Quantcast

Home » Hooniverse Asks » Currently Reading:

Hooniverse Asks- What Was Your First Car Book?

Robert Emslie March 31, 2011 Hooniverse Asks

Cars and books are inexorably linked. After all, if it wasn’t for cars, how would you get all those library books back in time? And for most of us, there’s a shelf, or perhaps several, that are dedicated to books about cars. Looking back, there must have been one that started it all?

For me, admittedly, Go, Dog, Go was a favorite from the start, and it wasn’t until years later that I learned it wasn’t one of Dr. Seusses works. That was a major influencer for me, along with Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel which pretty much sealed my fate as a lover of all things greasy and mechanical. As a middle-schooler, I read a book, as well as its sequel, about a groups of teens who all pitched in together to buy a car, and were then immediately challenged to a road race by the local rich idiot. To this day I can’t remember either title or author, but it, and its follow up about the same teens investing in a Panhard racer each made a big impression on my 7th grade psyche.

What about you? What book turned you into the raving gear-head you are today?

Image source: [Amazon.com]

Related posts:

  1. Hooniverse Asks- What’s Your Favorite Car Book?
  2. Hooniverse Asks- Would Anybody Buy a Mini-Truck These Days?
  3. Hooniverse Asks – What Kind of Automotive Memorabilia Do You Collect?
  4. Hooniverse Asks- What’s the Best Car for a Drive-In Movie?
  5. Hooniverse Asks – What Would Be Your Bare Minimum For Getting Around?
« »

Currently there are "67 comments" on this Article:

  1. dukeisduke says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:09 am

    My first car book (and the one that educated me about cars) was "Automobiles; How They Work", by Charles Yerkow:
    http://www.amazon.com/Automobiles-They-Work-charl…

    I literally checked the book out at least ten times, from my elementary school's library. It's a great read if you're a kid, or know almost nothing about cars of the '50s and '60s. I bought a very good used copy a couple of years ago through Amazon. Unfortunately, it has a yellow cover, so I think I still need to buy one with the red cover, like the one I remember from the 1960s.

    <img src="IMAGE URL" width="600">
    <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/37/88/611a820dd7a0004aaafef010.L._AA300_.jpg"&gt;

    Reply
  2. dukeisduke says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:16 am

    And yes, I dig "Go, Dog. Go!", which I've read to my three girls many times. It's the kind of book where you need to study each illustration, to catch all the little details. Like the page where all the dogs are sleeping on the bed, and moonlight is coming in. There's one little dog with his eyes wide open.

    Reply
    • Tanshanomi says:
      March 31, 2011 at 8:14 am

      Go, Dog. Go! introduced me to pretty much everything I needed to know about life — red mean stop, green means go, accidents happen, don't be the last one out of bed, and be truthful with a woman but find opportunities to compliment her hat.

      Reply
    • joshuman says:
      March 31, 2011 at 9:25 am

      My wife and I took our three kids and two others (all age 5 and under) to see the play of Go, Dog. Go! at Seattle Children's Theater a month or two ago. It was a nice production.

      Reply
    • OA5599 says:
      March 31, 2011 at 9:37 am

      I never had that book as a kid, but I did read the board book (a more abbreviated version) of G,D.G! to my son when he was still in the incubator at the hospital.

      Reply
  3. P161911 says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:19 am

    Up until high school I was more interested in planes, tanks, and ships than cars. I'm sure I had a few car books as a child, but they don't stand out. The first one that stands out is The Great Book of Sports Cars by the Consumer Guide. Shortly after getting this book I went to my first vintage race and got to see many of the cars in the book in the flesh. This is when I became a true gearhead.
    <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/61/17/c924024128a01d21dc2e4010.L._SL500_AA300_.jpg"width=500&gt;

    Reply
    • dukeisduke says:
      March 31, 2011 at 7:28 am

      One of the editors listed there is Dean Batchelor, a legend in automotive journalism.

