A narrative like no other: a cultural history that explores how cars have both propelled and reflected the American experience— from the Model T to the Prius.

From the assembly lines of Henry Ford to the open roads of Route 66, from the lore of Jack Kerouac to the sex appeal of the Hot Rod, America’s history is a vehicular history—an idea brought brilliantly to life in this major work by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Paul Ingrassia.

Ingrassia offers a wondrous epic in fifteen automobiles, including the Corvette, the Beetle, and the Chevy Corvair, as well as the personalities and tales behind them: Robert McNamara’s unlikely role in Lee Iacocca’s Mustang, John Z. DeLorean’s Pontiac GTO , Henry Ford’s Model T, as well as Honda’s Accord, the BMW 3 Series, and the Jeep, among others.

Through these cars and these characters, Ingrassia shows how the car has expressed the particularly American tension between the lure of freedom and the obligations of utility. He also takes us through the rise of American manufacturing, the suburbanization of the country, the birth of the hippie and the yuppie, the emancipation of women, and many more fateful episodes and eras, including the car’s unintended consequences: trial lawyers, energy crises, and urban sprawl. Narrative history of the highest caliber, Engines of Change is an entirely edifying new way to look at the American story.

New York City custom car and motorcycle culture has long been overshadowed by the left coast designers and machines. In this unprecedented book, urban anthropologist Michael McCabe presents the stories, innovators, and machines behind NYC car and motorcycle builders. He reveals an outsider s tale filled with passion, creativity, and high-speed thrills. Based on a year s worth of interviews and photo shoots with nearly 40 custom builders, McCabe offers unique access to their private, creative lives and impressive collections of machines in garages and workshops throughout the five boroughs. Legendary urban personalities like Big Daddy George LeBlanc, Mel Bernstein, and Dick Zigun tell the history of NYC horsepower, including nostalgia for the days of the NASCAR-sanctioned Weissglass Speedway on Staten Island, illegal street racing, car clubs, and shows. Voices from the groundswell of younger builders, like John Copeland, Sal Pepe, and Pete Ranko, complete this collection of oral histories and images and show respect for the city s hands-on narrative. With nearly 800 images of custom cars and motorcycle, this history is ideal for builders, car collectors, and urban historians.

On June 18th 1968, some three years prior to the launch of the new SL, the executive board of Daimler-Benz had a long and heated debate about a safety feature of a new SL sports car with the internal code W107. Should the car have a targa bar in order to fulfill future American safety standards or should it be built with a normal soft top in the tradition of all previous SL models.

The discussion the executive board had in summer 1968, whether or not to fit the car with a targa roof, was not the only long and sometimes heated exchange of ideas the board had regarding the SL. Already in 1965 the question about a suitable engine had come up. A six-cylinder, a V8 or better yet the brand new wankel rotary engine (named after its inventor Felix Wankel). At that time the wankel rotary engine won. It would not have been a bad decision, had the engine delivered what it had promised on paper.

Daimler-Benz was one of the first car manufacturers to study the possibilities for the rotary piston or wankel engine to replace or at least be an aditional power plant option to the internal combustion engines. Towards the end of the 1960s, development had progressed sufficiently to have the C111 R&D vehicle equipped with a three-rotor wankel engine for street tests.

These are just two small excerpts of this e-book about the history of the modern SL, the R107. It is part of a new series about modern Mercedes SL cars from the R107 to the brand new R231. The book covers not only each individual model and looks into the difference of engine power between US and non-US versions, it also looks into the tuner scene and talks about the sales performance of the SL.

On top it offers plenty of new pictures, most of which have never been published before.

In The One Percenter Code, best-selling Motorbooks author and editor of Easyriders magazine Dave Nichols takes up where he left off in One Percenter: The Legend of The Outlaw Bikers. Nichols takes readers inside the world of outlaw motorcycle clubs and pulls back the secretive curtain on the biker lifestyle. He explores the concept of brotherhood, ultimately arriving at a new definition of family and community in the process. Being a member of a one percenter motorcycle club requires extreme discipline; in this book, Nichols shows us what that life offers in return. Nichols delves into the one percenter code of conduct and honor and finds something that is sorely lacking in modern society. In this book, he shows us how we can apply those values in our own lives. The world of the outlaw biker has its own rough-hewn rules of order, and The One Percenter Code acts as a guidebook to that truth-, honor-, and brotherhood-based world.

Through hundreds of rare and unpublished photos from GM's media and design archives and in-depth text by renowned Corvette historian Randy Leffingwell, Corvette Sixty Years celebrates the first six decades of America’s sports car, covering the revolution and evolution of America’s longest continuously produced nameplate, from Harley Earl’s initial concept to the latest 60th anniversary edition built to celebrate the Vette’s 60th year. Created in cooperation with General Motors, the book focuses as much on the Corvette’s place in popular culture as it does on the engineering and design history. This book offers something for everyone who has ever lusted after a Vette. From the inaugural 1953 Corvette to today’s stunning sixth-generation car, Corvette Sixty Years touches on all aspects of Chevrolet’s iconic sports car: history, racing, period ads, posters, memorabilia, key designers like Bill Mitchell, engineers like the fabled Zora Arkus-Duntov, celebrity Vette fans, and more. For Corvette fans, it’s an ultimate celebration of America’s most famous car.

