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Cars (since 1945) - USA: Model Overviews

Explore the best illustrated books on American automobiles. Discover the history, models and evolution of US cars since 1945.

The Great Classic Muscle Cars Compared - Brooklands Portfolio

Brookland book about the American 'muscle cars' from the years 1966-1970. Comparison tests of the Chevrolet Chevelle, Impala, Camaro and Corvette, Pontiac GTO and Firebird, Dodge Charger, Coronet, Super Bee and Dart GTS, Oldsmobile 4-4-2 and Cutlass, Ford Fairlane, Galaxie, Mustang, Shelby Mustang, Cobra and Torino, Plymouth Fury, Barracuda and Roadrunner, AMC Javelin and Cougar, Cyclone, etc.

  • The 14 articles, taken from contemporary British and American car magazines, provide much information about history, model changes and technology.
  • Also driving impressions, tests, comparison tests, technical specifications, etc.

More information about Brooklands Portfolio books

Product details

Details:140 pages, 10.6 x 7.9 x 0.35 in (27 x 20 x 0.9 cm), paperback
Illustrations:250 photos and drawings
Language:English
Publisher:Brooklands Books (GB, 1999)
ISBN:9781855204225
Book cover: The Great Classic Muscle Cars Compared | Brooklands

The Great Classic Muscle Cars Compared

Language: English

American Cars, 1960-1965 : Every Model, Year by Year

The automotive industry underwent great change in the 1960s. The continuing trend toward market consolidation, the proliferation of sizes and nameplates, and the "need for speed" characterized this period, loosely labeled as the muscle car era.

This is an exhaustive reference work to American made cars of model years 1960-1965. Organized by year (and summarizing the market annually), it provides a yearly update on each make's status and production figures, then details all models offered for that year.
Model listings include available body styles, base prices, engine and transmission choices, power ratings, standard equipment, major options and their prices, curb weight and dimensions (interior and exterior), paint color choices, changes from the previous year's model, and sales figures.
Also given are assembly plant locations and historical overviews of each model nameplate.

Product details

Author:J.K. Flory Jr.
Details:11 x 8.5 in (28 x 21.5 cm), paperback
Illustrations:many b&w photos
Language:English
Publisher:McFarland & Co Inc (USA, 2023)
ISBN:9781476683713
Book cover: American Cars, 1960-1965 : Every Model, Year by Year | McFarland

American Cars, 1960-1965 : Every Model, Year by Year

Language: English

American Cars, 1973-1980 - Every Model, Year by Year

The 1973 oil crisis forced the American automotive industry into a period of dramatic change, marked by stiff foreign competition, tougher product regulations and suddenly altered consumer demand.
With gas prices soaring and the economy in a veritable tailspin, muscle cars and the massive "need-for-speed" engines of the late '60s were out, and fuel efficient compacts were in. By 1980, American manufacturers were churning out some of the most feature laden, yet smallest and most fuel efficient cars they had ever built.

This exhaustive reference work details every model from each of the major American manufacturers from model years 1973 through 1980, including various "captive imports" (e.g. Dodge's Colt, built by Mitsubishi.)
Within each model year, it reports on each manufacturer's significant news and details every model offered: its specifications, powertrain offerings, prices, standard features, major options, and production figures, among other facts. The work is heavily illustrated with approximately 1,300 photographs.

Product details

Author:J."Kelly" Flory
Details:959 pages, 11 x 8.1 x 2.09 in (28 x 20.5 x 5.3 cm), hardback
Illustrations:1381 photos
Language:English
Publisher:McFarland & Co Inc (USA, 2010)
ISBN:9780786443529
Book cover: American Cars, 1973-1980 - Every Model, Year by Year | McFarland

American Cars, 1973-1980 - Every Model, Year by Year

Language: English

Cars of the 1950s: A Celebration of Chrome and Tailfins

"Cars of the 1950s" is a spirited romp through the brilliant chrome, tailfins, and vibrant paint jobs found on the decade's glamour wagons, luxury cars, two-seated sports cars, and station wagons.

  • Featured vehicles include: the Lincoln Cosmopolitan, Cadillac Coupe de Ville, Plymouth Belvedere, Ford Thunderbird, Mercury Montclair, Chevy Bel Air, and the original Corvette
  • Period street scenes and advertising help deliver an immersive experience of the magnificent machines that helped make this decade great.
  • In addition, there are year-by-year overviews of major news and cultural events.

