Official book collectors thread

It appears to me that Porter Press is trying to adopt the whole "veblen good" game played by Ferrari, Rolex, etc. with all of the overpricing, manipulation, and generally arrogant treatment that go with that. When the product is good enough and there is enough of a frenzy, it would probably work. In the case of Porter Press it all seems a bit comical, given that many of their books just aren't that spectacular. As you mentioned, Palawan Press they are not...

 

So £2500 form porter press is that excessive limited to 28 as are the cars Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Other than leather covers, a different box, and some autographs, it is identical to the standard edition which is more than GBP 2,000.- less expensive. Good luck Porter!

 

I have a few porter books including the Normal F1 GTR book, and Breadvan They are great reads, but I do think they are priced a little to high, and I don’t know of any porter books that have gone up in value like Palawan or Kidston, as for the drivers edition GTR book, I can’t justify it being 2 and half times dearer then the Palawan Aston V8 book.


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The two-volume book Philip Porter co-wrote with Gordon Murray “One Formula – 50 Years of Car Design” originally cost £225 for the standard edition. It sold out in little more than a year. Horton’s has a brand new copy for sale priced at £1,100. Not bad for a title released less than three years ago. Safe to say that’s the exception rather than the rule.

 

I just received shipping notification for….

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I'm keen on diving deeper into the history of the Ferrari F40. For myself the model of my year of birth. I've already purchased Ferrari F40 in the Supercars series written by Mark Hughes. Just saw the remark of the expected English translation of scuderia328's book. I'll be purchasing that as well.

Are there any other books relevant regarding the Ferrari F40 foscussing on history, buildprocess etc.? The restoration book of Traveler's F40LM is out of reach for me unfortunately. Tips are more than welcome.

 

How good is your German? I would highly recommend the F40 book by Werner Schruf and Götz Leyrer.
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A bit rusty however not something I couldn’t dedust

 

Absolutely agree.
This book is top and the late (German journalist) Werner Schruf really did an outstanding job here. He was close to the important people at the factory in those years and had excellent connections.

Marcel Massini

 

Even just for the photos... they are an excellent series of books.

 

Can you please let me know if there is a link to the LM book you mentioned?

Thanks in advance.
Natan

 

Hi Natan, please refer to this thread https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/f40-lm-restoration.396915/

 

i just received it yesterday, packed in a bespoke box, no shipping damage.

Bill Warner’s book is supposed to arrive today. Condition will be problematic as I purchased it from a third party. Supposedly it’s available from the Amelia Island Concours shop, but I couldn’t find a link to the shop on the web site.

So, two new books from two of the most respected automobile enthusiasts and historians, and both from my home state!

 

Well, here since 1956 so I think I qualify as at least an honorary homeboy, if not an authentic native. Besides, I lost my keystone state birth certificate. I got a Florida one from a box of Cracker Jack. Get it?

 

A cracker named Jack--you should be banned sir!

 

I would like to respond to criticism received here and try to correct a few misconceptions about Porter Press regarding a couple of recent Ferrari books that we have published.

It is no secret that Ultimate 250 GTO, most unfortunately, had some quality issues with the cover printing and slipcases. Both of these issues were totally beyond our control, yet we have sought to behave openly and honourably in addressing them. Porter Press wrote to all purchasers and offered to replace their books and/or slipcases. Fortunately, many customers have complimented us for our rapid and honest handling of this matter.

There was a complaint about a copy of a book arriving damaged. Anyone so affected has been immediately offered a replacement book, no questions asked.

There have been some mentions that Porter Press lacks quality control. This is most certainly not correct. We take great pains to work with established experts in the field and give them the time and support necessary to produce work of the highest quality. As part of this, we do our due diligence regarding copyright ownership. Any assertions to the contrary are simply not true.

While it is true that a small number of people have made negative comments, please know that a very large number of purchasers, and owners, have made extremely positive comments. Some of the criticism has related to the 250 GTE book supposedly going 'out of stock' and then reappearing at a higher price.

Firstly, the price. A number of individuals, investors, and retailers have benefitted greatly from previous Porter Press books going up in value when sold out. For example, the Gordon Murray One Formula books, which launched at £225 are now selling for £850. Having invested heavily in publishing specialist books (for example $150,000 to produce the GTO two-volume set), our feeling is that Porter Press itself should, at least, try to get some benefit from the increased values.

