Official book collectors thread

Hello Pierre, are you the author ? I recieved the book last week and I was a little suspicious, because the quality of the books published by ETAI/Sophia is generally lower than the best international productions, whether in terms of text, iconography or layout, but I had a very nice surprise with this book, which has already joined my library (rather than my book reserves, which I don't really know what to do with).

Here's a translation of what I've written about it in the next Enzo's issue :

Curiously, there have been few, if any, recent books on the Daytona, and this gap has now been filled by a French work, the fruit of 30 years' research by a passionate author. And you can feel it when you read it: this is a book that is both accessible and richly documented, packed with information and anecdotes about the car throughout its pages - starting with its spontaneous creation, as recounted by its designer, Leonardo Fioravanti. No version is left out, such as the NART Spider, which we cover in this issue, but also less glorious aspects, such as the spider-cut coupes, or the American replicas... All that's missing are a few statistics in the appendices (register, full competition results, etc.) to make it complete, but it's a fine achievement that confirms the rising quality of production by the former ETAI, now Sophia Éditions.

 

Yes I am the author. Many thanks for your comments and what you write about it in Enzo ! It really matters for me.
And I am glad you share it here.
There are different reasons why I didn't add the full list of Daytonas or races...
I will think about it in a second edition or if I manage to have an english version.
(Je crois que vous avez mon adresse mail personnelle si besoin, n'hésitez pas)

 

Good to hear, at Retromobile I stopped looking at the ETAI stand about twenty years ago as the offerings were mediocre.

They also never approached me or my publishers about distributing my books; clearly they are (were?) very parochial.

Instead I would focus each year on the Hortons and Gilena stands.

I am not a Daytona fan but hopefully this heralds a new dawn for quality books en Francais. Good luck to the author with this one but yes having all chassis numbers and race results is the international standard and I would like to see the country of my father reach that publishing standard.

 

Hello Marc,
In case you don't know ETAI/Sophia Edition is owner of the bookstore "Passion Automobile" in Paris rue de Rennes. I do think they are distributing your books at least in Paris! I bought your "Rebel,Rebel" breadvan book from them

 

When in Paris I always pay them a visit. Very friendly and helpful staff, and a nice selection of titles.

 

Haven't been in several years as I only go to Paris for Chantilly and Retromobile but yes very true. When I lived in Paris decades ago I went several times a year.
There was another before that, now long gone, near gare St Lazare where I bought the first issues of a brand new magazine called Cavallino; I was 14!

 

I really like this bookshop, not least because they make a lot of effort to receive foreign books even when the shipping costs are not at all advantageous to them, and they don't speculate on the value of rare second-hand books, offering them at prices they think are reasonable.
I don't go there often enough, because I receive a lot of books that interest me from publishers, but the person in charge is really passionate about his job and it's always a pleasure to talk to him.

 

I too used to buy cavallino magazines in this little bookshop near gare St Lazare ! The bookshop rue de rennes was then called "EPA". For American car magazines, i went to Brentano's, next to Avenue de l'Opéra. Time just flies...

 

What has become of Brentanno's is a total sadness. First they gradually reduced their surface area, then it became a 'bookshop' specialising in gadgets for tourists. (and romance novels).
I used to love this place; when I was a student, I had a walking itinerary in the area that included crossing Brentanno's and then going to the Tuileries. From time to time I would buy an English or American car magazine. Then I'd go to Audi, on the Place du Marché St Honoré, to sit in the A2 that was in the window, because I really wanted that car.
BTW, Ricardo Boffil's awful building in the centre of the Place du Marché St Honoré is being renovated - but nothing particularly happy seems to come of it.

 

Memories ... from 1988 to 2003 I was living in Rue du Marché Saint Honoré (the street that goes to the Place du Marché Saint Honoré), after having stayed there for a summer internship in 1985 (that gives some hint at how old I am ); I saw the construction of the building of the Place du Marché Saint Honoré (the previous building, which hosted a fire station, was not particularly nice either). I used to buy evo magazine at WH Smith's on the Rue de Rivoli.
Regarding the bookshop Rue de Rennes, it used to be the registered headquarters for the book publisher EPA (Editions Pratiques Automobiles, later renamed to Editions Presse Audiovisuel, presumably in an attempt to broaden its scope).

