Little Pages
Little books are back and we love it. Coby Gewertz' Church is a successful example of this new style of periodical book--minimal text combined with artistic and impressionistic photos evocative of the early days. This time the photography really is from the (somewhat) old days. These never-before-published photos were shot by drag race photographer Bob Gewertz (Coby's father) at Fremont Drag Strip between 1960 and 1964, and are printed from the original negatives.
Church (Number 5)
Edited by Coby Gewertz
Softcover
76 pages
$10
carsnotculture.com
Little Pages
The cover of the Custom Cars 2009 Annual accurately boasts "Vivid black & white." Custom Cars is created in the style of the old Trend Books of the '50s, which means it's loaded with mini-features on trad-style customs, vintage event coverage, restyling illustrations, interviews with old-time customizers Ron Guidry and Gerald Twamley, and more. There's nothing artsy about Custom Cars--just tons of photos and info, and that whole old-time feel.
Custom Cars 2009 Annual
By Justin Kudolla
Softcover
128 pages
$12.95
www.trendcustomcars.com
Throttle Merchants is about twice the dimensions of Church and Fuel, which still makes it small--and like the other two, these books are knockouts. Some of the photo locations are Circle City Hot Rods, Old Crow Speed Shop, Savage Speed Shop, Hollywood Hot Rods, and--our favorite--the highways of the southwestern United States. The price of the book includes a T-shirt--at least it did the last time we checked.
Throttle Merchants (Number One & Two)
By Aileen Aquino and Matt Porter
Softcover
124 pages
$30
www.throttlemerchantsmag.com
Straight Line Nostalgia
Whatever magical file cabinet keeps providing drag race shooter Steve Reyes with his endless supply of photos from the glory days of drag racing, may it never run out. This collection is dedicated to the old slingshot dragsters with the engines in front and drivers behind the rear axle. Reyes' shots, as always, are awesome--and it's not all burnouts, wheelstands, crashes, and finish line 'chute shots (although there is a fantastic amount of that). Reyes mixes it up with candid shots of the drivers and crews (Don Prudhomme gulping down a can of Pennzoil!), like you would've seen had you been there.
Slingshot Spectacular
By Steve Reyes
Softcover
192 pages
$24.95
www.cartechbooks.com
Engine Education
We're happy that author, R&C contributor, and Buick guy Jefferson Bryant included a full range of engines in this thorough guide to beefing up your Buick--from the small-block and big-blocks loved by the musclecar crowd, and the Turbo V-6 hated by the Corvette crowd, to the Nailheads popular with hot rodders. The Turbo engines get their own chapter at the end, and so do race engines. The rest of the book covers pistons, rods, cranks, cams, heads, valvetrain, ignition, oiling system, and intake and exhaust. Bryant also goes into aftermarket options, and component interchangeability issues.
For every other make of internal combustion engine, there's Barry Kluczyk's all-encompassing step-by-step instruction book. Barry's book is a good choice for first-time engine rebuilders, with hundreds of photos, and general info on everything from buying a new or remanufactured engine, required tools, and engine removal, on through the correct procedures involved in disassembly, machining, assembly, start-up, and break-in.
How to Build Max-Performance Buick Engines
By Jefferson Bryant
How to Rebuild any Automotive Engine
By Barry Kluczyk
Softcover
144 pages
$24.95
www.cartechbooks.com