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Artvoice Weekly Edition » Issue v7n51 (12/17/2008) » Last Minute Gift Guide

Since A Car Won't Fit Under The Tree . . .

I’ve been buying and/or reading books (and magazines) about cars since I was old enough to read. So I feel highly qualified to make the following gift suggestions for the car buff in your life. (My wife might even suggest you buy a few from me to make room on our bookshelf.) All of the newer books are available at local bookstores. The older ones at the end of the column might be found locally in second-hand book shops, and if not, certainly on the internet if you’re not pressed for time.

Chrysler Concept Cars 1940-1970 by David Fetherston and Tony Thacker ($24.95). This soft-cover book is loaded with great photos, both color and black-and-white, from Chrysler’s own photo archives. Some might categorize it as a coffee-table book except for two things: I don’t believe it’s large enough (almost square at 8.9 x 9 inches, and 144 pages), and it has what I call that annoying “the cover’s a bit larger than the pages” look of many books printed in Asia. Beyond that though, it’s not just a great reference guide but a good read. Two of my favorites were the 1958 Plymouth Cabana station wagon, and the 1964 Dodge Charger I (which shows why many cars are concepts which could never go on sale—like, no roof and a half-windshield).

50 Cars To Drive by Denise Adler ($45). A bit pricier, yes, but it’s also a hardcover, and definitely would look great on the coffee table. Adler consulted with some famous drivers and collectors (Dan Gurney, Jay Leno, and Carrol Shelby, among others) to put together this book of cars that, although they’d be great to drive all right, would be pretty near impossible to find (unless you’re Jay Leno). On the famous (and rare) Chrysler Turbine: “Outside of getting to drive one of the turbine-powered GM Firebird concept cars, slipping behind the wheel of a 1963 Chrysler Turbine is as close as any of us will get to being George Jetson.” Also featured is the 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder in a chapter titled “A Tragic Road to Fame.” This is the car James Dean died in on his last drive. I don’t imagine, as much as I’d love to drive one, that I’d want it to be the last thing I did.

smart car, big deal, from the editors at Motorbooks ($29.99). Another of those Asian printings, this book nonetheless is almost as charming as the smart car itself. Filled with great photos (including models not available in North America), the book was originally published in German in 2007. Also a good read in which you’ll learn the history of the smart car, which comes from the makers of Mercedes-Benz.

Buying A Car For Dummies by Deanna Sclar ($16.99). Although first published in 1998, the information in this book is still pertinent today. We dummies still need advice on what to do with our old car, how to negotiate, and what to do while we’re in the finance office. You’ll find useful tips, whether you’re buying new or used, in the list of “Top 10 things not to do during negotiations.” Also helpful is the list of “Top 10 Auto Web Sites.” Having worked for a time on the other side of the desk, I can recommend this book as a partner in your next deal.

Let’s assume that, even though we’re merely days from Christmas, you’ve got more time to complete your shopping. Here are a few of my favorite older books which you shouldn’t have any trouble finding: Che’s Chevrolet, Fidel’s Oldsmobile by Richard Schweid is a history of Cuba with a definite automotive bent; Louis Renault: A Biography by Anthony Rhodes tells the story of France’s Henry Ford, whose life didn’t take the same path to fame and glory as his American counterpart; A Chrysler Chronicle by Dave Floyd is one man’s step-by-step story of the restoration of a much-neglected 1948 Chrysler New Yorker; Think Small. The Story of Those Volkswagen Ads by Frank Rowsome, Jr. is just that—the story of those clever, self-deprecating VW ads from the 1960s and 1970s; The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM’s Revolutionary Electric Vehicle by Michael Shnayerson is even more relevant now than when it was written in 1996, as GM stares its future in the face and sees a $40,000 Chevrolet as its means of survival. Maybe that EV1 really was worth pursuing after all.

Happy shopping!

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