General Automotive Reviews

I have followed the work of Ed Roth and the late "Von Dutch" since 1953. The word Pioneer doesn't even begin with the work these men have done over the last 45 years. Dutch started the trend of "Free Form" pinstriping, along with painted "figures" and some very unique "Flame Painting" back in the 1950s. Roth started building some very unique vehicles, way ahead of their time. He called himsef a "speed striper" which was a rapid form of pinstriping i,e, "no following around with fine details" yet the work was quite good. This book shows the best examples of both Roth and Dutch, and contains photos that we all thought were lost years ago. "Von Dutch" (a.k.a. Kenneth Howard) was a very underrated man, who was filled with talent and skills that would revel most of today's artists. It was a tragic loss when he died a very lonely man. Roth did a Video of Dutch in the late 1970s, which really showed the "methods to his madness."

I personally have given a tribute to both these men by building a copy of the sign painters box (made in 1919) given to Dutch by his father. Roth has pinstriped a few of these for his charity auctions. This book is a treasure to the art of pinstriping and the "Kustom Kulture" movement.

While being a big fan of "Big Daddy Roth", I still appreciate his hot-rod artwork. Shortly after finishing the book, I gave it to "Big Daddy Dean Paulsen", the man who taught Ed Roth everything he knows. Paulsen was pleased to know his understudy is still alive and well.

If you ever wanted to learn about the masters of hot rod art, this is a good place to start. While not the difinitive history of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth,Von Dutch or Robert Williams, this book delves into the rude awakenings of this all American art form. A damn good read.(I just looked at the pictures!!!!)

I read this book on the 'plane from Seattle to Chicago a week or so ago. Given the period '89-'98 that the book covers, I was pleasantly surprised to see the included material on project 'Tempest' (Discovery II) released in 1999.

The author clearly had personal contact with many of the Landrover engineers and project staff for all three Discovery projects, and this added immensely to the value.

Much of the material is apparently leveraged from earlier magazine articles which likely helped it be factually accurate based on Land Rover staff available when the article was first published.

Thoroughly recommended for the Land Rover fan.

It is about the "old" Discovery (1989-1998) and James Taylor is probably the best person to tell us the story of this great vehicle. Every Discovery owner must have a copy of this book to understand the project evolution since 1989, with good information about its changes along those years (engines, gear boxes, electronics etc). There are good tips for those who want to buy a good second hand Discovery. In the end, Taylor describes the "New Discovery" project launched in 1999.

If you own a Discovery, irrespective of the country you are in, you will get a lot of info from this book. The Author has researched it well, and covers all the issues I wanted to know about my vehicle. Some of the photos are great, I esp. like the convertible model - a shame they were never put that one into production - I want one of those! This is not a technical manual as such, but it still has a lot of facts & figures. It is also helpful if you are considering options from other models and want to see what they look like. I have an ES model, but would like to get the factory wheel arch flares, and I know what they would look like... Recommended for a Discovery or Land Rover enthusiast, or if you intend to purchase one and want to do your research.

This is an easy-to-read book that saves you bundles. Simple as that

This is a great book! It took me about an hour to read and it saved me a boatload on my lease! Intelligently written and easy to read, this one is a must-read if you're shopping. I especially liked the lease vs. buy stuff.

'Look Before You Lease' is a must for anyone even considering leasing an automobile. The author sets out the facts and figures in plain English. In so doing, he makes the often incomprehensible mumbojumbo of the dealers and their leasing contracts easy to understand. Armed with the knowledge of how the leasing process works, and the tools to tell one when they're paying too much, the reader is given much greater leverage when walking through the lessor's door to strike a deal. The money to be saved is worth the price of the book several times over.

This is a fabulous book! It has a full gallery of awesome color pics of police motorcycles, and eye-catching information on them as well. Plus there are sidebars covering topics like the pros and cons of each brand of police 'cycle, police motorcycles in pop-culture, the relations motorcycle officers have between other kinds of law enforcement officers(patrol car, air unit, mounted, etc.), police bicycles, and off-road police motorcycles. Great pics, great info, GREAT book. A must for any enthusiast of motorcycles, police vehicles, or just police motorcycles in general.

This book is a great for the novice who is interested in police motorcycles and the officers who ride them. Pros and cons of each brand of bike, qualifications to be a motor officer, equipment and more are covered here. Great companion to Genat's incredible book "Harley Davidson Police Motorcycles". Heck, buy 'em both!

I really enjoyed this book because it not only gives you great pictures of police motorcycles (Which there are plenty of!), but it also talks about the equipment both on the bikes and the officers use while on patrol. I also enjoyed the section on training and what it is like to be on patrol on a police motorcycle.

