Official book collectors thread

The price of the AM DBR9 book by TAG was cut in half after the publisher realised that the print-run was higher than the market could ever digest, but even at the lower price I did not order.

 

I wonder how much the publisher is losing on that deal, and how many unsold copies there are. Maybe CRR and Chater’s took them on consignment.

A great idea beautifully executed, but poorly marketed. A bitter lesson for anybody who buys books hoping for value appreciation.

 

Now this title is one to order if you did not already do that many years ago. It's a real gem. Personally I would act like 'Palawan Press' (or Hermes, and Louis Vuitton for that matter) who never discount their products. I remember Tony Adriaensens (of 'Corsa Research' fame) telling me many years ago that he had half of the print-run of one of his titles destroyed (probably a mistake), which he preferred, rather than discounting the books.
Other than that, there's only very few books that are investment grade.

 

I had emailed Evro about this book in August 2018. Five years of waiting for a book that will probably never be published.

 

Email campaign??? I registered twice for information and never got any email.

Seems they just sent emails to people who ordered already. I lost my interest in the book due to the arrogance of Girardo, who never reply to anything (other mails weren’t answered neither).

 

That's a questionable business model

 

I know he only had a brief look over it but Marc seemed to think the 550 Prodrive book was worthy of consideration.

I guess I will just have to wait to see a copy in person to decide.

Once again, another case for bricks and mortar stores.

 

This one is published by Cercle d'Art - owned by Richard Mille - the same company that published the amazing 1965 Car Racing series, 1966.... Expect very good print quality and fabulous photos... Clearly a book I will be looking forward to.

 

I received a digital review copy of the Girardo 550 book for my magazine, and as far as I am concerned, it is a success. Huge amount of information and pictures, and especially a great variety in the way things are presented (I really like the illustrations of the liveries and the infographics, or the pictures of the disassembled car...)
But it is still way too expensive for my taste.

 

Yes or no…is this a must buy? I avoided initially owing to space and relevance constraints, but now the price is attractive…but with the pending purchase of the to me still questionable 550 book, I don’t know what to do?
The Hill book may not be Ferrari exclusive and the 550 book may be nothing new with race reports and other bits being published by co author Bluemel in Cavallino.
For me it’s easy to pass on both…unless you guys tell me otherwise…

Paul

 

I can only comment on my own experience:

NO: I canceled my 550 Prodrive order, based more on price than content or quality.
YES: At this price I would consider Inside Track a must. I was an early adopter. If volume 3 is available buy that too.

 

I’m leaning your way…but need to move fast…thanks for your input…Massen probably has me on speed dial…

Paul

 

Purchased from Cotswold Road and Race.With free postage on two hefty tomes cannot go wrong for that price!

 

No, but it’s definitely Ferraricentric. Hill had a unique experience at Ferrari and was probably better attuned to the intrigue, the engineering and the racing than anyone else who wasn’t Italian. And his photography is professional level.

 

Does anyone here know about this one? “Enzo Ferrari Words of Passion.” Supposedly a book of quotes. I’m not familiar with the author, Maurizio Valentini. It’s at Autobooks-Aerobooks.

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Apparently the ‘Autobiography’ (volume 3) is sold out.

 

I'm glad I took the plunge on the Phil Hill books. Regardless of whether they appreciate or not, it's just a great project that was executed by the right folks. Great photos. Amazing to think that he had the foresight to document an era when Ferrari was producing so many spectacular racing cars. Also, they were very well packaged for shipping.

 

I briefly flipped through it a good 15+ years ago at Libreria Gilena in Brescia. At the time, I remember thinking that it was almost comically bad. It is literally a book of one-liner type quotes, allegedly from Enzo Ferrari, arranged one to a page. A third grader could read the entire book in 15 minutes. I would not be surprised if Artestampa Edizioni in Modena (the publisher) still has unsold copies they are trying to turn loose here. In Italy, it is now a prime example of a EUR 5 "bargain bin" book...

 

If you have an interest in 1950-60s Ferrari racing, I cannot imagine being without Inside Track. It's good, like level with Ferrari in Camera good, only at a small fraction of the price. Plus, if GBP 325 is still too much, the smaller "bookshop edition" is now available through the publisher's website for GBP 140.

 

Oh my god, that's a heavy depreciation for such an outstanding, fine book ... I don’t understand, what happened. Indeed, it’s quality doesn’t have to fear a comparison with Ferrari in Camera. Now, it’s literally thrown away by the publisher.

 

This happens all the time with all sorts of books and other objects. But there's really no depreciation, it's just the price went down temporarily. IMO, at some point in the future these books will be sold for much more than the current price. Remember, it took the publisher some 10 years for FiC to sell out.

 

Based on the comments here I just ordered it... No matter the quality I do not think it's thrown away, it's a sensibly priced (to call it cheap we need a perception distorted by years of overinflated prices) to target readers rather than speculators (or people with enough money to not care for value).

I do not like the idea of buying books as investments, for me it's speculation - the right way to invest in books (for those interested) is publishing them.

 

I have never heard of anyone getting rich from speculating in books.

 

Not exactly thrown away! But originally sold for a very high price (the higher the price, the smaller the market); bad marketing (I'm still waiting for the first email about it from the mailing list I signed up to in 2007 - you have a list of people who have explicitly said they are interested in your product and can't even be bothered to contact them); if I remember rightly, it was originally priced in US dollars even though I am in the UK and so is the publisher. Finally, I'm happy to be corrected but I don't think it was marketed as a limited edition of X copies.

 

I have just received an email about the 550 Prodrive book which says:

"...The original plan was to publish the book at the end of April. But in the time since the first presentation of this book at Salon Rétromobile in Paris, author Keith Bluemel and editors Girardo & Co. have unearthed more essential information and were able to interview a further number of key players in the Ferrari 550 Maranello Prodrive project.


In the interest of fulfilling the book’s billing as the definitive title about these ultra-special Italo-Anglo GT cars, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone publication until June 2023..."

That seems a bit odd to me but that's what they say.