Five Wonderful Winter Automotive Reads

"Satish Kondapavulur" (becauseCAR) 12/07/2013 at 13:28 • Filed to: MY STUPID LISTS

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As I've realized after swapping my flip-flops for shoes, seeing Christmas trees on top of Priuses, and dodging the salespeople at shopping mall kiosks, it's winter. This means turning the thermostat up 20 degrees, buying everything in The North Face catalog and waiting five minutes extra to warm the car up in the morning. If you live in the Midwest, that is.

However, in California, where I currently live (unless someone at an automaker decides "Let's ignore everything he's said about our cars! Hire this man to get a manual rear-drive diesel station wagon past the finance people!"), winter is like the summer, albeit with colder temperatures and shorter days, with the occasional trip to Tahoe to keep up the skiing lessons.

But let's face it. During the holidays, you manage to find yourself with enough time to plop down and catch up on the shows on Netflix or whatever new sitcoms came out this fall. ( Trophy Wife is quite good. The Millers ? Not so much.)

Instead, I've decided to make some unsolicited reading suggestions, and I've actually read them, mainly to demonstrate that I do other things besides watching sitcoms and playing Gran Turismo 6 . All of them are excellent reads and provide entertainment away from looking at a screen, with the exception of the book in the middle.

Author's Note: I know !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and solicited some for other good books. Unfortunately, I had this list planned for the weekend by that point. If you want an Honorable Mentions list on my end (mainly since I haven't read quite a few of them as it turns out), there are plenty of good automotive books in the comments of that post.

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Arrogance and Accords

I've decided to start with the choice from left-field first. Arrogance and Accords covers the Honda scandal of the 1990s, when people in charge of dealer allocation decided to get kickbacks from dealers in exchange for giving them a favorable selection of cars when the market for Honda was hot during the 1980s and early 1990s. The book ends up showcasing the contentious relationship between corporate companies and their dealer franchises.

Steve Lynch, a former American Honda, also includes good stories about Acura's launch and why it was never as strong as Lexus' debut. Some parts of this book are downright hilarious (in a dark, Arrested Development -sort of way), while other moments make you realize how the scandal may have impacted you when buying a Honda from a Honda dealer. Unfortunately, it's out of print, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but look for it at your local library.

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Icons and Idiots

Having read Bob Lutz's past books, Guts: The Seven Laws of Business That Made Chrysler the World's Hottest Car Company (showing even Lutz can get things spectacularly wrong) and Car Guys vs. Bean Counters (he strangely doesn't mention the SSR), Icons and Idiots is the best book out of all of them, since one of Bob Lutz's books had to make this list. The book tends to be a quick read, but it's thoroughly entertaining. Since most of these guys are now very old or dead, Lutz names names, which allows us to contrast these leaders' public and private personas.

The best part about Icons and Idiots is that the stories take center stage, in order to illustrate Lutz's points on the qualities of good and bad leaders. This involves the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , how the current BMW naming system was developed, and what it was like to report to Lee Iaccoca. Thankfully, the book shows how much auto industry leadership has changed (or not changed, depending on your view) and is a very entertaining read. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

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Plays With Cars

Yes, I know Doug DeMuro attempts to charm us into paying $3 for his book by getting the Jalopnik editors to post his stuff on the front page. Unfortunately, I was taken in with his charm and ended up buying his book (and lived to tell the tale). I also finished it in less than a day. As a result, I know CarMax is the place I'll buy a V10 M5 and to !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! across the country with your mother.

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If you're familiar with the usual DeMuro quirks, things such as constantly mentioning E63 wagon ownership and the use of the adverb "presumably" once or twice every chapter, you'll love this book. Otherwise, sitcoms are probably not for you and your holiday plans need to be reexamined. Keep in mind if you want a paperback version, it'll be around $10 with shipping and possibly tax. Worth it? Definitely. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Go Like Hell

If anything, this is a must-read for sports car racing fans. Reading about the people and resources involved show how seriously Ford took to winning at LeMans. The amount of technology Ford developed for the GT40 program (such as a computerized simulations of engines and transmissions running at LeMans to test their durability) is exactly what most racing programs like Audi do today, but it was in the 1960s.

Baime also provides a fairly good history into the events transpiring at Ferrari and Ford due to the new rivalry. This involves documenting how chaotic the situations were at both companies from inability to find drivers at some points to the most unlikely of cars winning the races. And the portrayal of Enzo Ferrari, Henry Ford II, and Carroll Shelby demonstrate the kinds of personalities that were behind these cars and the bragging rights that came with winning endurance races. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

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Once Upon a Car

Bill Vlasic ends up writing the book which has defined the automotive industry for the last ten years. Through interviews with the major executives of the the Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors, Vlasic reconstructed the situation that the American auto industry found itself in ten years ago. With numerous stories surrounding the events at the top level, any reader will be amazed that American automakers even survived the last decade.

