30 Books on Car Design

From the Publisher. Using imagery culled from a century of auto advertising, this book traces the evolution of the automobile from horseless carriage to rocket on wheels–and beyond. With an introduction and chapter text by New York Times automotive writer Phil Patton, as well as an illustrated timeline, this volume highlights the technological innovations, major manufacturers and dealers, historical events, and influence of popular culture on car design. Here are car trends as reflection of the zeitgeist, from the thrifty VW Beetle to the lumbering, gas-guzzling Hummer.

From the Publisher. This latest volume in the hugely popular 1001 series showcases the world’s best designed and most important cars. With stunning full-color photography representing the highest achievements of car design and visceral descriptions of what it is like to turn the key and rev the engine, this collection is the next best thing to a test drive.Henry Ford jump-started the age of the automobile with the Model T. Since then, the automobile has evolved from chugging workhorse to tailfin-era showboat to sleek status symbol. Automobile buffs can never get enough information on classic and contemporary cars, making 1001 Dream Cars the perfect gift for car buffs and anyone who follows car design. It offers a lush visual history of the automobile, decade-by-decade highlights of the technological innovations, major manufacturers, engineering feats, and designers, and the interplay between popular culture and car design. No mere machine or convenience, the car is a reflection of the cultural zeitgeist, and 1001 Dream Cars celebrates America’s long fascination with it.

From the Publisher. A beloved car becomes a piece of us—a way back into our histories or forward into our destinies. For Emerson Tang, the only son of a prominent New England family, that car is a 1954 Beacon. A collector—of art and experience—Emerson keeps his prized possession safely stored away. But when his health begins to fail, his archivist and caretaker is approached by a secretive French painter determined to buy the Beacon at any cost. They discover that the Beacon has been compromised and that its importance reaches far beyond Emerson’s own history.

Soon they run into another who shares their obsession: the heir to the ruined Beacon Motor Company, who is determined to restore his grandfather’s legacy. These four become unlikely adventurers, united in their aim to reunite the Beacon’s original body and engine, pitted against one another in their quest to claim it. Each new clue takes one closer to triumph, but also takes these characters, each grieving a deep loss, toward finding missing pieces of their own lives.

A fast-paced ride through the 20th century—to modernism, fascism, and industrialism, to Manhattan, a German zeppelin, a famed concours in Pebble Beach, and a road race in Italy—The Afterlife of Emerson Tang takes us deep into our complicated automotive romance. A novel of strangers connected across time, through a car that is so much more than a car, it asks us what should be preserved, what memories to trust, and whether or not some of the legacies we hold most dear—including that grand contraption, the automobile—can be made new again.

From the Publisher. Few nations have had such an enduring love affair with the automobile as the United States. American Auto Legends presents more than 50 of the most remarkable American cars ever produced, from the ‘horseless carriages’ of the early 1900s to the sleek and ultra-efficient machines of the early twenty-first century. Following a brief introduction to the history of the US automotive industry, the selected models are arranged chronologically. Concise descriptions highlight the key features of each vehicle, while stunning images by one of America’s leading car photographers provide the reader with an unparalleled visual record. Featuring all the major US manufacturers – including Buick, Chevrolet, Ford, Lincoln and Studebaker – this book is an essential and authoritative guide to the many legends of the American highway.

From the Publisher. From Louis Kahn to Rem Koolhaas, from Frank Gehry to Zaha Hadid, architects have used the garage to experiment with ideas about materiality, form, structure, and tone. This book features detailed plans and case studies of key buildings—Chicago's Marina City towers, the Volkswagon Autotürme in Germany, and many more.

Simon Henley is principal of award-winning London-based architecture firm Buschow Henley.

An illustrated history of  100 years of the General Motors company and the cars it has manufactured.

The official book devoted to Aston Martin on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. Over the last century, 1913–2013, British automotive legend Aston Martin has come to represent many achievements: sporting prowess, technical innovation, striking design, fine craftsmanship, and superior performance. This large-format volume, with over 200 beautiful color images, brilliantly evokes Aston Martin's unique combination of tradition and innovation.

More than 100 milestones of automobile design comprehensively portrayed in pictures and text, followed by a glossary of the major brands and biographies of the major car designers.

