What automobile themed book do you treasure most?

What automotive book do you most cherish, that you would never sell or give away, and why? It need not be because of its monetary value; it could be personal sentiment, it’s a book to which you often refer, a book you searched for for a long time, or you just simply enjoy having it in your library.

For me, it’s a book that I have owned since new, it is the first car book I ever owned, it was a Christmas gift from my now deceased parents way back in 1961, and no less a car enthusiast than Lord March (now the Duke of Richmond) declared it to be his most treasured book in a Classic and Sports Car magazine interview a few years ago; in fact, it was also a gift from his parents: Ralph Stein’s “The Treasury of the Automobile.”

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I was a “completist” from the very beginning.....

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I have that book, too, somewhere! Unless my ex burned it. Or it is in storage with car parts.

 

A tie between Fitzgerald & Merritt's "Ferrari: The Sports and Gran Turismo Cars" and "Cobra Daytona Coupe" by Brock, Friedman & Stauffer. The Ferrari book was my first automobile related book I bought new at the Wide Awake Book Store in the old Hotel Sterling in Wilkes-Barre, PA. The Cobra book is awesome and reminds me of fun times at Dick's Hobby Shoppe racing a Daytona slot car.

 

Interesting question, but for me, impossible to pick just one. I have a fair number that I cherish equally. Went to look at my shelves, and honestly could not pick just one.

 

Piloti Che Gente. Saved months of pocket money when I was 14 or 15 to buy it. Probably the thing I would sell last if I was in financial trouble (even after the Ferrari).

 

This is all very subjective..
I sold my copy of Ferrari in Camera a few years ago, quite simply because I was bored of it and it didn’t suit my interests at the time.
I regret selling it because I won’t get another copy at a price I can justify.

I will never part with Making A Difference, this is a great piece of work produced fantastically.

I have the Beehl/Stern books (Postcard and Sales Drive), both # 31 (my sons birthday is 31 Aug) so they hold a place...

But for me, personally, my direction constantly changes...sometimes I collect models...then get bored...so I collect early brochures....then get bored...so I get more books...

Paul

 

Traum Ferrari für Sport und Reise by Antoine Prunet. Bought in a German shop i’ve been visiting on shopping trips from nearby Netherlands. It was 80 German Marks (guess in 1988). A lot of money for me. And only at the 3rd visit to the shop, I pulled the trigger. Reading it many times and looking to pictures of Ferrari’s I never imagined to see in my life it was the definitive start of my hobby of collecting literature a year of two later. It will be the last Ferrari item to leave my house.

Hugo
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This must be the one:
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/141024970/
I ordered it new from the publisher, it was expensive, but even after more than 20 years, nothing comes close.

 

Ferrari De route et De reve by its original name.

 

One series of high-quality Automobile Books with fantastic photography and art work was Automobile Quarterly, published between 1962 and 2012. I have several issues covering Stanley Steamers including the famous red car that crashed after becoming airborne at 197 mph in 1907.
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Quite a few for sale on eBay and this source still has some NOS examples remaining:

https://autohistory.org/automobile-quarterly-back-issue-sale​

 

It was my first car book too Jack, a Christmas gift in 1965. Decades later I was stunned to learn that the gold Series I Cabriolet lived some 30 miles away from me. The first serious car book that I bought was Fitzgerald and Merritt purchased with savings from my morning paper route. I still have it and had Dick Merritt sign it for me. I probably have a half dozen copies of the first edition, two of them signed by both authors, another that is BNIB in its original shipping box.

 

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Mine would have to be my first Ferrari book my parents bought me brand new, Godfrey Eaton- Ferrari.

I must have read it cover to cover hundreds of times.

(For full disclosure my original copy, which I still have, was so well read with a completely faded spine that a few years ago I bought this second mint copy for the bookshelf)


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Too many to be listed but one is for sure my treasure hunt: 917x17 Owner Edition (#30 out of 40).
Over 5 years in the search and then I got a pristine one. A center point in my collection.

 

Oh boy... Only one book? I think this set will be it. Because of it's exclusivity, craftmanship and it covers the best period in motor racing with great photography. Inside track is simply superb! Ferrari in Camera would be a close second if the theme would be 'Ferrari only'.

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The Kings of the Road by Ken Purdy.

Matt

PS. Also anything by LJK Setright

 

Not a book for me as such, I enjoy all my car books but don't have that real emotional attachment.
For me it's the magazines I first started collecting when my dad was finished with them, then bought myself with pocket money.
This one is right up there but I couldn't pick one favourite.



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Yes, after waiting 17 years from announcement to actual delivery, I treasure mine as a great tribute to my favorite driver, as well as a testament to my patience.

 

Had to choose two.
The first is from Mr.Ferrari, the 1975 Mondial and the 2nd not a traditional book in the strictest sense, but one of the coolest Ferrari possessions I have from 40 years of collecting. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That’s interesting. You can’t find two better writers with more dissimilar styles.

 

I don't really have a particular favorite, but among contenders I would rate "Pilote, Che Gente...", "The Brothers Rodriguez" and both "Ferrari: A Champion's View" and "Inside Track" by Phil Hill, though in the last case I settled on the (comparatively) inexpensive one-volume edition. I would also put the three-volume set of "24 Heures du Mans", the three-volume set "The Yanks at Le Mans" and the four books by Janos Wimpffen and David Bull Publishing in this group.

 

I have all of Wimpffen’s books and would sell them as a set if I could find a buyer.

 

The four volumes are a marvelous photographic record of the years from 1953 to 1992. I've never seen "Time and Two Seats" but the four seem like a reasonable alternative.

 

You’re completely right, but I hadn’t thought about that before. I guess I like them both for different reasons.

Also, All but my Life is Sterling Moss as told by Ken Purdy and is wonderful.

Matt

 

Thanks for featuring Time to Race. Just ordered it from Hodinkee. Very reasonable and hopefully an alternative to the much higher priced Drive Time.