Best car books: today’s top titles for motorists, petrolheads and car fans
We rate the best new car books to hit the shelves in the last few weeks
Books about cars, motoring, travel and automotive culture in all its forms are commonplace and the library is growing all the time. Luckily we’ve done the hard work so you don’t have to, reviewing and rating the best new automotive literature to be published in recent months.
Whether you’re looking for a light holiday read, a weighty reference tome for your shelf at home or a gift for the petrolhead who has everything else, the best car books of the moment are sure to contain a title to suit…
Beast
- Jade Gurss (Octane Press, octanepress.com)
- Price: £22
- Rating: 4/5
Writing a remarkably detailed book on the development of a single line of engines and keeping it entertaining is no small feat – it’s done extremely well here, with interviews with key players, side stories and technical details presented in more than just a dull list. It helps that this engine – designed in a seemingly impossible timeframe – is such an interesting subject. You don’t need to be a hardcore Indy 500 fan to enjoy it, but some technical appreciation is desirable.
Billy F Gibbons: Rock + Roll Gearhead
- Billy F Gibbons with Tom Vickers & David Perry (Motorbooks, quartoknows.co.uk)
- Price: £35
- Rating: 4/5
Guitar lovers, hot-rod fans, ZZ Top – there’s a lot of crossover between those groups, and if that includes you, you’ll love this book.
This expanded edition is written by Gibbons, one-third of the band ZZ Top, and is split into three sections: The Life, The Cars and The Guitars. Petrolheads will enjoy the middle section about Gibbons’ collection of custom-built hot rods. It can be a bit challenging to read for long periods, but is very entertaining.
Bugatti Supercars: A Century of Genius
- Lance Cole (The Crowood Press, crowood.com)
- Price: £45
- Rating: 4.5/5
The new Bugatti Tourbillon may be making the headlines, but the brand isn’t lacking in past glories. From its origins, through racing and its earlier period as a maker of ultra-exclusive beauties, this book is a very interesting read.
While this title doesn’t include anything on the newest model, it does a pretty good job filling in the earlier gaps up to the last Chirons and Veyrons. It’s laid out chronologically and some of the photos included are magnificent.
Great Cars: Brawn BGP 001/02
- David Tremayne (Porter Press, porterpress.co.uk)
- Price: £69
- Rating: 4.5 stars
As with all of this series, beautiful production values, an amazing set of bespoke imagery and a minimalist cover make this a stunning coffee table book. But it’s also a great read, detailing both the car itself and the whole 2009 Grand Prix season that captured so many imaginations. Alongside great pictures, including a full studio set, there are interviews and quotes from drivers and engineers. For those who remember 2009’s season, this is a really interesting look back.
Jaguar: All The Cars
- Nigel Thorley (Veloce Publishing, veloce.co.uk)
- Price: £40
- Rating: 3 stars
For an otherwise comprehensive book, it’s a shame that Jaguar’s most forward-thinking and innovative car in decades hasn’t been included here. The lack of the electric I-Pace means this book can’t live up to its claim of ‘All The Cars’. Author Thorley is a known Jaguar writer and has plenty of knowledge about the models, but it’s a reference title rather than a riveting read – expect lots of lists of styling updates, engine performance tables and available colours. It’s great for hardcore Jag fans, though.
Land Rover: The Ultimate Enthusiast’s Guide
- Ian M. Garner (Crowood Press, crowood.com)
- Price: £35
- Rating: 4 stars
When the first chapter of a car book covers a period of 38 years, you know you’re dealing with an icon – in this case it’s the classic Land Rover. This title doesn’t just cover the Series and Defender models though, because it also encompasses Range Rover, Discovery and Freelander. It’s interesting, with useful facts, and is well written. With a lot of static images, photography isn’t always of the highest quality, which is a shame. But with so many pictures to cram in, it’s more of a necessity.
McLaren Formula 1 Car by Car
- Stuart Codling (Motorbooks, quartoknows.com)
- Price: £45
- Rating: 4.5/5
The history of McLaren in F1 does a pretty good job of mirroring the direction of the sport as a whole, so you don’t need to be a die-hard Bruce fan to appreciate the story of development from the sixties through more modern designs, the V10 era, and right into the present day. There’s a detailed overview of every McLaren entry, with plenty of detail for tech nerds.
It’s also beautifully produced with a glut of fantastic period and contemporary photos, expensively printed and enough to make it quite an appealing coffee-table read. It feels very special.