From the Publisher. The first years of the twenty-first century brought many changes and challenges for the automobile industry, from the development of environmentally responsible vehicles to the consolidation of numerous small companies as part of major manufacturing groups. Written by auto expert Tony Lewin and featuring over 1500 stunning photographs, this superb encyclopedia is the most comprehensive guide available to the international automobile industry of the last decade. The book explores some 150 of the most significant models, highlighting their performance, stylistic features and innovations. In addition, the guide includes entries on manufacturers around the world, covering many more production and concept cars past and present, as well as entries on the industry’s most influential designers. Informative profiles are enhanced throughout by technical specifications, company histories, chronologies of principal models and designer biographies. The result is an essential source of reference that no one interested in motoring can afford to be without.

From the Publisher. Traces the development of the BMW Art Cars, the so-called “rolling sculptures” designed by artists over the last 40 years for those interested in art and design, and all car and technology fans.

Twelve years after the first Benz patent motorcar Number 1 made its first journey in July 1886, a car raced across the image in Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s lithograph, The Automobilist. La 628-E8, a novel named after the license plate number of its author, Octave Mirbeau, was published in the early 20th century. In his Futurist manifesto, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti rated the beauty of a racecar’s revving engine and speed higher than the aesthetics of the Nike of Samothrace. Ever since its invention, artists have been examining the automobile, and the BMW Art Cars have played a central role here. Alexander Calder’s BMW 3.0 CSL from 1975 was the first in a series brought to life by Hervé Poulain, lover of auto racing and works of art, in collaboration with BMW’s head of motorsports, Jochen Neerpasch. Seventeen artists have since designed BMW models, and the “rolling sculptures” have not only proved themselves in museums, but also on the race track at Le Mans.

Artists featured (selection): Alexander Calder, Sandro Chia, Ken Done, Olafur Eliasson, Ernst Fuchs, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Michael Jagamara Nelson, Matazo Kayama, Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein, Esther Mahlangu, César Manrique, A.R.Penck, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, and Andy Warho.l

Chronicles the the Volkswagen Beetle—the world's most famous car—from its origins in 1930s Nazi Germany to the 1960s counterculture, the Cold War and today’s global manufacturing.

From the Publisher. The invention and development of the motor car has led to great transformations in our society and is charted here through the striking posters that were used to show off the latest models

•Large number of illustrations show the range of design styles through the 20th century, including famous artists such as Cassandre

The artworks in this book show the history of the car from its creation up until the start of the 1970s. The posters have been chosen for their importance, rarity, beauty and innovation, as well as for what they represent in terms of significant historical, technical and artistic stages of the motor car. They showcase the work of the designers and illustrators who constantly strove to come up with new ideas and styles to match the technological progress of famous names such as Peugeot, Mercedes Daimler, Renault, Citröen, Bugatti, Buick, Fiat, Rolls Royce and Chrysler, as well as others that are less well-known nowadays.

As the cars developed, so the daredevil drivers and entrepreneurs found increasingly daring exploits with which to show off their prowess and endurance. Emmanuel Lopez charts the history of car racing from early competitions such as the Paris-Rouen in 1894, which saw steam-driven carriages going head-to-head with petrol engines over a 126 km course, through the start of international races and on to the Grand Prix, the rise of circuits such as the Nürburgring and the legendary Le Mans 24-hour Race.

Not to be forgotten are the innovations that enabled cars to become better and better: Michelin's pneumatic tyres, Gentilhomme's car horns, brakes by Boyriven and Triplex windscreens. Alongside these, developments in petrol and engine oil were equally important in making the motor car both a must-have for travel and an enthralling spectacle when racing.

It was not just the cars that changed during this time; the illustrative styles did too. The work of artists such as Berhard, de Valério, Cappiello, Cassandre, Chéret, Ernst, Falucci, Gaudy, Grün, Hohlwein, McKnight Kauffer, Pal, Privat-Livemont and Rochegrosse shows the important variety of styles used by illustrators in this era and brings the wonderful cars and races to life in vivid color.

Published on the occasion of an exhibition held at the Museum of the City of New York in 2010 exploring the city’s role in the history of the automobile and the car’s role in shaping the New York landscape.

From the Publisher. History of American automotive design, complete with designers’ biographies, coachbuilder histories, descriptions of car company styling departments, discussions of trends, and more.

