No comments about Car Collecting: Everything You Need to Know (Everything You Need To Know).

1 comments about The Official Tractor Blue Book 2008 (Official Tractor Blue Book).

1. It's good to be able to look up the vaue of any tractor. very helpful.

2 comments about The Legendary Model-T Ford: The Ultimate History of America's First Great Automobile.

1. This is a great book, well done and well illustrated. It is more than just another book on the Model T. It is a great book that provides an entertaining history of the vehicle that put America on wheels. WELL DONE THANKS.



2. I am fascinated by antique automobiles, and while Ford wasn't the first person to manufacture a car, he was the first to make one that most people could afford. No longer was the automobile a plaything for the rich. But more than that, Ford made a flivver that was just right for the times- rugged, easy to fix, and made for the road conditions of the day (today's drivers would have a hard time trying to drive one of these. For example, the throttle mechanism is a post on the steering column, not via a floor pedal).
   
   Tom Collins has made an interesting book, one that is not too technical like some I have read on the T. There are two big drawbacks though- ones that make me rate this book more as 3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4. One is that there are a fair number of spelling errors, and in this day of spellcheck, that is unacceptable. The second, and bigger problem, is that some of the photos in this book are out of focus. Especially ones by Robin Heil-Kern. On a level plane, one half of the photo is in-focus, but the other is fuzzy. In some cases the whole photo is out of focus, like the depth of field was way off. I found it very distracting, and of course if you're looking for a nice picture book, you want clear photos.
   
   The Amazon price is very discounted, and would make this book a good one for your automoblile library.

2 comments about Legendary Farm Tractors: A Photographic History.

1. This book is beautiful. It is hardback and visually very appealing for any tractor enthusiast. I bought this as a Christmas gift, and I would buy it again!



2. This book has lots of pictures which is what I wanted. So for us this book was exactly what we needed.

2 comments about The Shell Book: Florida, Gulf, and the Caribbean.

1. Great little book for beginners to carry around, to check their shells and learn about the care of their shells.



2. A sweet little reference book, though abbreviated. It is sufficient for the ameteur shell collector curious about their finds.

3 comments about Standard Catalog Of Schwinn Bicycles 1895-2004.

1. This book was disappointing. It's title lead me to believe that it would be an extensive and thorough compilation of most, if not all of the bikes Schwinn produced; not so!
   
   I own a 1970 Schwinn Twinn Tandem bike, and was hoping I would read and see information on tandems. They picture one tandem, and have very little information about it. They also fail to depict several other models. If you look at an orignal Schwinn catalog, you'll find that they built dozens of models each year! Do a google search and you'll find it.
   
   One of Schwinn's more popular models was the "Typhoon", and I don't even see a mention of it! What a crock!
   
   I have a Standard Catalog of Corvette, and it's is much more thorough than this one for the bike.



2. The book is well written for the casual interest, yet it does not detail the financial woes that Schwinn had prior to its demise. The photos are good, not enough information that a "Catalog" should have. I was hoping for model names and production fiqures year by year, but such was not contained. I'm sure there are better histories out there.



3. After reviewing this book I was very disappointed. The title should have been "just another picture book of a few guys bikes". The title "standard catalog" is very deceiving. The content does not even scratch the surface of the vast array of of bicycles built by Schwinn down thru the years. There are no charts of models built, no production numbers, no serial numbers, really nothing in the way of valuable information to the collector. Nothing more than pictures of a select few bicycles and some cheesy history thrown in for copy. Even my untrained eye spotted several inaccuracies in the pictures of the restored bicycles shown.
   I will say that the photography is quite good and the paper quality is great. My "new" copy arrived with the binding separating and some pages coming out. This would make an excellant book to keep next to the commode in case of emergency!!!
   Perhaps the next time the author decides to tackle such an undertaking, some amount of research would be in order instead of relying on the Schwinn name to sell a book. I'm not into burning books but this on comes close.

No comments about 2008 Collector Car Price Guide.

3 comments about In the Cockpit: Inside 50 History-Making Aircraft.

1. Gave this as a gift to my pilot father and he loved it. Perfect choice for anyone who aprreciates these aircraft. Great pictures and cover design!



2. The book looks interesting and the concept is solid. If you're into flying and especially old planes this glimpse into so many cockpits should prove of more than passing interest. That said, it's a sign of the times that even the Smithsonian Institute would stoop to some dubious marketing. If you enlarge the cover photo you'll see that John Tavolta's name is in large print just below the title. Indeed Mr. Travolta did write the forward, all five sentences of it. Literally, five generic sentences that offer nothing more than cover tease to snag some buyer interest. If you do buy the book at least lend it to those who only have a mild interest and let the Smithsonian know that they should have more integrity than promoting products with cheap celebrity hype. Since comments here must be accompanied by a rating, I'll leave it at 3 as a neutral comment.



3. This book is beautiful! I saw it at Borders today. Even if you are not interested in cockpits you should pick up this book. Cockpits are interesting and these are some of the most famous aircraft of all time.
   
   BEAUTIFUL photography. In addition to the photos I really enjoyed the nostalgic look and feel to the book. A very cool book indeed by two of the world's best aircraft photographers. No wonder they work at the Smithsonian...
   
   David Palermo

3 comments about Traveling With the VW Bus and Camper.

