Deuce, 75 Years Of The '32 Ford
Cartech
In case you've lived under a rock for the past decade, let us bring you up to speed: 2007 marks the Diamond Jubilee of the Grand Dame of Dearborn, the 1932 Ford. Naturally an event of this magnitude inspires countless acts of marketing; however, few are as good as Robert Genat's "DEUCE, 75 Years of the '32 Ford."
Genat takes us right back to the height of the Great Depression to tell a story of a car that really should not have made it. He straddles the line between the relevant and minutiae as he inventories the model year's unique elements. Instead of offering a sterile, nuts-and-bolts guide to the Deuce's unique elements, however, Genat intersperses historic images with his own evocative, archive-quality photographs of both modified and stock 1932 Fords.
"DEUCE" represents one of the latest books in Genat's series that portrays automotive icons and subject matter in an art-book venue. It caters to both the purist and the performance-minded alike, and it promises to maintain its appeal for years.
With its 75-year perspective, "DEUCE" proves how Henry's one-year-only gamble matured into one of America's greatest cultural icons. If that sounds appealing, we suggest buying two: one for yourself and another to let your friends fight over.
Garage And Workshop Gear Guide
Motorbooks
When I first saw Tom Benford's "Garage and Workshop Gear Guide," my mind automatically went into overdrive. The word gear alone conjured images of clever, trick, and problem-solving articles that every oil-soaked knucklehead like me aspires to own.
If you're anything like me, and typically respond as I did, you can imagine my initial disappointment when I cracked the book to the introduction of Chapter 5, a spread flanked by images of ordinary pliers. "Pliers?" I mumbled to myself. "What's not to know about those?"
Plenty, it seems. In my haste I failed to recognize "Gear Guide" as a comprehensive map of the tools and equipment we gearheads use on a day-to-day basis. Benford packed full 190-plus pages with useful information about tools that newcomers haven't discovered and veterans take for granted. He even addresses several low-buck or no-buck tips and tricks to get that much more out of tools or to make your own tools for specific jobs.
As damning as my initial appraisal sounded, don't write "Gear Guide" off as merely a rudimentary guide to basic tools; it's filled with great information and it makes a logical-and well-needed-transition to Richard Newton's "Ultimate Garage Handbook" and David Jacobs' "How to Design and Build Your Auto Workshop," also Motorbooks titles.
I pride myself on my ability to discover tools that few people recognize. If I can find one thing to criticize about "Gear Guide," it's that it reveals many of my secret weapons.
How To Draw Cars Like A Pro, 2nd Edition
Motorbooks
Any bona-fide gearhead can produce volumes of grade-school paperwork bedecked with cars. I know I can. I also know I could've used a copy of Thom Taylor's "How to Draw Cars like a Pro."
Considering the stylistic changes in the decade since he wrote the first book of the same title, Taylor's revised edition is a welcome update. Without coming off as condescending, he assumes we know nothing about illustration and lays a foundation of solid techniques. Furthermore, he presents each of these principles (perspective, proportion, line quality, etc.) in their own chapter.