"Hot Rod Kings: Top Traditional Rod And Custom Builders"
Author: Photography by David Perry; stories by Kevin Thompson; foreword by Mike Ness; published by Motorbooks
Content: David Perry and Kevin Thompson polled a bunch of enthusiasts of the traditional hot rod aesthetic with the following question: Who are the most influential builders? Among the answers they received, 11 names were consistent: Cole Foster, Keith Tardel, Rudy Rodriguez, Mercury Charlie, Jimmy White, Gary Howard, Joe and Jason Kennedy, Mike Smith, Scott Mugford, and trimmer Sean Johnstun. List in hand, they toured those guys' shops. Thompson narrates the experience in first-person perspective, all the while weaving each person's personality into the story. Meanwhile, Perry chronicles the outstanding elements of each shop and captures their operators in very candid shots.
Editorial Comments: Seeing David Perry's name on this instantly made me think of his earlier works whereupon he illustrated hot rods, the trappings of car culture, and pinup gals in very flattering light; however, this isn't an exercise in the same vein. Rather than shooting for an art book, Perry instead went the route of archivist, and he notes it early in the book. While not illustrated in the sultry light of his earlier works, it's compelling nonetheless, as Perry is an accomplished candid shooter. By way of copious notes and a voice recorder, Kevin Thompson captured a great deal of these personalities; by way of some straightforward copy, he presents them in very common-man terms. Messing with old cars is a blue-collar subject, and this book is all the better for the fact that they present this work in the same light.
"Fuel & Guts: The Birth Of Top Fuel Drag Racing"
Author: Written by Tom Madigan; foreword by Dave "Voice of NHRA" McClelland; photography by multiple sources; published by Motorbooks
Content: Tom Madigan walks us through the history of drag racing, specifically the largest engine class running nitromethane fuel, all the while delivering the colorful stories about the legends and machines that define what's become a multi-billion-dollar industry. With a vast background in the sport, an image pool to rival the Smithsonian's, and an uncanny ability to link the sport with the environment in which it flourishes, Madigan breaks the subject into 18 easily digestible portions.
Editorial Comments: It's obvious that we can't get enough of drag racing history. With several other coffee-table-format books about the subject published over the past few years, writers and photographers are learning that the audience is far greater than anybody imagined. Simply for the fact that each one of these books mines what appears an unlimited vein of images and stories, it appears that this won't be the last book of its kind.
With a background in automotive journalism of about 40 years, Tom Madigan has an incredibly deep perspective of automotive culture. While most of us know him for his magazine work (he was a Popular Hot Rodding scribe for years), he's recently proved his merit as a historic resource with books on Bill Stroppe, Tony Nancy, and the Edelbrock company and family. With this one, though, he's bound to find the widest audience. Simply put, this book is an archive of long-forgotten photos and stories.
More than just photos, though, it's rich with the marketing collateral of the developing hot rod and drag racing movement. Interspersed through the book are rarely seen race flyers and posters. In a sense, this is a snapshot of the times as told by the images and stories of the racers who started a revolution. The fact that it's about no other subgenre other than the top-dog AA/Fuel class distinguishes this one as both unique and impressive.
"'32 Ford Deuce"
Author: Text by Tony Thacker; foreword by Edsel B. Ford II; photography by multiple sources; published by Motorbooks
Content: A study of the 1932 Ford, its relevance, and details; an "authoritative and illustrated chronicle" of the seemingly myriad body styles and configurations Ford produced for the one famed year.
Editorial Comments: This isn't a new book per se, but it's enough of a variation on an existing tome that, at the very least, justifies a purchase even if you already have its predecessor. It boils down to this: Tony Thacker wrote what some consider the first of the celebrations of the Deuce way back in 1984. This one, while derivative of that book, is in no way a reprint. First off, as he instructs in his preface, he's included a considerable amount of information learned in the meantime-a book in itself if you really look at it. But what really distinguishes this one from his earlier book is the inclusion of The 75 Most Significant 1932 Ford Hot Rods gathered for Ford's 75th Anniversary celebration of the car at the 2007 Grand National Roadster Show.
Thacker-a Brit by birth but American by the fact that he's lived here for years-substantiates my longstanding theory that non-stateside hot rod enthusiasts are generally more educated as to automotive and pop-cultural history than most of us 'Murricans are. As a result of that almost-rabid enthusiasm, this book is packed with relevant information. While the book is jammed with photos, they're afloat in a sea of gray, which is to say there's a lot of text here. Still, it's remarkably accessible.
The real bread and butter, though, is the 10th chapter dedicated to the 75th Anniversary celebration. It's basically the body copy and photos printed on the placards that represented each car in the display hall. In a way, it's the next-best thing to being there. If you're lamenting the fact that you couldn't make the celebration, this is the book you need. If you indeed made it yet want an official record of the event, you'd probably better get crackin' before the people who couldn't go to the show snap up all the copies.
"Hot Rod Showcase"
Author: Written by John Wright and Guy Barnard; published by Knight Barnard Partnership
Content: It's a "book-azine." Book for the fact that it's a 96-page advert-free book; magazine for the fact that it's filled with car features based on a Brit's perspective of hot rod culture. It's the first volume in what's ostensibly intended to be a quarterly publication-sort of like The Rodder's Journal for Old Blighty.
Editorial Comments: Hot rods built around the world are pretty interesting if only for the fact that we get to see plenty of examples of what inspired hot rods in the first place: ingenuity. In "Hot Rod Showcase," we get plenty of it. How 'bout a Doane Spencer-inspired car with replica D-type Jag wheels and a six-cylinder overhead-cam engine? We've all seen Chrysler and Dodge Hemis, but did you even know Daimler produced a variant of the Red Ram? For that matter, have you ever heard of a Daimler? There's history there too. If you don't think so, you should read about the Stovebolt Special, a crate in which Sterling Moss ran his first Formula 1 race. If that's just a bit too dandy for your taste, note that it was also one of the very first recipients of a small-block Chevrolet (in 1955, thank you). There's also a bit about a Limey's run with the Rolling Bones to Bonneville and another about expat Steve Dennish, who runs LimeWorks Speedshop in Whittier.
Right up front, John Knight makes the case that a book like this isn't inexpensive to produce. By the quality of the photography and the body copy, it's obvious that money was spent wisely. By the notion that only 3,000 copies of this book were printed, it's also pretty clear that this venture was intended to test the waters. I, for one, hope it's a gamble that pays off; it's both fun and inspiring to see how things get done on the other side of the pond.