In the end, to know why the Big Three are in their current situation, Once Upon a Car is a must-read. For such a serious book, it is a page-turner, as it explains a lot a qualms car enthusiasts had with the industry during the 2000s. From the sale of Chrysler to Cerberus to GM negotiating with the UAW to Ford hiring Alan Mullaly, there's a story for everything. It'll even explain why the Big Three may never make the Jalopnik dream of a rear-drive manual diesel station wagon. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

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What other books should people add to their reading lists?

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Honda image courtesy Honda. Once Upon a Car image courtesy The New York Times. Other images credit to respective publishers.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 13:56

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Would highly recommend this one as well.

SandZR2 > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 15:05

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This is a truly fascinating story of the lengths that Alex Roy went to so that he could set a completely meaningless record. Even if you think that what he did was incredibly stupid I recommend this book.

andthelike > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 15:27

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engines o

f change is a great read as well

DarthDuster > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 15:34

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On a Clear Day you can see General Motors - John Delorean. Apart from having a brilliant title, this is your go-to guide for what was going on inside GM as it passed from it's golden years into stagnation in the mid-seventies. Whatever your thoughts on Delorean (he actually got cold feet on publishing despite receiving an advance and it was left to his co-author to publish without Delorean's consent) it's a fascinating read into an insanely conservative company and it's Kafka-esque bureaucracy (even if it's all ancient history now).

zzoldan > SandZR2 12/07/2013 at 15:47

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Can confirm, this was an excellent read.

tromoly > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 15:48

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Daredevils of the Speedway

Found this at a thrift store a few years back, have only skimmed a couple chapters but it is a fantastic book on the early-ish years of Indianapolis, if you can find it I highly recommend it.

Also, Cannonball! by Brock Yates.

Just fantastic, IIRC around 300 pages and so full of the history of the Cannonball Runs.

JR1 > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 15:58

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I'd like to add these:

Justal > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 16:14

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A good read also.

Justin is driven > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 16:37

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http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4688…

Hard to find, but worth the search if you find yourself in a used book store anytime soon. Stirling Moss's biography by Ken Purdy.

Ronnie Schreiber > andthelike 12/07/2013 at 17:17

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Ingrassia's a good writer and enough of a car guy to get things right. Now if I can only remember where my review copy is. I think that's a '39 Cadillac on the cover.

Ronnie Schreiber > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 17:39

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If you like early automotive history, there are three books from the Wayne State University Press that I'd recommend, two by Charles K. Hyde and one by Anthony Yanik. They're academic histories, not car buff books, but they are invaluable sources of information on the brands.

The Dodge Brothers: The Men, the Motor Cars, and the Legacy - Hyde. Shows the important role the Dodges had as suppliers to Henry Ford, Ransom Olds and Henry Leland as well as how they started and grew their own car company, dying within months of each other relatively young, leaving two of the richest widows in the world.

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Storied Independent Automakers: Nash, Hudson, and American Motors - Hyde. Goes back to the days of the Jeffery Rambler at the turn of the 20th century and goes up to AMC's acquisition by Chrysler. A good look at men like Nash, Chapin, Barit, Mason and Romney.

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Maxwell Motor and the Making of the Chrysler Corporation - Yanik. Essential early history of and should be on any Mopar enthusiast's shelf as it covers the births of the Chrysler, DeSoto, and Plymouth brands as well as Walter Chrysler's acquisition of Dodge Brothers. Ironically, the same man can be said to have founded two of the Big 3. Benjamin Briscoe was a businessman who helped get both Buick and Maxwell off of the ground. Buick became the foundation for General Motors and Maxwell became the Chrysler Corp.

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On the topic of Chrysler, Hyde's Riding the Roller Coaster: A History of the Chrysler Corporation should be pretty good, if his other books are an indication, though I haven't read it yet.

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Ronnie Schreiber > Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 12/07/2013 at 17:41

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I've corresponded a little with Crawford about the demise of shop classes in American high schools. The man knows his stuff.

Bahnstorm > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 17:47

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If you haven't read any of B.S. Levy's historical fiction works about motorsports starting in the 1950s then start the series with The Last Open Road. If you want to just sample Levy's writing style pickup the Potside Companion for some short reads.

Hawkstrike6 > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 17:57

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I strongly recommend All Corvettes Are Red if you want a good story of automotive development — about the genesis of the C5. Luckily GM's product development process has improved a lot since then.

Also, for some great historical insight into the automotive industry, Toyota and lean production, and auto quality as a whole, I recommend The Machine that Changed the World .

ThatsAgood1jay > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 18:11

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Read Once Upon a Car a few years ago. Excellent account of the events of that Era, I followed it up with American Icon about Ford and Alan Mullaly, both excellent!.

Wade Beauchamp > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 18:18

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http://www.amazon.com/Scream-If-You-…

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Everyone should totally read this one. Ahem.

manifold engines > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 18:28

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Here are some classics...

Ad_absurdum_per_aspera > manifold engines 12/07/2013 at 19:06

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One of these years, if we've been really good, somebody will put together a folio edition of Tom McCahill's Mechanix Illustrated columns and as much as the publishers and lawyer allow of everything else he ever wrote.

