If you gauge market interest by book releases, you could say the automotive world is having an unprecedented Golden Age. For example, when we started reviewing automotive books in greater and more consistent numbers last year, we were actually worried that we might eventually run the well dry of good titles.
Apparently, our well is over one healthy source. In fact, once we finished with our second larger installment a few months back, we thought someone left the well pump on all night; before we knew it, we were inundated with dozens of new titles. Suddenly, we weren't worried about finding books worthy of reviewing. No, after a while, we started to wonder what kind of criteria we could use to keep each review manageable.
By our scientifically attenuated review process developed in the shadowy crannies of a blind pig in a seedy part of town, we worked the number of volumes down to a comfortable 10.
So, brew a cup of your favorite fuel, slip under a free corner of the car cover, and push your eyeballs into overdrive. If the past releases are any indication of what's on the horizon, it seems the availability of good car books could pave a road from coast to coast.
What it's called: Custom Painting
Who done it: Pat Ganahl
What it's about: It's a tutorial for aspiring shooters to learn the ins and outs of custom painting and a treasure trove of ideas, tips, and tricks for practicing guns.
Notes: In the not-too-distant past, we reviewed Pat Ganahl's release, How To Paint your Car on a Budget. As we noted in that outline, he has a unique set of skills that makes the title incredibly informative. After all, as an avid painter and professional journalist, he's as comfortable with the written word as he is with the sprayed line.
In a sense, Custom Painting is the follow-up to that book. Assuming that anyone contemplating custom work already has the fundamentals down, Ganahl foregoes the 101-level instruction and gets straight to showcasing various custom-painting effects. Not that Custom Painting is short on information, mind you. For example, whereas most titles treat candies and pearls as main attractions, Pat devoted the whole sixth chapter, "Fades, Fogs, and Blends," to explain how to incorporate and combine finishes within a more complex design.
In fact, he goes pretty deep explaining a number of historical techniques, like lace painting, that have recently regained popularity despite the relative vacuum of technical information about them. Information on 'flake spraying has always been sparse, for example, but he devotes another whole chapter to its application. Nor is this book all flash, so to speak. In the 10th chapter, he goes where most paint books fear to tread: matte and flat finishes. Though it's a chapter thin on application instruction, Ganahl's historical rundown of what flat finishes represent and his recommended alternatives to primer-based finishes is pretty valuable.
Anyone who understands the paint world knows it's a place balkanized by its individual factions' intense loyalty to particular styles and finishes. On the other hand, Ganahl sort of tears down those walls by mixing hot rods with lowriders and modern cars and presenting them in the same light. Above and beyond instruction, this book could cross-pollinate the car world.
How to find it: CarTech, (800) 551-4754; www.cartechbooks.com
What it's called: Build Book #5
Who done it: Team Killeen (Isaac Martin and Scott Killeen)
What it's about: A book in magazine disguise, each issue of the Build Book series is a step-by-step chronicle of what it takes to build a high-profile car. In #5, the Ring Brothers transform a '67 Mustang fastback into a world-class supercar.
Notes: As we mentioned in reviewing Build Book #4, Team Killeen predicated its Build Book series on a novel idea. In it, they follow along as a top-shelf shop-in that book's case, Boyd Coddington's garage-transforms the somewhat ordinary-in that case, a '57 Chevrolet-into something vastly exceeding extraordinary. We also mentioned the incredible logistics involved; following a project so intimately takes a considerable amount of legwork in the form of shop visits.
While Boyd's La Habra shop is somewhat local to Team Killeen's offices, the same can't be said of the Ring Brothers. In fact, Spring Green, the sleepy little town in a far-flung land called Wisconsin, is probably as far as you can get from Killeen's California, in place and perspective alike.
But, let us make one thing perfectly clear: Jim and Mike Ring and their team of fabricators, machinists, and painters may be cheeseheads, but they're certainly not hayseeds. While I usually lament the deconstruction of solid and desirable cars-especially when they're probably one of the last un-restored, rust-free examples-in their care, Doug Hoppe's fastback turns into something more impressive than the sum of its parts.
Starting with elaborate and intricate illustrations and working with both the old world (body fabrication) and high-tech (computer machining), no single part of the car emerges untouched. Rather than make changes for the sake of change, though, the manipulations are quite thoughtful. What were once purely ornamental side scoops become functional brake coolers. Flimsy hinges make way for stout CNC-machined assemblies. Bumpers shrink to fit tightly against body contours. Rapid prototyping technology makes jewelry out of what would ordinarily be banks of ordinary switches and buttons. While they eliminate factory badging, they replace it with bespoke pieces made beyond OEM levels.
The OEM reference isn't entirely accidental. By employing such intense creativity and technology, the Ring Brothers end up building a concept car of sorts. It's a car with a cohesive theme, well-thought-out modifications, and a very mature sensibility about it. It's really irrelevant whether or not old Mustangs are your cup of tea; what makes this exercise so intriguing is incredible innovation and a level of sophistication not entirely common in the old-car world. If the contemporary aesthetic is your bag, this is one book worth looking into.
How to find it: Team Killeen, (818) 907-8286; www.buildbookusa.com
What it's called: Hot Rod Roots: A Tribute to the Pioneers
Who done it: Primary editor: Dain Gingerelli; contributing editors: Alex Xydias, Steve Memishian, Robert Genat, Pat Ganahl, Greg Sharp, Ken Gross, A.B. Shuman, and Mark Morton
What it's about: It's an outline of the hot rod kingdom's diversity and its many faces, as told by various hot rod historians using the American Hot Rod Foundation's photo archive.
Notes: In our last DVD review, we told the story of the American Hot Rod Foundation's endeavor to compile and archive hot rod history. In that particular DVD, Deuce, the foundation outlined the significance of the '32 Ford using testimonials gathered from various hot rod pioneers and historians by the foundation over the years. Accompanying these testimonials were volumes of historical film footage-stuff to make you endeavor to build a time machine, really.
Whereas that DVD consisted of snippets of rare film footage, Hot Rod Roots is a peek into volumes of enthusiasts' photo albums. Just by the photos and their captions, this book is an incredible presentation of historical photographs-some of which probably haven't seen the light of day in more than half a century.