More than a "celebration," as the title states, this highly illustrated volume is an exhaustive automobile encyclopedia. Willson (Classic American Cars) obviously knows his way around a steering wheel. But the most arresting features of the book are its size (nearly 600 pages), heft (6.5 lbs.), and quality (heavy, high-gloss paper with a sturdy binding). Histories of 150 of the most famous cars ever produced are fully documented with over 1800 photos. Each car is photographed in high detail, including front, back, sides, plane view, interior, and engine components. The text is minimal, focusing on each car's history and significance. Still, the book is packed with historical details and commentaries on style and engineering. It includes profiles of cars produced in Europe, the United States, Japan, and Australia. No equivalent book exists with this sort of detail and presentation. Highly suited for transportation collections and public libraries. Eric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence, RI
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Oh, the hours that car lovers will pore over the bold, dramatic pages of this large-format celebration of automotive types and styles found around the world in recent decades. Arrangement is alphabetical by marque, from the AC Ace-Bristol (a British roadster of the late 1950s) to the Willys Jeep MB (the workhorse used by the military in World War II). For each kind of featured car, a complete profile is offered: a brief history and a rundown on statistics in chart form as well as a series of luscious, crystal-clear photographs taken of the car from the front, back, top, and--across two-page spreads-- side. Yes, the Edsel might have been a consumer failure, but its laughed-at styling nevertheless now seems very typical of the fifties. But laugh at the Lamborghini of the 1970s? And let's not even get started on how we ache to have owned a Corvette Sting Ray. And remember the neighbor in the 1970s who used to collect only 1959 Cadillacs? To dream . . . Brad Hooper
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