Towards this end, we have launched Vintage Porter as a 'home' for all the special hand-bound editions and the last few remaining copies of limited editions. This is what has come to pass with the GTE book. Unfortunately, there was a slight delay while that section of the website was built. Hence, on the main part of the website a stock of zero was entered into the eCommerce software, which automatically comes up as 'Out of Stock'. We apologise sincerely for any erroneous impression this might have created.

Please know that the policy of increasing the price of the final copies of a book is not unusual. Several of our competitors do the same thing. We seek to persuade our valued customers to buy books at the launch price. With the GTE book, 735 copies were available and sold at £75. Only 15 copies have been held back to sell at an increased price to those who have delayed and are willing to pay the premium for a book that will soon be out-of-print.

Porter Press’s reputation is of vital concern to every single member of our small team. Please know that there are always two sides to every story. At the end of the day, our motivation is passion more than profit. The fact that the motoring book publishing business is not an easy game is proven by the number of publishers who have gone bust or given up for an easier life. We are firmly committed to doing better in order to beat the challenges working against us.

I would encourage anyone with additional concerns or questions to reach out to our customer support team at [email protected] or to me personally at [email protected] Thank you for your time, attention and consideration in reading this and thank you for your support of Porter Press.

 

Re price increases of final copies: the GTE book was 'Out of Stock' for months. All of a sudden it re-appears in the web-shop at an increased price. As stock is subsequently sold, the price increases to as much as 5 times the original retail price, under a label of 'Vintage Porter'. Imagine Volkswagen or BMW selling their cars this way. Even a high-end watch maker like Patek Philippe is not operating this way. Reference is made to others doing the same. The only publisher in this field that increases prices as stock gets sold, is Palawan Press. The difference is that they are upfront about price increases.
If a book is 'out of print' a publisher should be happy to have sold all stock, and it is up to the market to decide on the price. So you're either a publisher or a book dealer.

 

Well said !!

It is for the customer and not the publisher to get the benefit out of speculative increased book prices. The company benefits by selling out the full run of books at a calculated profit whilst gaining a reputation as a quality bookmaker whose products have future increased worth.

As I wrote earlier in this post, imagine if Ferrari did the same thing with their limited edition cars and held 15 examples back to sell 6 months later at 3 times the price through a concocted "vintage" department.

Imagine the backlash that would cause.

Fair enough if you want to keep 10 copies or so for yourselves then do so, hold onto them and in a few years time sell them quietly on eBay, Amazon, etc or through various auction houses.

The financial result is the same but without leaving a sour taste in many mouths.

 

Its certainly not that unusual to see "first 250 copies £100, then remaining copies £150" but its usually stated at the outset.

 

I don't think that's entirely fair. Porter Press are running a business and, like most businesses, they want to make a profit. And it is as well that they do because they can't publish books if they go bust. I have quite a number of their books and I'm pleased with all of them, including the 250 GTO book (although the price and the title and one or two other minor things about it continue to niggle me).

Ultimately, the market does decide the price. The last few at a higher price will not sell if the demand isn't there. No-one is forced to buy at the higher price. Either order early and get the lower price or don't buy at all. But much better that the book gets published and can be bought at a reasonable price than not get published at all because Porter Press have gone bust.

Lastly, whether one agrees with what Philip Porter has said or not, thanks to him for taking the trouble to come on here and give his point of view.

 

If a company is going to go broke by not holding onto 15 copies sold at 3 times the price then they are in so much financial trouble that those 15 books won't save them anyway.

 

I don't get why it leaves a sour taste. Something is listed all along as "limited edition". A large part of the reason for doing that is encourage potential purchasers to put their money down lest it gets sold out. You want it, you buy it at the initial price while you can or you risk losing out one way or another. Too bad.

I imagine that, like many businesses, they are looking to make a bit of profit here and a bit there.

 

It leaves a sour taste because it is NOT sold out !!

The publisher has artificially marked it as sold out whilst still possessing copies.

The definition of sold out means every single published numbered copy is SOLD to someone else (out of stock or sold out), not some copies held back by the publisher to be sold at a later date.

I don't know what that term is called but it's not sold out in my books that's for sure