From the Publisher. In 2007, the Phoenix Art Museum presented 22 streamlined American and European automobiles that demonstrated the intersection of style and aerodynamics in 20th-century automotive design. This updated, second edition of that landmark exhibition tracks the evolution of the streamlined shape from the 1930s through the 1990s. Includes essays from many of the world's great automotive writers. Each car is presented with historic images and elegant, modern photographs

From the Publisher. This fast-paced, beautifully illustrated book presents fifty of the most desirable cars in the history of motoring. And it is no mere popularity contest: each outstanding automobile selected is either a masterpiece of engineering, a delight to the eye, or brutishly powerful. Few are all three.

Drawing on a decade’s experience testing the very fastest and most exotic cars, expert journalist Andrew Frankel gives an opinionated and in-depth view of the unique combination of qualities that go into the creation of a dream car. For each model, Frankel outlines the history of the car and provides technical highlights, as well as a driver’s eye view of what it’s like to drive flat out. In addition to a dedicated specifications page, anecdotes and stories of previous high-profile owners of the marque are included for the most prestigious models, all of which adds to the seductive appeal of these unique machines. The selection includes classics from all eras of automotive history—from the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost to the Jaguar XK8, from the Ferrari F40 to the Porsche 959.

Illustrated throughout with 280 specially commissioned color photographs, this provocative profile of the most highly valued cars in the world evokes a world of speed and adventure, with every chrome curve and flared fin suggesting power and passion. Dream Cars is sure to delight and fascinate dream car owners and car-owning dreamers alike.

From the Publisher. The author of the bestselling Cycle Style and one of today’s most popular trend-spotting photographers turns his lens to the car scene. As he did with mods, rockers, and, most recently, cycle enthusiasts, Horst Friedrichs surveys every angle of Britain’s coolest car scenes with page after page of gorgeous photographs. Friedrichs not only captures some magnificent vehicles but also their owners, drivers, spectators, and other enthusiasts: decked out in beautiful gear while racing Bugattis, changing tires on an Aston Martin DB5, manhandling Minis, posing by their bubble cars, or stylishly watching the action in their shades from the stands. The perfect accessory for car enthusiasts everywhere, Drive Style takes readers inside an exciting world of high speed and glamour, with styles harking back to the times when automobiles were treasured, chrome-bejeweled works of art or looking ahead to the lightning-fast wheels of the future.

From the Publisher. If you think raising a kid in today’s world is hard, imagine how tough it would be if your child also happened to be a Volkswagen Beetle. And not a modern Beetle at that, but a 1960s-era Bug who tended to forget himself racing joyously and heedlessly down the highway, only to break down on the side of the road, puking oil. It’s enough to help a man cope with the recent death of his father, and focus on the dizzying, beautiful here and now of his fragile child.

Welcome to Christopher Boucher’s zany and brilliant literary universe, a place where metaphors shift beneath your feet, familiar words suddenly assume new meaning, tools talk, trees walk, and where time is actually money.

Modeled on the bestselling 1969 hippie handbook of the same title, this wildly inventive tale is both a stunning tour-de-force and a wise and charming consideration of the stuff of great fiction: death, love, loss, responsibility, and road trips.

From the Publisher. La Ferrari: the official catalogue dedicated to the latest masterpiece realized by the world-famous Italian brand. What lies behind the search for excellence in a sports car? This book reveals the work put into the production of the new supercar, LaFerrari-a car whose ambitions are evident in its very name. This is a voyage of discovery of the Italian passion, method, and excellence that created an authentic masterpiece on four wheels. It unfolds through the stories of the people who have worked on the project and the photos of its creation. Comparisons with its predecessors, the first style drafts, the clay models, wind-tunnel research, studies on cockpit ergonomics, vehicle dynamics, and the perfection of the gears and brakes are revealed here in an ebb and flow of images and drawings. Furthermore, the story of the development of the HY-KERS technology and its contribution in Formula 1 races allows an insight into one of the most advanced frontiers in the world of sports cars destined for the road. High craftsmanship, human experiences, and futuristic technologies combine in this fascinating story, a group work that achieves the greatest combination of innovation and aesthetic beauty. Through over one hundred images never before published, the volume examines the exciting story of aesthetic and technological research behind La Ferrari, a masterpiece of dynamic art.

