Marking the 50th anniversary of an icon of American industry, this book celebrates a half-century of Bobcat with brilliant images of these quintessentially American machines at work, including historical photographs and diagrams, alongside the full story of the only compact machines that have ever mattered.
Often imitated but never equaled, the Bobcat skid-steer loader was born when some hardy souls in the Northern Plains needed a new way to get work done. The pictures in these pages show how the Bobcat loader has been moving American industry ever since, joined over the years by Bobcat excavators and trenchers, utility trucks and more.
Bobcat Fifty Years chronicles the changes and innovations that have kept the company at the forefront of the nation’s compact machinery makers--from the invention of the Bob-Tach quick-change attachment system to the introduction of the Big Bob, the Mini-Bob, and the M-700, the first hydrostatic loader of its size. Here, again and again, is evidence of why Fortune Magazine named the Bobcat one of “America’s best”--one of the 100 American-made products that represent the best of their kind, anywhere in the world.
Marty Padgett spent the 1970s crashing Matchbox cars into each other, the 1980s figuring out the perfect first car to own, and the 1990s as an automotive journalist following the auto industry. Right now, he's probably driving somewhere.
A 1991 graduate of Duke University, Padgett studied European history and graduated cum laude with honors. A week after graduation, he left for Detroit and a dream first job with America's most respected automotive magazine, Car and Driver. At C/D, Padgett edited the monthly news section, wrote road tests, and appeared in several television pilots based on the magazine's content.
After a brief stint in public relations at Mercedes-Benz, Padgett moved to Atlanta and began a freelance writing career. His articles have appeared in a wide range of men's magazines, including Men's Health, Stuff, Car and Driver, Auto Week and Details, and he has appeared on several national radio and TV programs, including CNN's Talk Back Live and Fox Morning News.
Padgett is the editor of the Web's automotive authority, TheCarConnection.com (www.thecarconnection.com) and contributes regularly to AutoExpress magazine and AutoTrader.com.
Padgett, 36, lives in Atlanta's Lavista Park neighborhood with his partner and four cats, an ever-changing roster of cars in the driveway and easy access to the Florida Panhandle.