      Reply
      • P161911 says:
        March 31, 2011 at 7:34 am

        I do remember it being well written and in the years since I haven't found in glaring mistakes in it, unlike some auto reference books that I have.

        Reply
        • tonyola says:
          March 31, 2011 at 6:36 pm

          Graham Robson is a very respected author too. Consumer Guide has a decades-long history of producing better-than-average car books – they're the same outfit that has published Collectible Automobile magazine since 1984. Also, they produced this superb book:
          <img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51J0N7nQI2L._SS500_.jpg&quot; width=400>

          Reply
          • P161911 says:
            March 31, 2011 at 7:39 pm

            Yep, I've got that one too. Also 50 "Years of American Automobiles 1939-1989", "The Complete Book of Collectible Cars", "Muscle Car Chronicle", "The Complete Book of Lamborghini", "The Complete Book of Corvette", "The World's Fastest Cars", "Corvette America's Sports Car", and "Indy 500 Pace Cars" all sitting on my bookshelf right now, all by "The Auto Editors of Consumer Guide".

            Reply
  4. tonyola says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:22 am

    My parents got me this book when I was a kid. Since the book is English and slanted more towards Europe, it featured mostly cars that were rare or unseen on US streets. I found that fascinating. I was hooked.
    <img src="http://cb.pbsstatic.com/xl/23/5023/9780600025023.jpg&quot; width=400>

    Reply
  5. Number_Six says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:22 am

    The Ladybird series of books was amazing for kids. They had excellent artwork and included lots of esoteric brands. This was my first:
    <img src="http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/classic-car-images/ladybird.jpg&quot; />

    Reply
  6. dukeisduke says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:27 am

    Another book I vaguely remember (that was around our house) was something that had tons of black and white photos of mostly European show cars from the '50s, with an emphasis on Italian stuff (like the Alfa Romeo B.A.T. cars). Sadly, the cover was missing, but it was probably 9" x 12", and I would guess it was a book published in the '50s. I wish I could find another copy of that today.

    Reply
  7. Alff says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:29 am

    I have two distinct memories – Richard Scarry's Things That Go and, since my dad was a Chevy salesman when I was wee, factory brochures for all Chevrolet models from the golden years of the late '60s.

    Reply
  8. OA5599 says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:34 am

    I was into the Mach 5 and the Batmobile even before I read this book, but I remember being quite impressed to read The Phantom Tollbooth and discover the adventures a boy could have with a car.

    <img src="http://piceye.net/pictures/kamran/movie23/The_Phantom_Tollbooth_1970.jpg"&gt;

    Reply
  9. west_coaster says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:44 am

    Wow, you totally hit the nail on the head with "Go, Dog, Go." In fact, a few years ago my mother was in a book store and saw that it had been re-issued. She sent it to me, explaining that even before I could read, I'd look at the pictures and have her read it to me almost every night.

    As for books that I read myself, there was this great series in the library at my elementary school circa early 1970s. They were hardbound, fairly thin, and like a Dr. Suess size but turned 90 degrees to be in what we'd now call landcape format, with lots of color photos. Some of the titles I can remember were "Go Karts," "Dragsters," "Slot Cars," "Mini Bikes," and so on. I would run to that section of the library whenever we had our scheduled time there, but they were popular with other boys so you had to get there first. I think I must have read each one ten times, and dreamed of having my own complete set, like an Encyclopedia Britannica, all linded up in my bookcase.

    Do these ring a bell to anyone else?

    Reply
    • PFG says:
      March 31, 2011 at 10:01 am

      Bell rung! I remember those books, particularly the one about lowriders (I grew up in El Paso…go figure.) I seem to recall that the text on every third or fourth page read only, "Look at that lowrider!"