1. I didn't realize that this book is the same text and pictures as a previous book titled Campervan Crazy by the same author, David Eccles



2. The same author has written the excellent VW Camper- The inside story. That book deals with specifications on the differnt campers, while his book are more about humans, culture and adventures.
   
   This is a nice book, well written and good layout. I somehow think that it could have been more on travelling tips.
   Nevertheless, a good buy!



3. This is a good general history of the VW Campervan. Released in the UK as Campervan Crazy (which is a much more accurate title). I would have hoped to see more on VW expiditions and actual camping but alas much of the book (over 70%) was focused on the hippie van culture. And the book is from a decidedly British point of view. On the up side there are some great pictures and anyone who grew up camping in a combi will bring back fond memories reading this book. For some reason Amazon is not shipping this book at this time but it is availible from the publisher.

5 comments about The Ultimate Classic Car Book.

1. This book is very beautiful. It has great pictures of each car from different angles, a short description of each car and lots of comments about certain details.
   
   Although this is a very nice book, it doesn't quite live up to its title, for a couple of reasons. First of all, the descriptions for each car is quite short so if you're interested in some specific cars, you'll need to look elsewhere for more complete information.
   
   The other reason is the choice of cars included in the book, as well as excluded. It's obviously very difficult to choose among all the classic cars in history, but here, the term "classis car" seems to have a vague defenition. Here are some cars that are undoubtedly classics because they are of great historical importance, such as Mini Cooper, Citroen 2CV, some that are classics because they are among the most sought after exclusive cars in the world, such as Bentley, Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari 365, etc. But there are also those that don't seem to be classics at all, that the writer himself says are bad, like Maserati Kyalami and Daimler Dart. How come these are included when certain other classics are excluded? I also wonder why there are no pictures of the early Lamborghini Countach but only the anniversary model, and why did they chose late convertible models of classics such as Morris Minor and Volkswagen?
   
   These are just minor flaws and this is a very good book that I'm glad I own. But don't buy it expecting an "ultimate classic car book".



2. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at everything contained in Quentin Wilson's "The Ultimate Classic Car Book," but what it contains doesn't even come close to earning it the title, "Ultimate."
   
   Don't get me wrong, it's a very good book and may well be worth your $18 (or whatever you can get it for "Used"). But as a person who owns a classic car and has been active in classic car circles for several years, a book doesn't earn the "Ultimate" designation when it doesn't include the bullet-nosed 1950 or '51 Studebaker, a 1913 Stutz, the Tucker, a '41 Lincoln Zephyr, a '55 Plymouth Belvedere, a '57 Chevy Nomad, or several others widely recognized as classics.
   
   Yes, I realize that my little list there is heavily skewed to American cars, but Wilson's book is VERY heavily skewed to include more models than necessary from Rolls-Royce/Bentley, BMW, Datsun, MG, and a couple of others. Again, don't misunderstand -- those are all great cars that he has included. I simply don't think you can include so many of those, ignore other obvious classics that many of us would like to learn and see more about, and still call your book "Ultimate".
   
   I know I'm obsessing a bit, but if I only had $20 to spend on such a book and bought it over the Internet, I would feel a little cheated upon seeing how much it leaves out. Just make sure you review it thoroughly above so that your expectations are on target.



3. STAR OF THE SCREEN
   ON PAGE 92 WHERE BULLITT AND THE CHARGER ARE MENTIONED, IT EXPLAINS HOW THE CHARGER ALSO HAD MAJOR ROLES IN THE 1970s CULT MOVIE >VANISHING POINT. AND THE AMERICAN TELEVISION SERIES>THE DUKES OF HAZZARD.
   
   THE CAR THAT PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE IN VANISHING POINT IS IN FACT A "CHALLENGER" NOT A CHARGER AS INDICATED.
   
   FOR SOMEONE WHO IS DOING RESEARCH OR LOOKING TO LEARN ABOUT CARS AND MOVIES, THAT BIT OF INFORMATION IS SPECIFICALLY INACCURATE.



4. It seems Quentin Willson has made the ideal coffee table book. The Ultimate Classic Car Book groups together all shapes and sizes of classic cars from DeLoreans to Datsuns and Vegas to Volkswagens, and all with original and beautiful photographs wrapped in concise and precise text equavalent to about a page of novel. Willson does a very consistent job of presenting each car with basic facts and statistics along side special traits or other interesting items that make each car unique. One example of an interesting fact is the mention of the "Autronic Eye" available as an option on the 1959 cadillac convertible that would dim the headlights when an oncoming car approached. Willson also gives us insight into the cars by adding his own commentary. Examples of this can be found in his reference to the "Autronic Eye" as a mere marketing gimmick that never took off and his accusal that the stainless steel of the delorean was a "cynical marketing ploy." Even if you aren't interested in reading about the many classic cars of the world, this book is worth a purchase just for the full color meticulously crafted photographs and trivia. I would recommend The Ultimate Classic Car book to anyone interested in learning about automobiles of the past



5. What diferentiate this book from the others are the photos. We can see that all of them were taken exclusively to this book. For all the cars there are front/side/rear view photos. For some of them there are also top-views, that is hard to find in other sources.

   The text is consice, yet informative, and includes summarised technical specifications.