Alright, I dont think this has been done, and im sure some of you guys have some good light and heavy reading car books out there that you love reading over and over.. What is your favorate car book? No the history of Porsche doesnt count, No it cant have pictures in it, The secret to solo racing is not what I mean. I'll put mine down.

The Car (ironic..)
By Gary Paulsen

Bout a kid who's parents separate, and his dad hates him, but his dad got a kit car as part of a trade but never built it. so the kid builds this car and then goes out to explore the country, pretty cool book.


What about you???

Andrew

Do you guys even read?

OK 914 tech tips 700

By George A. Hussey, IV

Dr 914

Is that the extent of your reading (sorry, I was looking for actual books, like fictional, not infobooks)?

Here's a little about The Car..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0440219183...416#reader-page

Andrew

anyone? Am I going to have to go to the PP 911 board???

I read everything I can get my hands on. I have a BA in Eng. Its hard to pick one, but Pat Conroy writes very well. P wise I'm reading Excellence was Expected. Very Interesting and inspiring. Have to say the Bible too (no I'm not a bible thumper).

Well if its hard to pick one, then write the one's that your contemplaing. Im trying to find car books to fill my shelf..

Maybe I should change the title to List your favorate car books...

Now Im not saying that I dont like reading the bible, but I didnt know that the bible was a car book.. Im talking books with CARS... Sorry if I got you confused

Andrew

The way some people drive - it might not be a bad idea. Read Excellence was Expected.

Isnt it a history book? Although I agree with you on the driving...

Andrew

"Before We Were Old" by Sir Robert Chummingham Fortely Nerminson, Duke of Westfordton Chessney.

It's about a teenage lesbian vampire mechanic, who stalks William Shatner, in an aubergine 911.


M

Lol, oh ya, Man I cant wait till I get that from amazon!! My mom will love reading it with me!



Andrew

Is your mom a trekkie?

Shatner fans! All of yas!


M

No, she aint no trekkie.. I guess im missing something..

Andrew

Odd......I'm an avid reader, but I can't think of a memorable novel about cars.

But why a novel? The real histories are so much more interesting. I just reread (something I seldom do with a novel) Pete Lyon's "Can Am" .....great stuff.....with lotso pictures so's I didn't have to move my lips.

It's not a car book but "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is a classic.
I enjoyed it. A road trip on an old BMW bike is a lot like one in a teener.

I got "Montezuma's Ferrari" for Christmas, but I haven't read it yet.

After composing notes, entering recorded statement outlines, and reading abreviated notes screens all day. I take a little time to read more stuff here. That's about all the idle time I can spend in one day. I try to go out in the shop lately and work on the car. Who has more time than that?

i'm doing a lot of 911 research so that's the centerpiece of what's currently relevant. however, if i had to pick only one "car book" it'd be without question Mark Donohue's "The Unfair Advantage."

for all-round technical basis, "Race Car Engineering and Dynamics" by Paul van Valkenburgh, the guy who ghost-wrote Donohue's book, and - of course - everything written by Carroll Smith taken together as a "body of work" on how to design, build, and prepare a racing car.

although i don't take it off the shelf very often, one of my most prized books is "100 Years of Porsche - mirrored in contemporary history" countersigned by Dr Porsche.

Vegas, I read a fair number of novels and various history topics, anything from what are considered good books to pulp. I say this just to establish a claim that I can read. Last year I tried once again to read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" which I have had for years. 2/3rds of the way through I quit. I rarely do not finish a book, but I just couldn't continue. I know a lot of people like it, but I guess it's not for me. I did leave a book marker at my stopping point, so maybe I'll try again.

JP, I'm with you on the Pete Lyons Can-Am history. Also his Chaparral history. And related, I love the Dave Friedman photo books Chaparral, McLaren, Lola, Grand Sport Corvette and all of his Ford and Cobra books. Lots of pretty pictures. I recently read that Friedman has a monster Corvette racing book coming out.

ArtechnikA, I read "The Unfair Advantage" last spring while on a beach vacation. I really enjoyed it. What a shame Mark Donohue was killed. Grand Prix, and racing drivers in general, were so much more vulnerable to fatal accidents in his day.