      Reply
  10. CptSevere says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:45 am

    I remember quite a few books about cars being around when I was a kid. There was one about a Phaeton of some kind named Andrew, "Hucketa Bucketa Down The Road," which probably is responsible for me liking prewar cars, all manner of car magazines, and "An Observers Guide to WWII Millitary Vehicles," which got me fascinated by military vehicles. Also, books like what I described in Scrogg's previous posting. My family are Hoons, so there was always something laying around that was an interesting read.

    Reply
  11. skitter says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:45 am

    It was probably my uncle's coffee-table Porsche books.
    But the anorak demands accuracy, so I'll have to think about it.

    Reply
  12. Jonathan D says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:47 am

    I'm pretty sure this book is responsible for me becoming a gearhead, it's the earliest of many books about cars that I received. I recently bought a copy for my daughter who is three months old:

    [img Reply

  • Jonathan D says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:48 am

    Let's try that again:

    I'm pretty sure this book is responsible for me becoming a gearhead, it's the earliest of many books about cars that I received. I recently bought a copy for my daughter who is three months old:

    [img Reply

  • Festiva_Movemnt says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:49 am

    The Red Car by Don Stanford. I think I still have it, too. Sorry Raleigh Co.,WV Bookmobile.
    My dad had Inside 100 Great Cars, full of cutaways of everything from Deusenbergs, to Citroens, to even a Porsche 928.

    The first book got me into road/rally racing, while the second tipped off my interest in mechanical complexity of cars.

    Reply
  • Maxichamp says:
    March 31, 2011 at 7:56 am

    Illustrated Motor Cars of the World. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Illustrated-motor-cars-wo…

    I loved reading it in the library. Each page had hand painted pictures of four cars and their descriptions. 30 years later, I bought a copy from Powell's in Portland. It even had the same smell I remembered.

    Reply
  • west_coaster says:
    March 31, 2011 at 8:03 am

    "OOH, OOH, OOH…MR. KOTTER…MR. KOTTER!!!!" (Raising hand in air…very 1970s reference.)

    I just remembered the sort of comic books for little gearheads: "Hot Rod Cartoons" and "Car-toons" (which may have been a rip-off of the first one). Great illustrations and mildly funny stories. Kind of like "MAD" for the car crowd. Very cool.

    Reply
  • vwminispeedster says:
    March 31, 2011 at 8:07 am

    http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Scarrys-Cars-Trucks…

    Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. I could read that thing for hours.

    Reply
  • $kaycog says:
    March 31, 2011 at 8:21 am

    My first car book that is totally all mine is not really a book but this dealer's brochure which sits on my coffee table.

    <img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a247/EscortBrochure/FORD%20SPECIALS/gt05.jpg"width="500"/&gt;

    Reply
  • Bret says:
    March 31, 2011 at 8:27 am

    Another vote for "Go Dog Go" and Mr Scarry's "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go" here. I remember devouring the pictures in these books. Mike Mulligan was another favorite. I have a Mike Mulligan lunch box, that is a cherished possession (a gift from my gear-head Father-in-law).

    Reply
  • joe_bloe says:
    March 31, 2011 at 8:51 am

    I don't remember the name, but in 1st grade there was a car book for young readers that talked about different kinds of cars. One page was about drag cars. It had a picture of an old school funny car or gasser, with the following text (paraphrased): "If you lived a quarter mile from your school, you could wait until 10 seconds before the bell and still get there on time with this car."

    I miss that book.

    Reply
  • Black Steelies says:
    March 31, 2011 at 9:08 am

    Not this one but I remember having one of these car books that velcro shut and roll around on wheels. It sucks I can't find a better picture, everyone had one of these.

    <img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fZLvpemiL.jpg"&gt;

    Reply
  • Lotte says:
    March 31, 2011 at 9:22 am

    I have a stack (who am I kidding, it's boxes and boxes) of 90's Automobile magazines sitting in a closet somewhere…my pop would bring one home every so often and I'd be pouring over the pictures, even if it was a Ford Scorpio or a Kia Carens. Apparently I bombarded an aunt with car questions, and when she dismissed me with a number of 'yes'es I looked stuff up and told her she was wrong. I must've been a fun child.

