Motion Performance Tales Of A Muscle Car Builder

"Martyn L. Schorr recalls over fifty years of automotive memories, including work with Carroll Shelby, the Ford GT race program, and more"--

Today, a 1970 Hemi Cuda can change hands for as much as a quarter of a million dollars. But when it was introduced, the Barracuda was just a car, and it was Joe Oldhams job to beat the daylights out of it. A tell-all from the man who tested the best, this book delves into the notes Oldham made on the cars he vetted for some of the top car magazines. Here are the photos (including outtakes) and the hard cold facts on muscle cars from the 1964 GTO to the 1976 Trans Am 455 HO--twenty-four in all. The 1970 Buick Gran Sport GSX, Oldham notes, was "the best handling muscle car we ever tested." The 1968 Plymouth Road Runner, on the other hand, was "just a car that didnt run very well"--despite its 426 Hemi. Today, people might know the articles Oldham wrote, and they might know the performance numbers he got. But how he did those things was an untold story. This behind-the-scenes book is a close-up look at what it was like to live in the muscle car era and to help create the myth that still lives on today. The list of reviewed cars includes: 1962 421 Super Duty Pontiac Catalina 1963 409 Chevrolet Biscayne 1968 Pontiac Firebird Sprint Turismo 1969 Baldwin-Motion SS-427 Camaro 1969 440 Plymouth Barracuda 1969 Firebird 400 Ram Air IV 1969 426 Hemi Road Runner 1969 440 Plymouth GTX 1969 440 6-BBL Plymouth Road Runner 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge 1969 428 Cobra Jet Mustang Mach 1 1970 426 Hemi Barracuda Convertible 1970 Buick GSX 455 Stage 1 1970 Pontiac GTO Ram Air IV 1971 429SCJ Ford Torino Cobra 1971 American Motors 401 AMX 1972 Oldsmobile 4-4-2 W-30 1973 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 1976 455 Pontiac Trans Am

Uncover the captivating history of the highest-performace cars in America, illustrated with beautiful photography. The American muscle car began not in the factories of the big three automakers, but in the garages and dealerships of a hot-rod subculture bent on making the hottest, highest-performance cars on the street. The Complete Book of American Muscle Supercars catalogs these amazing cars, along with the builders who unleashed them on the American scene. From Michigan's Royal Pontiac dealership and the souped-up Royal Pontiac Bobcats they built and sold, to the new cars from such fabled names as Carroll Shelby, Mr. Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge, Nickey Chevrolet, Don Yenko, George Hurst, Baldwin-Motion, Calloway, SLP, and Steve Saleen. This gorgeously illustrated book chronicles the outstanding contribution of the tuner/builder to American automotive history through the amazing machines they created. From the oldest of these muscle tuners commanding top dollar at today's classic-car auctions, to the latest vehicles by Ford and Chrysler, with their SVT and SRT divisions, this book gives readers a full and fascinating look at American high-performance in its purest form.

An entire volume dedicated to detailing and preserving the iconic muscle car dealerships of the 1960s and early 1970s, many whose doors are now closed. Text is supported with more than 350 historic photos and illustrations. Muscle car historian Duncan Brown revisits this glorious automotive era when Nickey 427 Camaros and supercharged Dodge Demons by Grand Spaulding Dodge terrorized the streets. Drag sponsored cars from Reynolds Buick, Yeakel Chrysler-Plymouth, and Mel Burns Ford informed buyers that if you came to their dealership, you too could have a screaming fast muscle car just like the ones you saw at the dragstrip. It was these dealerships that created the lasting muscle car legacy through their innovative advertising and over-the-top performance. The majority of these dealerships floundered, unable to re-attract the customers they had prior to the muscle car. Thankfully, a volume has been dedicated to preserving the history of those less fortunate and revisiting the past success of these Lost Muscle Car Dealerships.