 

I only went once to Brentano's in the 80's, not impressed. WHSmith 248 Rue de Rivoli has always been the place for me in Paris to buy English and US car magazines and still is, a huge selection, much better than a WHS in the UK. I go there every time I am in Paris. It is also the best English language bookstore in France, always buy a couple of novels and magazines there. What few people know is that there is a cafe restaurant tea room upstairs. In the last couple of years it changed name from WH Smith to Smith & Son. Highly recommended.

https://www.smithandson.com/

 

I disagree, the best selection of English books can be found at Galignani - 224, rue de Rivoli.

 

I have noticed that bookstore but never visited. Am always on a tight schedule when in Paris but will try to have a look next time, thanks for the tip! Always found what I needed at W though.

 

Indeed, Galignani and WH Smith - very close one to each other - are the two addresses for English books. I think the magazines are best found at WH Smith (Smith & Son) though.

 

You should, it’s very much worth a visit. As an aside, it was the favorite bookstore of the late Karl Lagerfeld, he was their best client, spending between €500k and €700k per year.

 

Since you are a fellow aficionado of newsstands, and being familiar with Ft. Lauderdale, you might have patronized Bob’s News on Andrews Ave. across from Broward General Medical Center, the now defunct Clark’s Out of Town News on Andrews near Las Olas Blvd. They can’t compare with big city stands but Bob’s is reasonably well stocked with car magazines, although these days a major Barnes & Noble will probably have a larger selection.

 

Bob's on Andrews is fantastic, I have been there many many times.

Marcel Massini

 

I went to both but mostly to the one that is off the prolongation of 17th street. I would go every Friday late afternoon then have a drink at the rooftop bar of pier 66 or the chart house. Bob's news was world class.
That was 1990-2005, looong ago

For the record the best selection of any newsstand I ever saw anywhere was one in my native Stockholm, minutes from NK the Swedish Harrod's.

On Hollywood Blvd in California there were these on the street newsstands that were quite good.

 

Where on 17th. Street? I should be familiar with it. Bob’s on Andrews Ave. is just a block north of 17th. Perhaps that’s it?

 

Sorry I meant one of the two you mentioned on Andrews, yes Bob's.

I miss Borders on the water off Sunrise Blvd too...pity it closed. On Sundays I would stop there in my kayak. Before that I sunk my first "vessel" an inflatable dinghy under that bridge, it got punctured by seashells at the edge so I had to abandon ship and drivers saw a guy emerge all wet with just a paddle
I went to Borders for a coffee, they frowned at my wet clothes until a friend picked me up

 

Pasteiner's anyone?

 

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Awesome

 

I envy the magazine selection you have to choose from! We don't even get many of the English car magazines like OCTANE or GT Porsche and Total 911 at Indigo (Chapters) any more. Just the big three ' CAR, Top Gear and EVO. Auto Design was around for about a year but also disappeared. In fact it is another company that rents shelf space and stocks each Indigo with magazines. Indigo no longer has any control over what magazine titles are on hand! They do carry Forza which are shipped in bulk to the distributor for stores. They did carry Cavallino magazine for years but no more. There are many hundreds of monthly magazines carried but foreign English language car magazines at least are very scarce here now.

 

Where is that Pasteiner's located?

When I spent a few weeks in NYC in spring 1990 there was a car book store on a street off Park Avenue, just a door street level and then directly a staircase up one floor. It had a great selection and was run by great people, I bought Mon ami mate there. I guess they are long gone.

Of course I visited Jacques Vaucher several times in his gallery up in a penthouse nearby, years before he moved to Texas.

 

Woodward Avenue just over the Detroit line in Birmingham. Big heavy metal cruising boulevard.