Put one of the most knowledgable motorcycle tour guides in Alaska in your pocket with this witty, fun book that brings to life the best roads and off-beat destinations in the state. This colorful guide lists all the road routes in Alaska with recommended dirt road excursions past mines, mountains and streams. The book includes ideal itineraries, the most interesting side roads, and great places to sleep, eat, and get off your bike to sightsee. Gear suggestions, motorcycle transport options, camping tips, and how to incorporate the Marine Highway System into your trip are also part of the package. The content focuses on the Alaska dirt and paved highways, but also includes the Canadian highways of interest as well as the Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska.

When Ford wanted to add some spice to it’s newly introduced Mustang pony car, it turned to former racer Carroll Shelby. The resulting cars proved to be the definitive performance Mustangs of the muscle-car era. The choice made sense. Shelby had proven himself a force to be reckoned with on the racetrack, in the tuning shop, and in the auto industry. By the time Ford hired Shelby to create a racer from its Mustang, the man was already an automotive legend. Early in his career, Shelby’s accomplishments as a racecar driver included breaking land speed records at Bonneville and winning Le Mans in 1959 with teammate Roy Salvadori. As a team manager, Carroll was part of the FIA World Grand Touring Championship as well as the Ford GT victories at Le Mans. When his health forced him to give up racing in 1960, Carroll turned his attention to design. He had a vision of a racecar made from a lightweight European chassis with American V-8 power. The result is what is considered to be perhaps the greatest sports car and one of the fastest road cars ever constructed: the Shelby Cobra. The aluminum-bodied 289 and 427 Cobra models and the subsequent Shelby Mustangs made Shelby a household name in the 1960s. Shelby continues to impact the world of racing and automobile design. His charisma, vision, and ability to know the best person for the job have made him a master organizer and team leader able to produce consistently impressive results. Even today, Ford’s premier Mustang carries the Shelby name and iconic snake logo. This book is the complete, authorized biography of Carroll Shelby including images from Shelby's personal collection. It's the story every enthusiast has always wanted to read.  Shelby website: www.shelbyautos.com

A narrative like no other: a cultural history that explores how cars have both propelled and reflected the American experience— from the Model T to the Prius.

From the assembly lines of Henry Ford to the open roads of Route 66, from the lore of Jack Kerouac to the sex appeal of the Hot Rod, America’s history is a vehicular history—an idea brought brilliantly to life in this major work by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Paul Ingrassia.

Ingrassia offers a wondrous epic in fifteen automobiles, including the Corvette, the Beetle, and the Chevy Corvair, as well as the personalities and tales behind them: Robert McNamara’s unlikely role in Lee Iacocca’s Mustang, John Z. DeLorean’s Pontiac GTO , Henry Ford’s Model T, as well as Honda’s Accord, the BMW 3 Series, and the Jeep, among others.

Through these cars and these characters, Ingrassia shows how the car has expressed the particularly American tension between the lure of freedom and the obligations of utility. He also takes us through the rise of American manufacturing, the suburbanization of the country, the birth of the hippie and the yuppie, the emancipation of women, and many more fateful episodes and eras, including the car’s unintended consequences: trial lawyers, energy crises, and urban sprawl. Narrative history of the highest caliber, Engines of Change is an entirely edifying new way to look at the American story.A narrative like no other: a cultural history that explores how cars have both propelled and reflected the American experience— from the Model T to the Prius.

From the assembly lines of Henry Ford to the open roads of Route 66, from the lore of Jack Kerouac to the sex appeal of the Hot Rod, America’s history is a vehicular history—an idea brought brilliantly to life in this major work by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Paul Ingrassia.

Ingrassia offers a wondrous epic in fifteen automobiles, including the Corvette, the Beetle, and the Chevy Corvair, as well as the personalities and tales behind them: Robert McNamara’s unlikely role in Lee Iacocca’s Mustang, John Z. DeLorean’s Pontiac GTO , Henry Ford’s Model T, as well as Honda’s Accord, the BMW 3 Series, and the Jeep, among others.

Through these cars and these characters, Ingrassia shows how the car has expressed the particularly American tension between the lure of freedom and the obligations of utility. He also takes us through the rise of American manufacturing, the suburbanization of the country, the birth of the hippie and the yuppie, the emancipation of women, and many more fateful episodes and eras, including the car’s unintended consequences: trial lawyers, energy crises, and urban sprawl. Narrative history of the highest caliber, Engines of Change is an entirely edifying new way to look at the American story.

The long-awaited authorized biography of Carroll Shelby, written with his full collaboration, is a remarkable account of an action-packed life. Though Shelby gained worldwide fame in the 1960s with Cobras and Ford GT40s, he has achieved much more in a long and varied career, both around cars and in other spheres. It is all recorded here in superb detail, from childhood to life today as a busy 86-year-old who still sets himself a punishing schedule of business and actively seeks further goals. Packed with insight and fresh information gleaned from dozens of interviews, this outstanding biography will be essential reading for all car enthusiasts.