The American muscle car began, not in the factories of the Big Three automakers, but in the garages and dealerships of a Detroit subculture bent on making the hottest, highest-performance cars on the street. American Muscle Supercars tells the story of these tuner/builders and the supercars they unleashed on the American scene. It all begins with Michigan’s Royal Pontiac dealership, and the souped-up Royal Pontiac Bobcats they built and sold to drag racers, starting a thrill that’s never faded. From those Royal Pontiac tuner cars to the new Boss 302 Mustang built by Steve Saleen, this gorgeously illustrated book chronicles the outsize contribution of the tuner/builder to American automotive history. Author-photographer David Newhardt profiles the tuner/builders who have dominated American performance--names like Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodge, Nickey Chevrolet, Don Yenko, Carroll Shelby, George Hurst, and Baldwin-Motion. And he focuses on the tuners who continue to lead the way, builders such as Steve Saleen, Calloway, and SLP, whose vehicles are the fastest ever built. From the oldest of these muscle tuners, commanding top dollar at today’s classic-car auctions, to the latest attempts by Ford and Chrysler to get into the game with their SVT and SRT divisions, this book gives readers a full and fascinating look at American high-performance in its purest form.

"An illustrated history of the Ford Motor Company's classic race and street cars, including Cobras and Shelby Mustangs, from 1961 to 1971"--Provided by publisher.

Don "The Snake" Prudhomme reveals for the first time ever his incredible life and career on and off of the drag strip.

Imagine spending a year with Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, having coffee together and talking about his life, his racing, his friends, and his family. He’d tell you about how he rose from being a high school drop-out who was painting cars to a respected Top Fuel dragster driver and successful businessman. You’d hear how he toured the country with Tommy Ivo and "The Hawaiian" Roland Leong, racing all the legends from "Big Daddy" Don Garlits to "The Golden Greek" [Chris] Karamesines. He'd say how he met Tom McEwen and recall how they became the Snake and the Mongoose, leading to a career in Funny Cars that netted him four championships in a row. He'd talk about the thrill of first wins and owning his own teams but also the struggles of bad seasons, crashes and fires, broken parts, and broken contracts. Along the way, he’d speak about the people in his life, such as engine-builder Keith Black and NHRA president Wally Parks, and those who were killed in the wild and unpredictable sport of nitro racing. It wouldn’t be only racing, though. Prudhomme would share lessons he learned about business and life from such varied sources as a neighbor in Granada Hills to Ford GT40 driver Dan Gurney. He also would talk about the importance of family: how his wife, Lynn, and daughter, Donna, changed his world and how finding out about his African-American roots opened his eyes to a culture and inheritance he’d always wanted. This is the experience you’ll get in Don "The Snake" Prudhomme: My Life Beyond the 1320.

In the late 1950s, as designers from the Big Three became more daring, their do-it-yourself counterparts in the custom-car world found that the new designs from Detroit worked exceptionally well with custom treatments like shaving, lowering, “lakes pipes,” and the ever-wilder custom painting of the day—aesthetics that would come to dominate this peak custom car era. Professional freelance photographer James Potter captured the epicenter of this landmark scene in what was then suburban Los Angeles. In this photographic history of that time and place, Thom Taylor presents the best of Potter’s collection depicting the cars of “Kustomland.” Two- and four-page features on two-dozen renowned customs from mild to radical feature not only Potter’s exemplary work, but brief capsule histories of the cars and their owners and captions detailing the cars’ features. Taylor also includes features on legendary custom painter Larry Watson and the Renegades car club, as well as a biography of Potter and a historic overview of Kustomland and the areas it encompassed. See Motorbooks author Thom Taylor interviewed by Jay Leno on JayLenosGarage.com: http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/video/kustomland/882803/

Conceived in the 1930s, simplified and successfully tested in the 1950s, the darling of the automotive industry in the early 1970s, then all but abandoned before resurging for a brilliant run as a high-performance powerplant for Mazda, the Wankel rotary engine has long been an object of fascination and more than a little mystery. A remarkably simple design (yet understood by few), it boasts compact size, light weight and nearly vibration-free operation. In the 1960s, German engineer Felix Wankel's invention was beginning to look like a revolution in the making. Though still in need of refinement, it held much promise as a smooth and powerful engine that could fit in smaller spaces than piston engines of similar output. Auto makers lined up for licensing rights to build their own Wankels, and for a time analysts predicted that much of the industry would convert to rotary power. This complete and well-illustrated account traces the full history of the engine and its use in various cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles and other applications. It clearly explains the working of the engine and the technical challenges it presented--the difficulty of designing effective and durable seals, early emissions troubles, high fuel consumption, and others. The work done by several companies to overcome these problems is described in detail, as are the economic and political troubles that nearly killed the rotary in the 1970s, and the prospects for future rotary-powered vehicles.