He is said to have had some genuine influence on the car makers in his time... and his often imitated but seldom truly equalled approach to the English language has a huge influence on automotive writing to this very day (Dan Neil seems like the true heir of his influence among a number of pretenders scattered across two generations).

Ad_absurdum_per_aspera > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 19:15

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A couple of suggestions:

http://www.amazon.com/Car-A-Drama-Am…

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http://www.amazon.com/Roadster-Espec…

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manifold engines > Ad_absurdum_per_aspera 12/07/2013 at 19:22

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One of my favorites... "On every new car I examined, the chrome strips were unbuttoned from the body. Under way they vibrated and thundered like the butterflies in a Skid Row bum’s stomach on Sunday morning."

McCahill tests the Studillac - 1953

Hoonda > Satish Kondapavulur 12/07/2013 at 23:42

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Even if you completely skim over the math, this book goes a long way towards helping understand just what's going on in your car while you drive it. You also will never look at a set of coilovers the same way again.

A bit simpler, and occasionally flawed, "How to Make Your Car Handle" is also pretty good, and you can work your way through it faster than RCVD. Great introduction to suspension geometry.

RacinBob > Satish Kondapavulur 12/08/2013 at 00:23

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Stand On It, Racing in the age of AJ Foyt.

BadgerSpeed > Satish Kondapavulur 12/08/2013 at 01:36

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Loved the Paul Newman book about his racing career. Everyone should know how cool this man was.

Of course, the classic onion ninja story... LOVE this quick read.

MrMcQueen > SandZR2 12/08/2013 at 02:17

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Awesome book!

Charley V > Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 12/08/2013 at 03:06

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They had me at the flat-twin beemer.

eurocarfanatic21 > BadgerSpeed 12/08/2013 at 10:30

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the art of racing in the rain is such a good book!!

leicester > Satish Kondapavulur 12/08/2013 at 20:17

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'The Flywheel' - Collection of an automotive magazine produced by Allied POWs during their time at Stalag IV-B in Germany.

"The Flywheel was founded by Tom Swallow, and comprised pages from school exercise-books that carried hand-written articles with colour illustrations from whatever inks the editorial team could produce from stolen materials, like quinine from the medical room; these were stuck into place with fermented millet soup, kept from the meagre camp rations. One copy per issue was produced, to be circulated among members throughout the camp. When extracts were published in hardback format in 1987, the book ran to two reprints."

I thumbed through the copy my wife's uncle had- I'll have to borrow it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flywheel-Memor…

tromoly > Hoonda 12/08/2013 at 23:47

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Yes and Yes. Cannot recommend How To Make Your Car Handle by Fred Puhn enough, I've had it since my early teens and it's a fantastic reference for a quick setup adjustment.

RCVD , while far more complex and longer, is fantastic because it breaks down every aspect of vehicle dynamics and the effects each individual part has.

You, sir, have my favorite book choices in this thread (aside from my own, of course ;) )

Satish Kondapavulur > manifold engines 12/10/2013 at 22:33

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I've been meaning to read the PJ O'Rourke book at some point...

Satish Kondapavulur > SandZR2 12/10/2013 at 22:34

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Having read this one, I found it a good read and would definitely go in the honorable mentions category. It just so happened that I liked the other five books more.

Satish Kondapavulur > leicester 12/10/2013 at 22:35

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Interesting. I'll have to look into this one.

Satish Kondapavulur > JR1 12/10/2013 at 22:37

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The Shelby biography is a great read. Somehow I haven't really taken to barn find stories.

Satish Kondapavulur > andthelike 12/10/2013 at 22:38

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It's on my Kindle wish list. But there are other books ahead of this one!

Satish Kondapavulur > tromoly 12/10/2013 at 22:38

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Really have wanted to read Cannonball! Yet I've somehow not gotten to it.

Satish Kondapavulur > BadgerSpeed 12/10/2013 at 22:39

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Someone suggested The Art of Racing in the Rain even before. So far, it's just been on my Kindle wish list.

Satish Kondapavulur > Ronnie Schreiber 12/10/2013 at 22:42

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Definitely know the first one. A really good history on the Dodge brothers.

Satish Kondapavulur > DarthDuster 12/10/2013 at 22:43

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You know what? That one's now on the reading list and I now have to contrast it with Lutz's view since he was at GM around the same time.

Satish Kondapavulur > Bahnstorm 12/10/2013 at 22:44

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I'll look into this one.

Satish Kondapavulur > Hawkstrike6 12/10/2013 at 22:45

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Oh my God. I have to read this if there are some seriously funny stories in this book. Though the C5 wasn't really my favorite Corvette.

Satish Kondapavulur > Wade Beauchamp 12/10/2013 at 22:45

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Torchinsky might like this one...

Satish Kondapavulur > Justal 12/10/2013 at 22:46

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Came across this on Kindle. I'll take a look.

SandZR2 > Satish Kondapavulur 12/10/2013 at 23:18

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I agree Go Like Hell and Plays With Cars are great books. I will need the others to my reading list when I have time. Thanks for the great article.

manifold engines > Satish Kondapavulur 12/11/2013 at 00:41

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Try this excerpt..... Driving Like Crazy