I have purchased many tractors over the last 25 years and I wish that I would have had this book all the while. The Nebraska tests evolved to provide the farmer with a standard of comparison to gauge his power requirements. Many manufactures prior to these tests boasted claims, but there was no real way to be sure. This book explains the need for this program and gives complete and comprehensive results for 'every' test. I find it a very interesting and informative authority of tractor power and reliability.

Charles H. Wendel's tireless research provides a very compelling volume of information for the farmer, collector, restorer, or enthusiast. Presented chronologically, the volume offers technical data on hundreds of makes and models, ranging from John Deere, International and Minneapolis-Moline, to lesser know and specialty tractors such as David Brown, Bates Steel Mule, and Big Bud.

Each tractor's technical information is accompanied by a photo (in some cases and actual photo of the tractor at the test lab). Data is incorporated directly into the text and the volume is very well edited.

The Nebraska tests were the one thing that standardized tractor ratings. This book is full of information that can be found in bits and pieces elsewhere,but is complete, from the testing lab to you,in this volume. A must have for the serious tractor hobbiest or professional. Lots of good pictures and info on even some of the rarest of tractors.

This is a wonderful book with lots of info. I expected it to be okay and nothing to rave about but as I noticed when I read it, it was indeed fantastic. I am glad it was a good book, it will make a wonderful gift for the Z fan in my life. Too bad it is out of print!!!

A fascinating book for any owner or dreamer of the 90-96 Z cars. Filled with great facts and stories. Especially interesting is the initial goal the Company set for itself in designing the world's number one sports car. You learn how various designs and decisions were made in developing this legend. You also learn about the men behind the car and how they all contributed to it's success. This Z car always won Car and Driver's top 10 award every year and for good reason. You can buy more expensive cars, and you can buy more exotic and faster, but dollar for dollar the Z car is truly the best sports car in the world. I just wish this book wasn't so short in length, but like all great reads, you finish and want more.

If you own a Nissan Z car, you absolutely must own this book. I've read it three times so far and still don't know all there is to know about Nissan's famous Z Car. The book is packed with information on the design and development of the 1990+ Nissan 300ZX. It also has a few chapters covering the early Z cars and also some great information on Nissan's racing efforts.

This is one of two books written by Margolies which I have just re-read. (The other is Ticket to Paradise.) Regrettably, copies of both are now difficult to obtain but well-worth the effort. Each focuses on what may seem to be a highly specialized subject. In fact, both offer a wealth of information and commentary concerning a basic component within the development of U.S. culture. This volume focuses on the "glory days of the gas station." At least some readers of this review recall traveling across the country decades ago and pulling over where they could fill up their vehicle's gas tank. For many summers, I drove from Chicago to Los Angeles along Route 66 and stopped at several of the locations featured in this book. I have forgotten when but, at some point, the filling station became a service station. Upon arrival, an eager stranger appeared to fill up the tank, check the oil and tire pressure, wash the windows, and encourage me to purchase a canvas bag filled with water in the event the summer heat depleted the water in the radiator. One attendant who resembled Gabby Hayes noted that I might also need extra water "if this thing of yours breaks down in the middle of nowhere."

Margolies organizes his material within five chapters: Pump and Circumstance (signage); Pioneer Days (road maps); Golden Age: 1920-1940 (Pop Architecture, Aircraft, Razzmatazz: Kid Stuff, Believe it or Not!, Razzmatazz: That's Entertainment!, and Deco Moderne); "Going, Going...: 1940-1965 (Razzmatazz: Postwar Frolics, Porcelain Enamel, restrooms, and Razzmatazz: The Best of the Best; and Back to the Future: 1965-1990. The book is filled with superb illustrations (the best of which being archival photographs) and the text is based on a wealth of primary sources. Chapter 3 was especially interesting to me because it examines (with some of the best graphics in the book) various gas station architectures which include the Gulf Lighthouse Service Station (Miami Beach, FL), windmill-shaped buildings (Saint Cloud, MN), shell-shaped Shell gas stations (Winston-Salem, NC), the B-17 "Bomber Gas Station" (the plane installed above the pumps in Milwaukee, WI), "Bob's Airmail Service Station" built around a 32-passenger Fokker plane (Los Angeles, CA), and a zepplin-shaped building grounded beside the Pennzoil pumps (near Pittsburgh, PA). Photographs of most of these facilities are included, accompanied by brief but informative commentaries.

I highly recommend this book (as well as Ticket to Paradise) to those who share my interest in icons such as the gas station. Its evolution has been inextricably involved in the cultural history of the United States.

Margolies has done his homework. In addition to a good written history of the "filling station," he has come up with photos and postcards depicting all aspects of delivering gasoline to your hungry tank. Following are just a few:

A station shaped like a red and white teapot, complete with pouring spout, in Zillah, Washington, built in 1922.

A 50 foot high tepee shaped gas station from Lawrence, Kansas, built in 1930

A station with a roof shaped like a red cowboy hat with a 50 foot wide brim, and restrooms in a structure shaped like a pair of cowboy boots, in Seattle, Washington, built just after World War II.