Product details

Author:Auto Editors of Consumer Guide
Details:416 pages, 12.2 x 9 x 1.06 in (31 x 24 x 2.7 cm), hardback
Illustrations:many b&w and color photos
Language:English
Publisher:Publications International, Ltd. (USA, 2021)
ISBN:9781645586159
Book cover: Cars of the 1950s: A Celebration of Chrome and Tailfins | Publications International

Cars of the 1950s: A Celebration of Chrome and Tailfins

Language: English

Cars of the 1960s: Detroit's Diverse Decade - Compacts, Luxury, and Muscle

"Cars of the 1960s" tells the story of a tumultuous decade that saw a shift from chrome and tailfins to powerful muscle cars.

  • Featured vehicles include: the Ford Mustang, the Pontiac GTO, and the luxury Buick Riviera.
  • Period street scenes and advertising help deliver an immersive experience of the magnificent machines that helped make this decade great.
  • In addition, there are year-by-year overviews of major news and cultural events.

Product details

Author:Auto Editors of Consumer Guide
Details:416 pages, 12.2 x 9 x 1.06 in (31 x 24 x 2.7 cm), hardback
Illustrations:many b&w and color photos
Language:English
Publisher:Publications International, Ltd. (USA, 2021)
ISBN:9781645586166
Book cover: Cars of the 1960s: Detroit's Diverse Decade - Compacts, Luxury, and Muscle | Publications International

Cars of the 1960s: Detroit's Diverse Decade - Compacts, Luxury, and Muscle

Language: English

Cars of the 1970s: From the Flex of Muscle Cars to the Reliability of Subcompacts

"Cars of the 1970s" covers everything from the first of the new subcompact class up to the last of the truly big traditional family cars.

  • Featured vehicles include: Mustangs, Chargers, Camaros, GTOs, Corvettes, Challengers, and yes, even Gremlins.
  • Period street scenes and advertising help deliver an immersive experience of the magnificent machines that helped make this decade great.
  • In addition, there are year-by-year overviews of major news and cultural events.

Product details

Author:Auto Editors of Consumer Guide
Details:416 pages, 12.2 x 9 x 1.06 in (31 x 24 x 2.7 cm), hardback
Illustrations:many b&w and color photos
Language:English
Publisher:Publications International, Ltd. (USA, 2021)
ISBN:9781645586173
Book cover: Cars of the 1970s: From the Flex of Muscle Cars to the Reliability of Subcompacts | Publications International

Cars of the 1970s: From the Flex of Muscle Cars to the Reliability of Subcompacts

Language: English

The Complete Book of American Muscle Supercars : Yenko, Shelby, Baldwin Motion, Grand Spaulding, and More

The American muscle car originated not in the factories of major automakers, but in the garages and dealerships of a hot-rod subculture focused on creating high-performance street cars. This book catalogs these remarkable cars and the builders who introduced them to the American market.

It covers Michigan's Royal Pontiac dealership and their modified Royal Pontiac Bobcats, as well as new cars from renowned names like Carroll Shelby, Mr. Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge, Nickey Chevrolet, Don Yenko, George Hurst, Baldwin-Motion, Calloway, SLP, and Steve Saleen.

This beautifully illustrated book highlights the significant contributions of tuners and builders to American automotive history through the exceptional machines they created.
From the oldest muscle tuners fetching high prices at classic-car auctions to the latest vehicles by Ford and Chrysler with their SVT and SRT divisions, this book offers readers a comprehensive and fascinating look at American high-performance cars.

Product details

Author:Tom Glatch
Details:224 pages, 12.2 x 10 in (31 x 25.5 cm), hardback
Illustrations:25 b&w and 320 color photos
Language:English
Publisher:Motorbooks International (USA, 2016)
ISBN:9780760350065
Book cover: The Complete Book of American Muscle Supercars : Yenko, Shelby, Baldwin Motion, Grand Spaulding, and More | Motorbooks

The Complete Book of American Muscle Supercars : Yenko, Shelby, Baldwin Motion, Grand Spaulding, and More

Language: English

Hot Rod Magazine - 75 ans: L'histoire officielle

The official retrospective of the history of Hot Rod Magazine, revered by car enthusiasts worldwide, offers a comprehensive account of all things automotive performance. A reference for roadsters, slingshot architecture, funny cars, coupes, customization, dirt racing, drop-dead racing, muscle cars, pro touring and America's fastest street cars, this magazine has captivated the attention of fans with its imaginative team over the years.