    Reply
  • topdeadcentre says:
    March 31, 2011 at 9:32 am

    You wanna go way back? Way WAY back? The very first car book I can remember being mine was the Fire Engine Book, published by Little Golden Books. It was a "must have" in the book pocket of the lime-green stroller when I was two years old in 1968. It must have been read to me many, many times, but I was also happy just flipping through and looking at the pictures.

    <img src="http://images.betterworldbooks.com/037/The-Fire-Engine-Book-9780375828416.jpg"&gt;

    Reply
    • JoeDunlap says:
      March 31, 2011 at 9:57 am

      WOW! Got news for you. I had this book when I was 3 or 4…….in 1953! I also bought it for my triplet daughters 30 years later! A wonderful book!

      Reply
  • 2jmotorsports says:
    March 31, 2011 at 10:46 am

    http://www.ascmclarencoupe.com/ascLiterature/Maga…

    Reply
  • PrawoJazdy says:
    March 31, 2011 at 11:19 am

    Does "Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel" count? Cause that was my first and that book was awesome. If not, then I guess my first car book would be the huge book of schmatics my dad brought home from GM on the Impact (a.k.a. EV-1) when he was on the program would be it. It wasn't nearly as exciting as Mike Mulligan.

    Reply
  • ZomBee Racer says:
    March 31, 2011 at 1:22 pm

    <img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/517x-WMcxeL._SL500_AA300_.jpg"/&gt;

    <img src="http://images1.makefive.com/images/experiences/family/top-5-childrens-books/the-mouse-and-the-motorcycle-7.jpg"/&gt;

    Reply
    • joe_bloe says:
      April 1, 2011 at 1:13 pm

      Oh man, the mouse and the motorcycle! I LOVED that book. I still go "pthbhbhbhbhbhbhbhb" when I'm pushing Hot Wheels around with my son.

      Reply
  • Patrick says:
    March 31, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    Two books by Bill Peet. Jennifer and Josephine, which features a car that was "already very old" in 1933, and a cat that lives in it going on an adventure, and Smokey, which is actually about an old steam train, but which has a scene where some Native Americans chase the train (very politically incorrectly, I now realize) in their old Hupmobile. I was obsessed with Hupmobiles as a child, but had to settle for a Studebaker when I started driving because it was 1989 and where could I have found a Hupmobile??

    Reply
  • 2stroke4life says:
    March 31, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    First kiddie one? "Susie The Little Blue Coupe" by Bill Peet. (after many years of guessing, I figured she was based on a late-30s American Bantam or Crosley.)

    First grown-up one? I got the complete works of Floyd Clymer for my 13th birthday and got a Ralph Stein or Burt Mills car book for my birthday and Christmas every year since, with Trend Publications specials on import cars, fiberglass specials, racing, customizing and other things. Still got 'em all too.

    -Darnell's Auto Wrecking, Jalopnik & TTAC

    Reply
  • Buickboy92 says:
    March 31, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    It has to be the book WHEELS! I read this book front to back and back to front everyday and everynight! and I could recite the whole book without reading it too! That was when I was around 7-8 years old, I just turned 19 today and I still tell myself to go find one and buy it. Good times, good times.

    <img src="http://i512.photobucket.com/albums/t326/buickboy92/WHEELS.jpg&quot; border="0" alt="Photobucket">

    Reply
  • MrHowser says:
    March 31, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    I was… 4 or 5 when I first read this.

    <img src="http://drivetechgkhs.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Driver_Guide.261134758_std.png"&gt;

    But I will also add in a vote for "Cars and Trucks and Things That Go!" Such a great book, as well as "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" solely for the carpool Bug and his mom's great 70's wagon.

