Classic cars: books - history, types and construction (1/2)

Classic Cars : A Century of Masterpieces

Simon de Burton journeys through some of the most coveted cars of the twentieth century. From the Alfa Romeo 6C to the Porsche 996 GT3, the author has chosen cars from each decade from the 1930s to the end of the twentieth century, his choices made from the perspective of the enthusiast and collector.
All are considered 'milestone' cars and all have risen substantially in value in the past five to ten years.

They are not all necessarily the fastest, rarest or most valuable cars, but they are all highly significant and highly regarded. These are the cars that should have been bought when they were new and kept for the future - now that they are truly desired.

Features cars from across the varied spans of time, price and purpose, including: Lancia Lambda, Austin Seven, Volkswagen Beetle, Jaguar C-Type, Citroen DS19, Ford Mustang, DeLorean DMC 12, McLaren F1.

The Straight Eight Engine - Powering the Premium Automobiles

This is the first book specifically about automobiles with straight eight engines that have become amongst the most sought-after, collectible, and valuable vehicles of all time. In Britain and Europe, the straight eight was always a rare, expensive car, but in the United States, the engine also found its way into the mainstream 'midrange' market in basic side-valve form.

First appearing in a road car in the 1920s, the engine grew quickly in popularity, and flourished throughout the 1930s and the early 1940s, but by the 1950s only a small handful were available, including some Packards, Pontiacs and Daimlers, as well as the exclusive Rolls-Royce Phantom IV. New straight eights will almost certainly never again be seen on the road, replaced today by the V8 engines.

Within these pages is a comprehensive survey of the different cars that were produced and the variations in the many styles of engines. Each model is illustrated with contemporary and period photographs.

The Art of the Classic Sports Car : Pace and Grace

Sports cars are the athletes of the automotive world. Always nimble and quick, often powerful, sports cars fly where other cars lumber, and dash where others plod. The definition of a sports car is somewhat fluid, still, most car fans feel that they know a sports car when they see one, and when asked to name a few will rattle off Jaguar, Corvette, Triumph, MG, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lotus, Alfa-Romeo, BMW, and many others.

Sports cars have offered road and track excitement for nearly 100 years. The original cars evolved for racing, but their appeal and popularity ensured that production versions were soon available for those whose sporting intents never left the boulevard or winding back road.

"The Art of the Classic Sports Car" offers enthusiasts a beautifully illustrated review of several decades of high-performance cars, featuring cars from around the globe all shot in the studio to ensure a handsome book.
Each featured car includes a profile discussing the car's place in sports car history along with technical and performance specs as well as a smattering of historical images and period ads.

Beautiful machines - The era of the elegant sports car

Start your engines for a grand tour of the most stylish grand motoring automobiles ever created. Evoking an era when elegance, romance, and outright performance defined the automobile - and the fascinating stories that made them icons of the road.

From the shark-inspired Maserati Ghibli to the fiery Lamborghini Miura, from European elegance with American firepower such as the Iso Grifo and Facel Vega to the groundbreaking designs of the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale and Renault Alpine and the advanced technology behind the Jensen FF or Porsche 918 Spyder - these cars are less transportation and more testaments to beauty, freedom, ambition, innovation, and speed.

This book was conceived and edited by gestalten. Stories are written by automobile expert Blake Z. Rong with a preface by Classic Driver's Jan Baedeker and gestalten's Robert Klanten.

The Classic Car Book - The Definitive Visual History

From the Chevrolet Bel Air to the Ferrari Testarossa, The Classic Car Book showcases the most important and iconic classic cars from every decade since the 1940s.
Fully illustrated and packed with stunning photography, this beautiful book uses specially commissioned photographic tours to put you in the driver's seat of the world's most famous vintage cars, including stylish roadsters and luxury limousines from manufacturers such as Mercedez-Benz, Ferrari, Rover, Jaguar, and Bentley.

The Classic Car Book takes you on a scenic drive through the history of classic cars, profiling iconic models and key details of the world's most famous vehicles, and charting their legacy as objects of luxury and desire.
Ideal for any car collectors and enthusiasts, this is an essential addition to every fans' bookshelf.