Author Drew Hardin guides us through the rich history of the Hot Rod Magazine team's contribution to the automotive world. But it's not just the cars that are the stars, as the book also shines a light on the personalities who helped shape the myth: from pioneers like Alex Xydias, Vic Edelbrock, and Wally Parks, to drivers Don Garlits and Don Prudhomme, to hot rod legends Tommy Ivo and Norm Grabowski, to renowned journalists Gray Baskerville and David Freiburger, and to innovative builders like Boyd Coddington, Pete Chapouris, and Chip Foose, to name a few.
This book, illustrated with over three hundred photos from the magazine's archives, offers a captivating look at the history and personalities who have shaped the automotive world.

Product details

Author:Drew Hardin
Details:208 pages, 11.2 x 9.7 x 0.98 in (28.5 x 24.5 x 2.5 cm), paperback
Illustrations:300+ b&w and color photos
Language:French
Publisher:Sophia Éditions (F, 2023)
ISBN:9782385140014
Book cover: Hot Rod Magazine - 75 ans: L'histoire officielle | Sophia

Hot Rod Magazine - 75 ans: L'histoire officielle

Language: French

Hot rods (Vitesse)

Rodding began in the 1930s in California, USA. Aboard their old modified Ford Ts, young people, for fun, raced from one traffic light to another, on the dry lakes of southern California and on the beaches of Florida.
In 1932, Ford launched its "Model B", with a powerful engine, the first V8 offered on a popular vehicle and also equipped with stripped-down bodies (fenders and running boards removed), which presented itself as a great opportunity for pure speed enthusiasts, already reaching 200 km/h at that time.

The term "hot-rod" only appeared after the Second World War to describe these old used cars bought by young people and then modified by them to gain competitiveness. Over the years, we see the appearance of specialized magazines, but also high-performance kits which will follow the evolution of the technique and the structuring of races on dry lakes.

From the 1960s, several polyester replicas were created to deal with the shortage of pre-war sheet metal bodies. A multitude of specialized companies were born with the arrival of vehicles built solely to win trophies at shows (show cars).
The 1980-1990 period saw the emergence of a much more sober style: high-tech. In France, the Rod movement emanated from the Custom movement, which appeared in the 1980s and consisted of modifying old obsolete French cars to bring them up to date mechanically and aesthetically.

Through a superb collection of three hundred photos, the book "Hot Rods" exhibits more than forty cars covering all styles of hot rodding, ranging from traditional Rods, wild meetings or even extreme Rat Rods described through their technical characteristics, stories and anecdotes.

Product details

Author:Alan Mayes
Details:240 pages, 8.25 x 6.5 in (21 x 16.5 cm), paperback
Illustrations:many b&w and color photos
Language:French
Publisher:ETAI (F, 2013)
Series:Vitesse
ISBN:9782726897355

Les voitures Américaines

The Americans brought the automobile into the industrial era thanks to the assembly line system, with the Ford T which was the best-selling car in the world at the beginning of the 20th century. After Ford and General Motors, other iconic brands emerged across the Atlantic: Chrysler, Pontiac, Plymouth...
These American car brands would compete with each other, then concentrate to give birth to the "Big Three" and make the United States the world's leading producer of cars.

From this industrial epic, we especially remember, in France, legendary cars like the Ford Mustang, the Dodge Charger, the Pontiac GTO, the Oldsmobile 98, the Buick Skylark, the Cadillac Eldorado or the Chevrolet Corvette...
American cars are true rolling legends.

Product details

Author:Jany Huguet
Details:191 pages, 11.8 x 9.7 x 0.91 in (30 x 24.5 x 2.3 cm), hardback
Illustrations:many b&w and color photos
Language:French
Publisher:Ramsay Editions (F, 2020)
ISBN:9782812202216
Book cover: Les voitures Américaines | Ramsay

Les voitures Américaines

Language: French

Muscle cars - Les sportives d'oncle sam (Autofocus)

A book entirely dedicated to the famous American sports cars, which had their moment of glory between 1964 and 1974: from the Pontiac GTO to the Pontiac Firebird SD-455, including the Ford Torino, the Ford Mustang II, the Mercury El Gato, the Dodge Diamante, the Chevrolet Super Nova and the greatest myths in the category.