    Also, it's a long shot, but when I was in elementary school, I remember reading a whole series of books, but the author's name and the titles of the books escapes me. One book, I remember that a key plot device was that turning the ignition the normal way would somehow remove the rear tires, and another one was about their racing a car with an experimental flywheel drivetrain. Does anyone know who wrote that series?

    Reply
  • BlackIce_GTS says:
    March 31, 2011 at 3:29 pm

    <img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41QzPlXi2tL._SL500_AA300_.jpg"&gt;
    Not a kids book, but I've had it since I was about 6. It's mostly really high end euro tuners (there's at least 3 928s) and a bunch of concept cars.

    Reply
  • longrooffan says:
    March 31, 2011 at 3:38 pm

    I vaguely remember that Beverly Cleary read about the mouse and the motorcycle…

    I do remember this one vividly and now own a copy of my own..

    <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zCnDCJkPVTc/S9uHisY5xuI/AAAAAAAALig/Eitnmy4cPJs/s1600/reading+sports+car+book.jpg&quot; width = 500 end>

    but the first automotive book I got on my own was "The Year of The Jeep." The dogeared paperback copy is in my brother's, thejeepjunkie, garage as we speak. His son, the Kid, even enjoys it. About once a year, I'll snag it and reread it just for fun.

    Reply
  • earlofhalflight says:
    March 31, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    Gumdrop on the Rally – one of the series telling the adventures of Gumdrop the Austin Clifton Heavy 12/4.

    <img src="http://i612.photobucket.com/albums/tt206/sunbeammadd/Car%20Stuff/gumdrop.jpg"&gt;

    I loved that story. 30 years on I found the book again and introduced it to my car-mad son, but he just couldn't get into it.

    Reply
  • smokyburnout says:
    March 31, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    <img src="http://www.lostepcot.com/images/futureworldoftransportation.jpg&quot; />
    "Hey, that's not a car on the cover!"
    I know, stick with me.
    I don't know if it's my first car book, but I do remember taking it out on a monthly basis (and I'm not alone in this! ) and poring over the Syd Mead-ey visions of cars of the future! There was also a section on the GM World Of Motion filled with 80s-tacular designs.
    I also distinctly remember my disappointment when we finally went to Disney World in the early 00s and I discovered that exhibit had been turned into the Test Track ride…

    Reply
  • scroggzilla says:
    March 31, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    I wish I could remember the name of my 1st car book. It was a guide to American automobiles of the 1930's and early 40's, with black pen and ink illustrations of each car, and a short comic book style synopsis next to each illustration. I particularly remember the one for the Graham Paige Model 97 Sharknose, which was shown driving up a mountain road, headlights blazing, in a very Art Deco presentation.

    Reply
  • ptschett says:
    March 31, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    Lee Culpepper's Collector's Cars, from about 1979, is the earliest book that I remember. It has mostly American and European cars, and gives brief histories of the manufacturers and their important cars. At least one car is pictured for each brand, with more for companies like Ford and Austin.

    <img src="http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/1/4/1/4/3/6/4/webimg/426262528_tp.jpg"/&gt;

    The first car book to actually belong to me is "Corvettes for the Road (Survivor's Series)" which was written not long after the C4 Corvette began production. The author profiles several examples of each of the C1, C2 and C3 generations (and began the C3's with a bang, with a yellow coupe which was half of the total Corvette ZL1 production) before ending with an early C4.

    <img src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/2b/69/4f3562e89da0ab6335d83110.L._SL500_AA300_.jpg"/&gt;

    Reply
  • AteUpWithMotor says:
    March 31, 2011 at 5:12 pm

    I didn't have any car books per se when I was a kid, but I did have Steve Jackson Games' Car Wars and the Q Manual for the old Victory Games James Bond 007 roleplaying game, which had info on all the Bond cars to that point (mid-1983).

    Reply

    • Search



    Have you visited Hooniverse's Retro Tech site, AtomicToasters?

    Page optimized by WP Minify WordPress Plugin