Streamlined - Classic Cars of the 20th Century

In 2009, the Prototyp car museum in Hamburg, Germany, organized a special two-month exhibit where 25 classic, streamlined automobiles had an unprecedented "aerodynamic rendezvous."
The exhibition included such automotive gems as the 1940 BMW Mille Miglia Touring Coupe, the 1977 Mercedes-Benz C111/III, Porsche's 356 Pre-A coupe of 1950, Petermax Müller's 1938 World Record Volkswagen, Das Auto magazine founder Paul Pietsch's 1952 Avus Coupe, and the Kamm K3 from 1938.

Michel Zumbrunn, who specializes in classic cars, photographed this unique exhibition of never-before-shown-together works of art. The result is this book, an unparalleled artistic documentation of the history of the aerodynamically optimized automobile.
Anyone with a passion for classic cars and the science of aerodynamics will revel in these gorgeous images coupled with historical and technical information based on research by renowned experts.

Million dollar classics - Les voitures de rêve les plus exclusives au monde

Ce livre présente les voitures les plus chères au monde, d'une De Dion de 1884 à la McLaren F1, une supervoiture conçue plus de cent ans plus tard pour être la meilleure au monde et qui est immédiatement devenue un classique.

Entre ces voitures emblématiques, on trouve une collection unique des voitures les plus performantes, les plus rares et les plus magnifiques jamais conçues par Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Bugatti, Duesenberg, Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz et bien d'autres, chacune superbement photographiée et exhaustivement décrite.

Des voitures, telles que la Bugatti Type 57S, la Jaguar Type C, les Ferrari 250 GT, l'Aston Martin Zagato et la Ford GT40 n'ont qu'un seul point commun : elles valent aujourd'hui toutes plus d'un million de dollars, voire dans certains cas nettement plus.

Sommaire:

1884 De Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-à-Dos

1912 Bugatti 5-Liter - 1913 Bugatti Black Bess 5-Liter Type 18

1930 Duesenberg Model J Dual Cowl Phaeton - 1930 Mercedes-Benz SS - 1931 Bugatti Royale Type 41 - 1932 Bugatti Type 55 - 1933 Bugatti Type 59 Supercharged 3.3 Liter - 1933 Duesenberg Model SJ Phaeton - 1934 Packard 12 Runabout LeBaron Speedster - 1935 Duesenberg SJ Speedster Mormon Meteor - 1935 Duesenburg SJN Convertible Coupe - 1935 Aston Martin Ulster LM19 - 1936 Mercedes-Benz 540K Cabriolet A - 1937 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900 B Cabriolet - 1937 Bugatti Type 57S - 1937 Mercedez-Benz 540K Special Roadster - 1937 Mercedez-Benz 540K Special Roadster - 1938 Delahaye 135 MS Cabriolet - 1938 Talbot Lago T23 Teardrop Coupe - 1939 Mercedes-Benz W154

1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt - 1948 Ferrari 166 Scaglietti Spyder - 1948 Tucker Sedan

1952 Jaguar C-Type - 1953 Ferrari 250 MM Spyder - 1953 Maserati A6 GCS - 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196R - 1954 Ferrari 250 Monza Spyder - 1955 Jaguar D-Type - 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLS Prototype Roadster - 1956 Maserati Tipo 52 200 SI Sport Internazionale - 1956 Porsche 550 Rennsport Spyder - 1957 Ferrari 250 Pontoon Fender Testa Rossa - 1957 Ferrari 335 Sport Scaglietti - 1959 Ferrari 250 GT TdF Berlinetta - 1959 Ferrari 246 S Dino

1960 Aston Martin DB4GT - 1960 Maserati Tipo 61 "Birdcage" - 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Sefac Hot Rod - 1962 Aston Martin DB4 Zagato - 1962 Aston Martin DB4 Zagato - 1962 Ferrari 330 TRI/LM Testa Rossa - 1963 Shelby Daytona Coupe - 1964 Ford GT40 Prototype - 1964 Shelby Cobra Team CSX 2431 - 1966 Ferrari 250 LM - 1967 Ferrari NART Spyder

1996 McLaren F1 - 2014 Aston Martin DB10.