From the Publisher. The Life of the Automobile is the first comprehensive world history of the car. The automobile has arguably shaped the modern era more profoundly than any other human invention, and author Steven Parissien examines the impact, development, and significance of the automobile over its turbulent and colorful 130-year history. Readers learn the grand and turbulent history of the motor car, from its earliest appearance in the 1880s—as little more than a powered quadricycle—and the innovations of the early pioneer carmakers. The author examines the advances of the interwar era, the Golden Age of the 1950s, and the iconic years of the 1960s to the decades of doubt and uncertainty following the oil crisis of 1973, the global mergers of the 1990s, the bailouts of the early twenty-first century, and the emergence of the electric car.

This is not just a story of horsepower and performance but a tale of extraordinary people: of intuitive carmakers such as Karl Benz, Sir Henry Royce, Giovanni Agnelli (Fiat), André Citroën, and Louis Renault; of exceptionally gifted designers such as the eccentric, Ohio-born Chris Bangle (BMW); and of visionary industrialists such as Henry Ford, Ferdinand Porsche (the Volkswagen Beetle), and Gene Bordinat (the Ford Mustang), among numerous other game changers.

Above all, this comprehensive history demonstrates how the epic story of the car mirrors the history of the modern era, from the brave hopes and soaring ambitions of the early twentieth century to the cynicism and ecological concerns of a century later. Bringing to life the flamboyant entrepreneurs, shrewd businessmen, and gifted engineers that worked behind the scenes to bring us horsepower and performance, The Life of the Automobile is a globe-spanning account of the auto industry that is sure to rev the engines of entrepreneurs and gearheads alike.

From the Publisher. Aren’t lowriders always gangbangers? And, don’t they always hold high status in their neighborhoods? Contrary to both stereotypes, the people who build and drive lowrider cars perform diverse roles while mobilizing a distinctive aesthetic that is sometimes an act of resistance and sometimes of belonging. A fresh application of critical ethnographic methods, Lowrider Space looks beyond media portrayals, high-profile show cars, and famous cruising scenes to bring readers a realistic tour of the “ordinary” lowriders who turn streetscapes into stages on which dynamic identities can be performed.

Drawing on firsthand participation in everyday practices of car clubs and cruising in Austin, Texas, Ben Chappell challenges histories of erasure, containment, and class immobility to emphasize the politics of presence evidenced in lowrider custom car style. Sketching out a partially personal map of the lowrider presence in Texas’s capital city, Chappell also explores the interior and exterior adornment of the cars (including the use of images of women’s bodies) and the intersecting production of personal and social space. As he moves through a second-hand economy to procure parts necessary for his own lowrider vehicle, on “service sector” wages, themes of materiality and physical labor intersect with questions of identity, ultimately demonstrating how spaces get made in the process of customizing one’s self.

Novel about a car designer 25 years into the future. For details, see Chris Bangle Associates.

From the Publisher. Within Jerry Seinfeld's renowned Porsche collection resides an unassuming yet extraordinary piece of Porsche history: the Porsche Gmünd coupe 356/2-040. Captured exclusively for this book in a series of evocative portraits by acclaimed automotive photographer Michael Furman, 040’s unsullied originality conveys with startling immediacy the combination of artistry, innovation, and determination that went into its improbable creation. This cornerstone of the Seinfeld collection serves as the inspiration for Porsche: Origin of the Species, an in-depth exploration by the eminent automotive historian Karl Ludvigsen into the specific influences and circumstances that brought forth the first Porsche-badged sports cars.

From the Publisher. This book provides a long-overdue vision for a new automobile era. The cars we drive today follow the same underlying design principles as the Model Ts of a hundred years ago and the tail-finned sedans of fifty years ago. In the twenty-first century, cars are still made for twentieth-century purposes. They're well suited for conveying multiple passengers over long distances at high speeds, but inefficient for providing personal mobility within cities—where most of the world's people now live. In this pathbreaking book, William Mitchell and two industry experts reimagine the automobile, describing vehicles of the near future that are green, smart, connected, and fun to drive. They roll out four big ideas that will make this both feasible and timely.

