drive a Taurus on a fast, winding mountain road. The Taurus need make no apology under this criteria. Choose your own, no car will fit them all. I don't want a Corvette, sorry. I can't afford one, it's not worth the insurance to me, I can't carry anyone in it. I'm not interested in reading about it's development. I think Mary Walton did a fine job of going to the heart of the automobile industry in America, uncovering the good and the bad. I was amazed at both the quality of her research and the pace of the book, and it was presented in a fashion that appeals to the avid automobile journal reader. I don't think this makes Ford look bad at all. It's a drama of the American workplace, repeated in other workplaces with different accents in auto manufacturers worldwide. Read the book. If you don't care for the Taurus, especially after reading this book, then think twice about the sausage you ate for breakfast, where it came from. This book is good entertainment.

I picked this book up and couldn't put it down, I'm not even really interested in the process of designing and producing an automobile. The writing style is fun, and while a bit simple it is highly engaging. A nice departure from the facts, figures and bone dry writing I would have expected.

Kristina Osborn
Acquisitions
Columbus College of Art and Design, Packard Library

First, at 15 bucks for 100 pages of a book that looks like it was printed in your neighbor's garage, this book is overpriced. There are no photographs and only a few crude line drawings.

The actual riding advice here is really not advanced at all, and concentrates mostly on weight distribution and line selection--important stuff, but hardly for the advanced rider. A good section on wet weather riding.

Here's the real two-star kicker, though: this book is written with the most bizarre language possible. We need a Jaehne-to-English translation. Hardly a single sentence is written without using either BOLDFACED words, underlined, parenthesis, italics, or words in quotes. It appears more like an outline than it does a finished product. Very, very bizarre style and not at all appropriate for an instructional book.

He throws in a bit of philosophy on how to get around the highway patrol, which is amusing enough.

This should be a free phamplet they give you with a motorcycle safety class, rather than a $15 book. Buy a subscription to Cycle World instead.

The number of books on the market that address the riding skills needed for riding high performance bikes is fairly limited. When I got my first sportbike, I'd borrowed a copy of the second TWIST book from a friend but found it lacking for me in that I wanted something more related to the street riding skills that I'm trying to conquer. I found that this SPORTBIKING book supplied many of the answers that I was looking for and hadn't been able to get from the racetrack stuff in Code's book. It makes sense that to learn to ride better on the street reading a book that directly talks in those terms is a good resource. The book is written in an entertaining way that makes the reading fun while being educational. The actual personal riding experiences that the author combines with each individual riding technique in the book, helped me alot in being able to see the way that each form of bike handling technique could help me in my own riding. I also enjoyed the refreshing viewpoints that the author presents inside. I've already started applying some of the methods I've read in the book to my riding and been amazed at the instant improvements that I've seen. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for some fun reading and to step up their own riding skills. A definite five star effort!

An excellent and easily digestible guide suggesting ways to enjoy sportbiking but reduce the risks of oth accidents and tickets.

This is not a slick, commercial product by a big name, but a book intended for a relatively local market in Northern and Central California where inexperience combined with challenging conditions and powerful bikes available on easy terms have created a high number of incidents and too many fatalities.

However, the advice here is just as relevant on any twisty road and the tips and drills have certainly improved my rising accuracy, cut my reaction times and increased my overall sportbike skills.