Best Damn Garage in Town: The World According to Smokey [BOX SET] (Paperback)

by Smokey Yunick (Author) "I know much that's in this collection of memories, experiences and adventures, will be controversial...some will offend...some of it will be doubted..." (more)
Key Phrases: vapor cycle engine, vapor engine, jungle town, Smokey Yunick, Popular Science, Circle Track (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"It’s the best book I have ever read – bar none! I couldn’t put it down...nobody could." -- John DeLorean

BDGIT is a great damn book about a great damn man, the likes of which we will never see again. -- SpeedFX.com, Matt McGlaughlin

I’ve spent hours blowing off my duties here at the office, unable to pull myself from these sweet, straight-shooting pages. -- Hot Rod Magazine, Jeff Koch

Smokey didn’t suffer fools gladly, and he called them all to task in his posthumous 1,100-page, self-published, three-volume tome. -- Hot Rod Magazine, Jeff Koch

Smokey was a one-man Greatest Generation whose World War II adventures seem divided between hot planes and hot nurses. -- The New York Times, Robert Lipsyte

Product Description
3 Volume set with slipcase, 1,100 pages, 409 photographs and illustrations, all black and white, weighs 11 pounds, indexed.

Smokey got the idea for writing a history of stock car racing after giving a talk to explain racing to a group of kids at Lowe’s Motorspeedway, around 1995. He realized that all the people who were a part of the early days were dying and most of the ones who were still alive were too involved with racing to be able to tell the real stories. He started writing this book as a history of stock car racing and ended up with look at American history of the past 60 years through a very unique set of eyes.

The first volume, Walkin’ Under a Snake’s Belly, covers Smokey’s life outside racing, beginning with growing up in Neshaminy, Pennsylvania on a farm, dropping out of high school to take care of the family and going off to World War II as a B-17 pilot. The war stories are told through the eyes of a young man who believed all that the Army Air Corps taught him, but he had a mind of his own and was also hell-bent on having fun at all costs. (If that meant irritating a few generals, then that was just par for the course.)

After the racing years, Smokey ended spending most of his time working on his inventions and working in the oil and gold fields of Ecuador. Along the way, Smokey had a knack for finding fun and adventure everywhere he went. Alcohol, women and speed were his main addictions - he eventually gave up alcohol, but never did give up the other two.

The second volume, All Right You Sons-a-Bitches, Let’s Have a Race, chronicles the stock car racing years in living color. The warning on these books, that they are not to be read by those under 18 unless they are with a grandparent who can translate the social and moral implications of the stories, is not to be taken lightly. (Smokey even includes his own dictionary to explain the terms that racers used in the early days to the uninformed.) Smokey and his band of merry compatriots were racers and there were only two things on their mind when the sun went down – women and booze. Smokey had his share of both during 15 years of racing, when racers were looked down on as the dregs of society. Nothing could stop his dream of being the fastest at the sport he loved, no matter what happened along the way – the sign of a true racer.

During his years in stock car racing, Smokey fell in love with a mistress that he would visit every May for over 20 years – The Indianapolis 500. The first half of the third volume, Li’l Skinny Rule Book, covers his love of this famed event and the wonderful stories of the days before the big corporate sponsors; when it was just men and their machines, sleeping on the floor in the garage and most times coming home with nothing. As the title implies, Smokey loved Indy because the rules were so simple. His inventive mind and knack for thinking way outside the box were at their best when Indy was involved.

The second half of the third volume, Eatin’ an Elephant, covers his years of inventing inside and outside of racing. Smokey’s 10 patents don’t begin to cover the breadth and depth of his inventing. His work with the car companies and on the racetrack led to a host of developments that have improved surface transportation for everyone. The value of some of his ideas and inventions, like his famous hot vapor engine, were never fully realized.

Many books have been written about the last 50 years of American history, but few are this entertaining, revealing and introspective all at the same time. Real stories from World War II, stock cars, the automotive industry and the Mexican Road Race are just a few of the elements in Smokey’s autobiography. They combine to make Best Damn Garage in Town…The World According to Smokey one of the most interesting books in a long time.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 1100 pages
• Publisher: Carbon Press, LC; 2nd edition (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971146934
• ISBN-13: 978-0971146938
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 11.1 x 4.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #411,307 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thinking outside the box, February 28, 2003

By	Clinton E. Roush (Florence, KY) - See all my reviews

Don't let Smokey's style of storytelling stop you. When you finish all three volumes you will have probed the mind of a true hero. I wish Smokey had written this book sooner. I met Smokey, at Indy, in the early 90's. Today I would have much more to talk to him about. Smokey was the example of "Thinking outside the box"

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Damn Book To Have In Your Racing Collection, January 15, 2003

By	Ellen (Smyrna,TN USA) - See all my reviews

When Smoke said he'd tell like it is, he didn't lie! The history lesson he gives you is worth its weight in gold.There is so much to learn and appreciate from his book. He was a unique man, with a colorful history and not just in racing. I have attended numerous lectures and roundtable discussions he held at the annual PRI shows, they were always one of my favorite things to go to. Only way to desribe Smokey in my book is, he was one smart cat! Whether some of his "Associates" will admit it or not, they will definetly miss his insight,his wisdom, and his courage to step over the line. Thank You Smokey for All That You Have Done.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth every dollar and every minute, January 25, 2006

By	JSR "mediaphile" (Columbus, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

Simply put this is one of the best books about racing I have ever read. Smokey's stories are entertaining, hilarious, and insightful. His kind will not be by this way again! If you like racing of any kind, this book is a must read. It is well worth both the time and the money.