From the Publisher. There are an estimated 600,000,000 passenger cars in the world, and that number is increasing every day. So too is Earth’s supply of parking spaces. In some cities, parking lots cover more than one-third of the metropolitan footprint. It’s official: we have paved paradise and put up a parking lot. In ReThinking a Lot, Eran Ben-Joseph shares a different vision for parking’s future. Parking lots, he writes, are ripe for transformation. After all, as he points out, their design and function has not been rethought since the 1950s. With this book, Ben-Joseph pushes the parking lot into the 21st century.

Can’t parking lots be aesthetically pleasing, environmentally and architecturally responsible? Used for something other than car storage? Ben-Joseph shows us that they can. He provides a visual history of this often ignored urban space, introducing us to some of the many alternative and nonparking purposes that parking lots have served—from RV campgrounds to stages for “Shakespeare in the Parking Lot.” He shows us parking lots that are not concrete wastelands but lushly planted with trees and flowers and beautifully integrated with the rest of the built environment. With purposeful design, Ben-Joseph argues, parking lots could be significant public places, contributing as much to their communities as great boulevards, parks, or plazas. For all the acreage they cover, parking lots have received scant attention. It’s time to change that; it’s time to rethink the lot.

From the Publisher. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars: Strive for Perfection captures the unique history of the most famous automotive company in the world. Lavishly illustrated, the book celebrates the design and style of this world-renowned luxury brand by showing the most important Rolls-Royce models ever made—from the Silver Ghost through to the latest Phantom and Ghost built at the home of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Goodwood, England.

From the Publisher. 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.

From the Publisher. This Wolfsonian-FIU exhibition catalogue examines the role of the automobile in shaping modern American culture. The exhibition showcased skillfully and elegantly rendered artworks for concept and production cars; sculpted car models; drawings for automobile showrooms, filling stations, bridges, and roadways; and illustrations for automobile advertisements. These original artworks, together with advertising brochures, auto industry periodicals, and other printed ephemera, provided audiences with the opportunity to explore how designers and manufacturers of automobiles influenced consumer perceptions. They also conveyed the social, political, and economic context of this volatile time period characterized by the Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression through World War II.

Trailer Travel showcases the rich visual history of America’s enduring fascination with life on the road. Beautifully reproduced color and black-and-white images culled from public archives and the private collections of passionate trailerites vividly document the travel trailer s storied past. This engaging volume offers a look at motor-camping trips in the early 1900s, the unparalleled innovations in trailer design during the thirties, rare and unique trailer models and interiors, and an extensive array of bold and graphic promotional material, literature, and postcards that illustrate the undeniable attraction of living on wheels.

From the Publisher. Le Corbusier, who famously called a house "a machine for living," was fascinated—even obsessed—by another kind of machine, the automobile. His writings were strewn with references to autos: "If houses were built industrially, mass-produced like chassis, an aesthetic would be formed with surprising precision," he wrote in Toward an Architecture (1923). In his "white phase" of the twenties and thirties, he insisted that his buildings be photographed with a modern automobile in the foreground. Le Corbusier moved beyond the theoretical in 1936, entering (with his cousin Pierre Jeanneret) an automobile design competition, submitting plans for "a minimalist vehicle for maximum functionality," the Voiture Minimum. Despite Le Corbusier’s energetic promotion of his design to several important automakers, the Voiture Minimum was never mass-produced. This book is the first to tell the full and true story of Le Corbusier’s adventure in automobile design.

Architect Antonio Amado describes the project in detail, linking it to Le Corbusier’s architectural work, to Modernist utopian urban visions, and to the automobile design projects of other architects including Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright. He provides abundant images, including many pages of Le Corbusier’s sketches and plans for the Voiture Minimum, and reprints Le Corbusier’s letters seeking a manufacturer. Le Corbusier’s design is often said to have been the inspiration for Volkswagen’s enduringly popular Beetle; the architect himself implied as much, claiming that his design for the 1936 competition originated in 1928, before the Beetle. Amado, after extensive examination of archival and source materials, disproves this; the influence may have gone the other way.

Although many critics considered the Voiture Minimum a footnote in Le Corbusier’s career, Le Corbusier did not. This book, lavishly illustrated and exhaustively documented, restores Le Corbusier’s automobile to the main text.