A station utilizing an actual B-17 Bomber overhanging the gas pumps from Milwaukie (sic), Oregon, again built just after World War II.

A flying saucer service station from Ashtabula, Ohio, built in 1966.

There are lighthouses, windmills, giant soda bottles, icebergs, and a myriad of other shapes and styles including art-deco, ceramic tile, cape cod, and just plain wooden sheds and concrete blocks.

The book includes a written history of filling stations from tanks atop horse-drawn carts to today's stations. Every kind of pump from hand cranked to coin operated to visible level to today's 24 hour automated pump are displayed and discussed. There are men's and women's uniforms, and there are advertising slogans, signs, very artistic give-away road maps, and even a discussion of the evolution of "the clean restroom" as an advertising feature.

We live in the era of the automobile, and PUMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE is, in addition to being brainfood for the nostalgia buff in all of us, a history of that still unfolding era.

This is the kind of coffee table book that any over 30 guest in your home will be drawn to and, pointing at some illustration, say, "Hey, I remember those."

This handsome book arouses my nostalgia for the good old days of motoring both visually and educationally. Besides tracing the evolution of gas-station architecture, gas pumps themselves, and petrol merchandising, the book displays top-quality photo reproduction. This is especially to be appreciated for the way it shows the details in the older pictures, which were made in the days of slow, fine-grain films. And the book's generous page size helps the photos stand out, too. There's a good bibliography to further stoke the nostalgia.

I just got Renault 12TN Estate and I want to rebuild it ( in resto custom ), off course I need all information about Renault 12TN Estate.

disculpen el idioma pero tengo un renault 12 1982 ,en cd mexico necesito imagenes e informacion hacerca de este modelo gracias y saludos

sorry i dont speak english but i a entusiast of renault 12 car

I've just finished reading the very best driving book ever - Speed Secrets 2. While all the other books I've read (and that's just about all of them) are useful for drivers just beginning, this book is great for drivers like me - I've been racing for 9 years. It's made me think about my driving in a way I've never done before.

I've been a big fan of Ross Bentley's writings since I first read Speed Secrets. Inner Speed Secrets, while more challenging, made a big difference to my racing. Now, Speed Secrts 2 may be his best book yet. It's certainly the most in-depth and detailed book I've read on the subject - and I've read a lot. It's a perfect combination of Bentley's mental and physical approach to racing. While I'm not planning on making a career driving race cars, I now know exactly what it takes to do so. The chapter on the "complete driver" is fasinating, and like he says, it's almost a "job description" for a modern-day professional driver. If I was planning on making a career driving race cars, this is where I'd start. And the last chapter is the best - I must have read and re-read it 20 times now. This is the best driving book written.

If you liked Speed Secrets or Inner Speed Secrets, the author's two earlier books with similar titles, you'll enjoy this one too. This takes off where those two books left off and adds a lot more advanced stuff. I've definitely seen the benefits, in terms of both confidence on the track and in my lap times, from applying the techniques in all three of these books. Bentley obviously has spent a lot of time thinking about how to drive a race car, but he's able to convey his insights in a very clear fashion that's easy to understand and fun to read.

For anyone interested in the early days of Honolulu, or in the role that streetcars played in shaping urban life, this book is a wonderful experience. Through an amazing amount of detailed research, it recreates how the streetcar provided the focus for the everyday movement of residents around the city, and in fact was a determinant in how the city constantly expanded its boundaries. Accompany the fascinating story is a wealth of original photographs, many of them colorized in elegant and tasteful tones. It's a beautifully produced book of the highest quality. It will draw anyone who sees it to open it, and will delight anyone who ventures into its realm.

Simpson and Brizdle's book is a delight to read or "breeze through." The writing is superb, the graphics terrific, and the organization and layout top notch. A lot of fun! And a great lesson in history as well. We recommend it for anyone interested in Hawaii, street cars, or just a non-run-of-the-mill coffee table book. We have ours out, and people always comment on it!

Although I assisted in a small way in the research of this book, I can honestly say it is well worth obtaining. The book is about the streetcars that used to ply the streets of Honolulu from the turn of the century up to 1941. The company was HRT&L and later just HRT (Honolulu Rapid Transit). The streetcars were actually responsible for the expansion of the neighborhoods in Honolulu. The photos used are fabulous with many of them color tinted just for this book. There are several interviews of former HRT employees, and residents that remember riding the streetcars. The author and publisher did months of research, and hundreds of interviews to get the facts straight! This is a great book for anyone that loves to take a step back in time to a slower pace of life. It is especially enjoyable because it takes place in Hawaii which is my favorite place on the planet. There is also a chapter in the book on HRT trolley buses which replaced the streetcars. I highly recommend this book.