From a young age, Alexis Tremulis was passionate about sports cars, including a certain Ford Mustang. In partnership with a friend, he even set up an American car garage in the United States. Back in France, he decided to share his knowledge and experience acquired in Uncle Sam's country, by producing books on the subject.

Through a very beautiful collection of original photos provided by the photographer Pierre-Yves Gaulard, a dense but easy to access text, "Muscle cars - Les sportives d'oncle sam" allows you to discover and rediscover all the atypical high-performance Muscle Car models, their evolution and the many technical and aesthetic aspects that have characterized them.

Product details

Author:Alex Tremulis
Details:128 pages, 9 x 10.6 in (24 x 27 cm), hardback
Illustrations:250 b&w and color photos
Language:French
Publisher:ETAI (F, 2013)
Series:Autofocus
ISBN:9782726897140
Book cover: Muscle cars - Les sportives d'oncle sam | Autofocus | ETAI

Muscle cars - Les sportives d'oncle sam

Language: French

Woodies Américains - Des essences rares et de l'acier

Refinement and elegance, this is how the Woody concept could be summed up. These are bodies composed of a clever assembly of light-coloured ash slats, within which thin plates of Honduran mahogany are inserted, the whole covered with several layers of varnish.

Born in the United States, this technique, applied with ingenuity in the construction of passenger cars, will give birth between the 1930s and 1950s to magnificent machines so popular today. It is this wonderful automotive era that this book aims to help you discover...

Product details

Author:Patrick Lesueur
Details:192 pages, 11.4 x 9 in (29 x 24 cm), hardback
Illustrations:350 b&w photos
Language:French
Publisher:ETAI (F, 2016)
ISBN:9791028301125
Book cover: Woodies Américains - Des essences rares et de l'acier | ETAI

Woodies Américains - Des essences rares et de l'acier

Language: French

Amerikanische Autos 1945-1990

The history of American automobile manufacturing has produced spectacular vehicles. Around 60 brands - including well-known car manufacturers such as Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Cadillac and Chevrolet - are presented in this reference work using numerous data tables and 1 000 mostly contemporary illustrations.

Pages of the book Amerikanische Autos 1945-1990 (1)

Pages of the book "Amerikanische Autos 1945-1990"

With unrivalled expertise, Roger Gloor examines the history of the US automobile industry from the end of World War II to the turn of the millennium. He focuses on the automobile arms race on America's streets up until the 1990s, but also on the further development of the US market.

Product details

Author:Roger Gloor
Details:584 pages, 10.6 x 9.25 x 1.5 in (27 x 23.5 x 3.8 cm), hardback
Illustrations:1000 b&w and color photos
Language:German
Publisher:Motorbuch Verlag (D, 2022)
ISBN:9783613043657
Book cover: Amerikanische Autos 1945-1990 | Motorbuch

Amerikanische Autos 1945-1990

Language: German

Woodies - Amerikanische Autoträume aus Holz und Stahl

In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, the fashion for woodies flourished. Station wagons, but also limousines and even convertibles were given real (and sometimes fake) wooden decoration or even entire bodies in the old carriage-building tradition.
Mahogany and ash and other fine types retained their natural appearance under clear varnish - which of course had to be freshened up every year, just like with wooden boats. The sheet metal of the Chrysler Town and Country, the Buick Roadmaster, the Ford and Mercury Station Wagon and Sportsman and all the other woodie variants up to the Packard Station Sedan were often painted dark blue, chestnut brown or bottle green.

The first German-language book about the classic Woodies from the United States shows the most beautiful examples of this genre, which is considered a "national treasure" among US enthusiasts, a veritable cultural asset worthy of protection.

Product details

Author:Patrick Lesueur
Details:176 pages, 12 x 10 x 0.91 in (30.5 x 25.5 x 2.3 cm), hardback
Illustrations:extensively illustrated
Language:German
Publisher:Heel-Verlag GmbH (D, 2018)
ISBN:9783958437791
Book cover: Woodies - Amerikanische Autoträume aus Holz und Stahl | Heel

Woodies - Amerikanische Autoträume aus Holz und Stahl

Language: German

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