For many, holiday shopping is a joyous experience that’s equal parts challenge and euphoria — then there’s everybody else.
Many of us searching for the perfect Christmas gift often go straight to a person’s interests or passions, but if the person you drew in the family gift lottery likes cars and trucks, you could feel like you’re no closer to being able to choose a good present.
Fortunately, books aimed at car lovers make great gifts any time and survey of the interesting new titles available this year include:
Porsche at Le Mans by Glen Smale. Quarto Publishing Group USA: $75
The 24 hours of Le Mans is one of the world’s most storied motorsports events because it requires both skill and endurance. It also requires well engineered car and author Glen Smale focuses his text on the efforts of Porsche, the German automaker, which has built its reputation on its powerful showing in races and tracks across Europe, including Le Mans.
Since the very early 1950s, various Porches, starting with the legendary Porsche 356, have scored more victories at Le Mans than any other manufacturer. Smale is a knowledgeable motorsports journalist, whose affection for Porsche and its rich history is evident throughout the text. The book also in richly illustrated with a full range of racing pictures, chronicling Porsche’s history at Le Mans during the past 70 years.
Nissan Z: 50 Years of Exhilarating Performance by Pete Evanow. Motorbooks: $45
The Nissan Z is one of a handful of cars, which were critical in making the Japanese auto industry a success in the United States. The first models were light, smart, inexpensive and very well designed. Fortunately, for car buffs, Nissan continues to bring on new iterations of the Z that carry on the spirit of the original Z.
Author Pete Evanow, a veteran of Nissan Motorsports and now a professor of advertising and public relations at California State University Fullerton, was given access to the latest chapter in the Z’s history. He then offers a glimpse of a new Z prototype. The book is a celebration of the Z but does not delve into what might lie ahead for car like the Z in the era of electrification and global warming. But “The Nissan Z” is very well illustrated and includes a detailed history of the car’s evolution throughout the years and the evolution of appeal to automotive buffs all over the world.
Jaguar Century: 100 Years of Automotive Excellence by Giles Chapman. Motorbooks: $75
Long celebrated for gorgeous designs and glamorous customers, Jaguar also has a had checkered history. But the strength of this legacy is it offers a well organized, a lavishly illustrated history of storied British marque, which at one point in the last century was unceremoniously dumped by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who saw no point in having British taxpayers try and save it.
Fortunately, Ford Motor Co. stepped in and in 1989 saved the company. Jaguar now has new owners, India’s Tata group, which took over from Ford in 2008. With its reputation revived, Jaguar is now moving toward building electric vehicles. The company’s long, complicated history is presented in short chapters and includes photographs not only of its successful models but also many of those Jaguar’s most ardent fans believe are best forgotten. This book is designed as a collectible and even comes with slipover.
F1 Mavericks: The Men and Machines that Revolutionized Formula 1 Racing by Pete Biro and George Levy. Quarto Publishing Group USA: $50
Recent reports suggest Formula One racing, which has an avid fan base in Europe, East Asia and the Middle East as well as other parts of the world, is becoming more popular in the United States where fans had seemed to have drifted away in recent years and this book can help educate new fans about the sport. The subtitle, “The Men and Machines That Revolutionized Formula 1 Racing” offers a perspective on the cars and personalities that dominated the series from 1958 to 1982 during one of the series most glamorous eras.
The book also details the technological changes during the period, which altered the sport and made it less dangerous for both drivers and fans. The book comes with a wealth of pictures graphically illustrating the changes in the cars from year to year and decade to decade. It also provides a chronicle of some of the most important race during the period on which the authors focus.
BMW M: 50 Years of the Ultimate Driving Machine by Tony Lewin. Quarto Publishing Group USA: $50
Some enthusiasts might want to quibble over the title of this volume, noting all cars produced by BMW have been adverted as the ultimate driving machine. But BMW’s promotion of the M-Series cars, which started small a half century ago, is now an enormous success. In fact, other automakers from Europe North America and East Asia, with varying degrees of success, have taken to imitating the special BMW M series cars with high-performance models designed to hold their own on racetrack or on the open road.
Throughout the years, though, the author points out the BMW M series cars have maintained their edge thanks to the German automaker’s continuing effort to include the latest innovations and continuing improvements. With its close association with racing, the M Series also gains from their experience in motorsports, which helps keep them fresh for loyal fans.
The Big Book of Tiny Cars: A Century of Diminutive Automotive Oddities by Russell Hayes. Motorbooks: $40
With sport-utility vehicles taking over in markets everywhere, very small cars would seem to be going the way of the dinosaur — or more aptly the Dodo Bird. However, Russell Hayes, a producer for Top Gear, who also writes about classic cars, has produced an intriguing a neatly illustrated history of the tiny cars that have been produced around the world.
The book includes details about some of the best-known tiny cars now considered classics such as VW Beetle, Mini Cooper, as well as some like the Crosley Super Sport, which have been forgotten by the public. The book combines information about design, style, power, and history and even delves into whether tiny cars might have a future as electric vehicles, noting people attitudes towards the size of everything from houses to food is in flux.