Mike

Miles,

Could you loan me your copy of "Before We Were Old"? I can't seem to find it at the public library.

Mike

Here's one, The Distance to the Moon by James Morgan.

It's a story of a writer trying to do research about America and its love of the car but really it's about a guy on a road trip in a borrowed Porsche Boxter.

Either you will love it or hate it.


mort 914

73 Yellow 914 1.7

this goes way back. a book titled "Hot Rod". boy has car and no mech abilities. meets tool wench. they build a car. both are in car. they are racing. something breaks and they go off the road into a river. they die. the end. cool when you are in the 6th grade. the author wrote a number of teen angst/car related novels.

kevin

Stephen King had a good one that held my interest... Christine

then there's always the Clive Cussler books with DIRK PITT!

Spock, is that you?

........b

Christine is one af the only car books that I can think of, so it has to be the best. Anything Stephen King is good, IMHO.

Dirk Pitt is always driving some exotic classic. Usually big old stuff, but I remember a 427 Cobra in one book. He lives in an aircraft hanger and has 50 classics, a train car, and I think an airplane parked inside. All this on a government salary? Yeah, right.

I read the Clive Cussler books. A perfect example of a writer recycling the same plot lines year after year. And they're all best sellers - $$$.

Mike

Anybody remember "Stroker Ace". There were a coulple of novels in the series. I read one many moons ago. It was a comedy about stock car racing starring, who else but, Stroker Ace.

How about "Burn". Can't remember the author, but he wrote a couple of novels with the same main character. In "Burn" someone was trying to stage an F1 race in Phoenix, start a US F1 team, kill someone, steal some money, etc. The usual activities surrounding auto racing.

Mike

Mike, I think the book your're thinking of is the immortal Stand on It alledgedly written by "Stroker Ace" (the actual author was Brock Yates). Probably the funniest book about racing ever written, particularly since all of the stories are true, with the names changed to stop libel suits. Much, much better than the Bert Reynolds film.

Another couple of decent ones are The Road to Dusty Death by Alistair MacLean (about Formula One), The Green Helmet (an old one about the Mille Miglia) and Speed Six (another old one about LeMans). Don't know if any of these are still in print, but they're pretty good reads if you can find them.

The Bible counts as a car book. Lot's of car talk in there. For example in Genesis it says that The Lord drove Adam and Eve out ot the Garden of Eden in a Fury. Later in the new testament it says that The Lord "...did not speak of his own Accord." It's nice to see he got rid of the Plymouth and found a reliable Honda.

-Ben (favorite car book = factory shop manual)

Favorite Car Books?.

Shelby's Wildlife
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. (Not really about cars)

Just picked up Mario Andretti's : A Driving Passion. Last I visited his winery in Napa. A nice mix of his exploits and pictures. Brought back memories watching him with my Dad back in 76 and 77, racing FI's in Long Beach.

Pat

Hey the tread picked up! I think I'll go check some of those out! Keep em coming!!

Andrew

In the 50's and 60's Ken Purdy wrote a series of books containing reminiscences and anecdotes on the car its evolution on the road and in racing. Tales of the formula circuit from the turn of the century through the 60's and the legendary drivers like Nuvolari, Moss, Rosenmeyer, Caracciola (sp?) and others, some back into the teens and 20's. Also a couple of short stories he wrote loosely based on actual events. Good reading in and of themselves, and as a snapshot of the foreign car mystique of the 50's and early 60's.

Harvey

I loaned my copy of "Before We Were Old" to a Nunnery.


M

Same here. About 2/3 through and lost interest. The story starts to be less and less about a motorcycle trip and more and more psycho-babble.

Anybody read "The Last Open Road" by B.S. Levy? It's supposed to be the ultimate story about roadracing in the sixties. The author shows up at alot of road courses touting and signing the book. I got about 100 pages in and it didn't grab me. A friend once told me,"Don't waste your time finishing books that aren't really great. There are too many really great ones out there." I believe this to be great advise.
Nelson Demille doesn't write "car" books, but all his books are awesome. I usually end up losing alot of sleep when I'm in the middle of one of his books. Read "The Lions' Game" by him. You'll get hooked for life. His books are like crack cocaine. Once you read one, you'll need to read the rest.

Uncarish, I like Vonnegut.


M