Customer Reviews

Great American Woodies and Wagons (Crestline Auto Books)

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The original edition was probably the first book of its type on the subject. It covered over 70 years of woody and wagon production fairly comprehensively. Each chapter consisted of from about a half page to about a page and a half of text on the year or years covered and several pages of captioned photos -- most reproduced from period sales brochures or advertising. There were some errors, especially in the captions of the photos, but this is typical of this type of book and, considering the sheer volume of pictures it contains, is both understandable and forgivable. Unfortunately long out of print, I consider it a must-have for anyone interested in these kinds of auotmobiles and trucks.

The revised edition is something else again. The first impression is that the paper has a quality feel, but further examination reveals that the photos seem a little "fuzzy" and dark with poor resolution, and there's a fair amount of bleed-through from the printing on the reverse side of the page. I consider this a significant shortcoming in a book in which photographs play so prominent a role, and it was not in evidence in the original edition.

The original edition covered the years 1900 through 1977 in considerable depth for what might be considered essentially a coffee table book. That material is repeated in the new edition. None of the errors in the original edition appear to have been corrected. The "revisions" consist entirely of six additional pages covering 1978 - 1983, providing -- at best -- a very broad overview. By contrast there are seven pages devoted to 1976 alone and eight to 1975. In fact, although the early years (pre-1930) are covered in just a few chapters, there's a separate chapter for each year from 1930 through 1977 (except for the WWII years), and there's a photo of almost every make and series produced in each year.

In all honesty I cannot recommend the revised edition to anyone who owns the original, save for the hardest core afficionado like myself, who absolutely must have every book on the subject. If you do not have the original, and you're a wagon lover, the revised edition is worth buying, if the price is right, and if you can't find the original edition.