Mercedes-Benz: Everything you want to know about the SL R107 and SLC C107
- Bernd S Koehling (Independent, amazon.co.uk)
- Price: £44
- Rating: 4/5
Author Koehling specialises in guides for classic Mercedes. This one concentrates on the R107 and C107 sold from 1971-1989. You’ll find details on all the mainstream models and facelifts, plus plenty on the halo versions, as well as the variants produced by tuners. There’s also a full explanation of tech specs, paint and upholstery, and a thorough buying guide. However, the translation from German could be better.
NASCAR 75 Years
- Kelly Grandall, Jimmy Creed, Mike Hembree, Al Pearce (Motorbooks, quartoknows.com)
- Price: £35
- Rating: 4.5/5
Nascar recorded its 75th anniversary last year and this glossy, large-format book is a celebration of that landmark. It features excellent photography, and interviews and stories from a wide array of figures.
The book is great for fans, and also a good introduction for those who are unfamiliar with the US race series. It’s a great coffee table book, with substance beneath the glitz.
No-Fuss Travel Guide: Ireland
- Robbie Roams (robbieroams.com)
- Price: £23.99
- Rating: 4.5/5
If the NC500 is becoming a bit too popular, road-tripping Ireland is a great alternative – and this is the perfect companion. It starts at Dublin and goes around the coast clockwise, but it’s easy enough to skip ahead if you have a section in mind. Useful touches such as dog-friendly locations as well as precise guidance given via What3Words mapping are really helpful, and there are lots of insider tips. Keen road-trippers will enjoy using this to plan their trips along routes such as the Causeway Coastal Route.
Porsche – The Racing 914s
- Jürgen Lewandowski, René Staud (Te Neus Verlag, teneus.com)
- Price: £20
- Rating: 3.5 stars
This is an updated reprint of a comprehensive book, and 914s have something of a cult following, so this will be of interest to many. It’s well put together, concentrating on overall 914 history in the front half of the book and the car’s racing career further in.
We thought this was quite expensive as a hardback at £65. Now that it’s a paperback, we really don’t feel the production values do the content justice for the price.
Rover's Rebirth
- James Taylor (Crowood Press, crowood.com)
- Price: £30
- Rating: 3.5 stars
Post-war Rover was in a bleak state, having spent years helping the war effort and getting bombed out of its home in Coventry. But a new factory in Solihull and ambitious plans for vehicles soon got things moving, and before long Rover was building gas turbine-powered concept cars, the 60 and the 75 with all-new engines, and a certain off-roader.
Although this book only covers a short period between 1945-1953, it’s well presented, with good imagery and pacing.
Semi Queer
- Anne Balay (Univ. of North Carolina Press, uncpress.org)
- Price: £28.99
- Rating: 4/5
Although this book is US-biased, there are parallels with the UK. It explains how, for marginalised communities, the solitude and relative safety of long-haul trucking can provide a welcome escape, albeit one with its perils.
The author draws on their own experience here as a licenced truck driver and paints a powerful picture of life behind the scenes as a gay, trans or black trucker. It’s engagingly written, and offers a perspective you’re unlikely to hear very often.
The Car Lover’s Guide To London
- Chris Randall (Pen and Sword, pen-and-sword.co.uk)
- Price: £14.99
- Rating: 4/5
With the congestion charge, ULEZ, general traffic issues and all manner of other things, London isn’t really known as a petrolhead Mecca – at least not when it comes to actually driving through it. But the nation’s capital has a lot of history surrounding the motor car, from old factories or showrooms, to the iconic Royal Automobile Club.
This is a guide to those buildings that remain, mostly used for different purposes these days. There are a few well worth visiting, and the history lesson is well written.
Buy now from Amazon
The Porsche 911 Book
- Roy Smith (Veloce Publishing, veloce.co.uk)
- Price: £50
- Rating: 3 stars
There’s lots to like in the photos, although this is an updated edition of a 2013 title, so don’t expect shots of the very latest and greatest Porsches. But most people will be buying the book for the gorgeous shots of classic models anyway. It’s a shame that quite so many of them are split by the book’s spine, but that’s a criticism to level at many titles like this.
The words are fine, with a few neat factoids within the text, but nothing that a typical 911 enthusiast won’t already know.
The Sardinian Job
- Eddie Lancaster (Kindle Edition, amazon.co.uk)
- Price: £2.99
- Rating: 3/5
The Italian Job reimagined as a Black Country motor factor who discovers a hoard of rare Mini parts on a Mediterranean island, ripe for the taking. What follows is a comic quest with plenty of bawdiness and bad language.
It’s an interesting premise and there are some funny moments, but it’s been poorly edited and the plot does seem to run out of steam before reaching a satisfying climax. Not really up to the standards of the riotous source material, but could make a good holiday read if you want something you’re not too invested in.
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