Summer has long been my favourite time of year. Living in a part of the world that has long winters, I have learned to appreciate and enjoy the beautiful summers that we have. I typically try to take the majority of my holidays from work during the summer time, allowing my family and I to take advantage of the wonderful weather. Our favourite family summer vacation is going to our family cottage. Unlike many other cottagers that own fancy well-appointed summer homes, the cottage in our family is rather rustic and has limited amenities and communication. There is no phone, no internet, and even the TV antenna no longer picks up the local stations anymore. Being disconnected from the world is a big part of the appeal of the cottage for me. Spending the long summer days at the lake with the family without a cellphone buzzing is almost the perfect recipe to de-stress and recharge.
Sunrise at the Cottage
It is also the best time and place for me to do my reading. While I typically have a stack of magazines and other reading material on my nightstand, I rarely find the time to sit down and read a good book when caught up with the busyness of daily life. Being at the lake with no distractions is the perfect place for me to read. Every summer I typically pick a book or two and read it while at the lake.
This year my choice was The Reckoning, by David Halberstam. After Paul’s posts earlier this year, where he posted a couple of teasers, here and here, I knew that book was right up my alley. So I ended up getting a used copy of Amazon for this year’s cottage read. While it dates from 1986, the book is an excellent read and really is pretty good at foreshadowing the crisis that faced the American auto industry in more recent times. The author spends a great deal of time to research the history of Ford, one that I am pretty familiar with, but what I really enjoyed was the history of the rise of Japan’s auto industry and Nissan, both of which were relatively unfamiliar territory. This is a book that I highly recommend to fellow Curbsiders and one of the best books I have read on the auto industry.
After completing the book it got me thinking, that there are probably many books out there that fellow Curbsiders have read and can recommend to one another. Fellow CBC listeners know that each year a list of books recommended as summer reads is compiled for its Canadian listeners. Well, I kind of missed the boat on a summer reading list, so let’s compile a Curbside reading list. What book or books would you recommend to fellow Curbisders?
My Other Wife is a Car by John M Wright is an entertaining read if you enjoy automotive autobiographies
Where the Suckers Moon: The Life and Death of an Advertising Campaign Paperback – October 31, 1995 , by Randall Rothenberg. An account of Subaru’s early marketing and advertising history, and mistakes, in the USA. Also contains the most detailed history I know of the predecessor Nakajima Aircraft company, and description of Subaru management and design philosophy back in the day. Origins of t he Subaru DNA so to speak.
Car, by Mary Walton. Mentioned here already several times. I have given this book to a few young people starting out in their corporate careers!
Jenks: A Passion for Motor Sport – June 1, 1997 ed. by John Blunsden and with introduction by Stirling Moss. Hard to find. A compendium of writings by the long time F1 reporter for Motor Sport magazine, Denis Jenkinson, who also write a number of books himself.
Ferry Porsche: Cars Are My Life New Edition
by Ferry Porsche (Author), Gunther Molter (Author). An insider’s view.
With you on Jenks, Motor Sport magazine’s Continental Correspondent, Moss’s Mille Miglia navigator, and very much Mr Ten Tenths. His account of driving as fast as possible on an invented circuit around most of southern England on Christmas Day has to be read to be believed.
I could add DSJ’s The Racing Driver ( EZ to find used) for a concise analysis of that profession. Jenks oughta’ know!
Once DSJ retired from F1 reporting, that sport never really interested me any more. I also recall the race reports in Road&Track by Rob Walker, Innes Ireland, Henry Manney, and I think Doug Nye. But Jenks was t he master.
PS I’ve just ordered The Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue.
Here they both are on my desk at home.
+1 🙂
The Milepost’s latest edition is always good for dreaming of a driving vacation to Alaska. I’ve been reading that a lot lately.
“My Years with General Motors” by Albert Sloan (in my view, the GM “ladder” of makes from Chevy to Caddy was not really valid- GM started making each make into its own ladder of trim levels – e.g. Chevrolet 150 to Bel Air) But still a good read.
A query: many (50?) years ago I read a novel based on Henry Ford. I vividly recall the HFII character coming home from the Navy and firing the Harry Bennett character (Bennett a dangerous guy). I just cannot recall the name of the novel.
Here are a few not already mentioned:
Foster, Patrick – Studebaker: The Complete History
Turnquist, Robert – The Packard Story: The Car And The Company
(My favorite histories of independents)
Nevins, Allan – Ford
(My favorite history of Ford, in 3 volumes)
Chrysler, Walter – Life of an American Workman
(Chrysler in his own words. My favorite auto autobiography)
Neely, William – 505 Automobile Questions Your Friends Can’t Answer
&
Yost, Stanley K. – They Don’t Build Cars Like They Used To
(Fun trivia for when you want a light read. The Yost book focuses mostly on early cars and their unusual technical features).
Siegelbaum, Lewis H. – Cars For Comrades: The Life Of The Soviet Automobile
(Fascinating history of an alternate universe)
Swift, Earl – Auto Biography
(Very cool true story that traces the ownership history of a ’57 Chevy wagon and how it affected each owner’s life)
Currently reading the autobiography of Romain Gary, Promise At Dawn. He was a French pilot in WWII and later a novelist and ambassador. Not auto related, but a very well written, humorous and unjustly forgotten classic.
Amazing and well written book on motorocycle engine design, Top Dead Center by Kevin Cameron
Not sure what it says about me, but my favorite book is “1984” by George Orwell.
I’ve read it at least five times over the years.
Seems less fictional each time.
There is endless pleasure to be had from leafing through Graham Robson’s definitive and handsomely illustrated directory of post-war British cars, also referred to as the catalogue of lost causes. From Audax timelines to one-off microcars, it might just be my desert island book.
Robson on BMC, accompanied by Rawbone on Ford.
How to do it wrong, vs how to do it right.
Ford UK made some missteps (Consul Classic, Mk IV Zodiac), but for BMC, the brilliant but unprofitable blended with humdrum and unkillable, until they were saved [IRONY] by British Leyland.
Finally, something a bit different: a completed album of 1930s Players cigarette cards. These were distributed in packets of cigarettes and covered every topic imaginable, from movie stars to butterflies. They are highly collectible now. The album is packed with delightful line drawings showing old coaching inns around Britain, for the dedicated motor tourer. Got a light?
Tatra: The Legacy of Hans Ledwinka:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tatra-Legacy-Ledwinka-Collectors-copies/dp/1845847997/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ACLX9W8RMBKD&dchild=1&keywords=tatra cars&qid=1600302289&s=books&sprefix=tart,aps,320&sr=1-1
T87, do you know this one? My local library got it for me on interlibrary loan a few years ago.