Kategoria BISAC: Transportation >> Automotive - History

BMW's M5 was a simple concept: a production 5 Series saloon re-developed for high performance by the Motorsport division. The M5 was the car that really initiated the legend of the M-cars from BMW. The letter M has been applied to a high-performance BMW as early as 1978, but that year's M1 was an exotic supercar. It had the right image, but the M1 was never going to bring in major profits. The M5 was much simpler in concept. It was and remains a production 5 Series saloon, redeveloped for ultra-high performance. Manufacturing costs were minimized, allowing BMW to price the car more...

The story of Porsche's front-engined, water-cooled transaxle cars, Porsche 924/928/944/968 contains interviews with several of Porsche's key engineers, designers and modellers who worked on the car in period. The book outlines the design processes and development work, detailing each model, and contains sections on the motor sport achievements of each model, as well as owners' views of their cars.

Introduced in 1949, the Rover P4 represented comfortable and refined motoring for Great Britain's professional classes of the 1950s. By the time production ceased in 1964, the P4 had become an anachronism. Still, it had imbued Rover with a reputation for quality engineering and paved the way for the successful P5 and P6 models. Author James Taylor recounts the story of P4 conception, design, production, and automotive breakthroughs, from its rise to the rank of status symbol to its fall from favor. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs and an eight-page color spread.

The story of Jensen favouring American V8 power began during the 1930s, with the building of their first prototype car.

Although this pre-war period was short-lived, this would be the start of what was to eventually become one of the company's main trademarks - the V8 engine. This new book examines the C-V8, Interceptor and FF models as well as Jensen's use of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors engines. The history, design, development and production of these cars is covered and the book is illustrated with 300 colour photographs.

A history of all four generations of compact Jaguar, and their Daimler equivalents, tracing the gradual development of Sir William Lyons' original idea over a period between 1955 and 1969. From the powerful, luxury MK 1 and 2 cars to the 4.2-litre 420, this book covers design, devleopment and styling; special-bodied variants; racing performance; buying and owning a compact Jaguar saloon model and, finally, specifications and production figures.

Volvo Amazon - The Complete Story includes the history of Volvo before and after the Amazon; development and production of all Amazon derivatives from 1956-1970, including the 121, 122S, 122S, 123GT and all of the estate editions. Biographies of key Volvo personnel, including the company's first designer, Jan Wilsgaard are featured. Full buying guide along with tips on tuning and modifying, including rally preparation. Finally, the book gives an insight into what the press thought of each Amazon derivative, with pages also devoted to how the car was marketed in period.

Lotus introduced the Type 75 Elite in 1974. Being a full four-seater coupe with an opening glass tailgate, it was designed to carry a family in comfort while retaining Lotus' trademark, excellent road holding and handling. Perhaps most importantly, it was the first - and successful - step in Colin Chapman's plan to move upmarket and away from Lotus' kit car image.

The Elite gave rise to two derivatives, the Eclat and the Excel. The Eclat was a restyled coupe version, sacrificing the Elite's unique rear styling and good rear passenger headroom for a more stylish exterior. With its...

The Mini's long production life saw many model changes, and literally thousands of component changes, making choosing and assessing the correct part for a classic Mini very difficult. This book is the result of years of research, and comprises almost 2000 photos showing these component variations, with captions explaining which Mini model and date each was originally designed for. With no German parts listed, this book is an essential volume for all restorers of classic Minis looking for true authenticity.

Having spent the last 20-odd years driving different cars on a weekly basis, often twice a week, George Fowler is more qualified than most to hold an opinion that counts. A reader of his Motormouth column once asked him what he thought about a car he'd praised, and added: "I know you get paid by the manufacturers to say nice things, so I just wondered what you really thought." That week, a furious Fowler absolutely slaughtered the then new Nissan Primera, and added at the end of his column: "How much do you think Nissan paid me for that, Mr Smith of Preston?" He didn't get a reply. If your...

-I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and take care of. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be so low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one--and enjoy with his family the blessings of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces.---Henry Ford

First rolled out in 1908 with an $850 price tag, the Model T Ford was the nation's first mass-produced,...

Launched in 1969, the 914 series went through many problems and changes before production came to an end in 1976. It was constantly improved during its short life, but time just ran out for the model. It is interesting to note that until the Boxster made its debut, it remained Porsche's only mid-engined production car, although the company's racing models had been built with this layout for some years. The 914 also had a fine competition history - something that is often overlooked or run down because it wasn't as brilliant as that of the 911. By normal standards, however, it was indeed a...

Replacing the 914 as the entry-level model, the new 924, with its front-mounted, water-cooled engine, represented a bold - some thought heretical - break with Porsche design tradition. Given its price and specification, the original 924 offered good performance allied to safe and sure-footed handling. The Turbo model, introduced at the end of 1978, gave to the 924 the sparkling performance expected of a Porsche. The 924 has an impressive record on the race tracks of the world; it made appearances in the Monte Carlo and Safari Rallies too, while the Carrera GT, then the GTS and GTR, kept...

This is the story of VW's timeless classic, the Type 2 Transporter, universally known as the "Bus." It is sixty years since the idea of VW's Transporter was conceived by Dutchman Ben Pon after seeing motorized trollies conveying components around the British-managed Wolfsburg factory in the mid-1940s. With blueprints complete by November 1948, the "Bulli" as it was known in Germany went into production a year later. The 100,000th Transporter was built in October 1954, the millionth in 1961 and the 3 millionth in 1971, the total number of vehicles exceeding 6.5 million. The Transporter...

Covering the design, development and manufacture of the car as well as its motorsport history, Triumph TR6 is dedicated to the last traditional open-topped TR sports car with a separate chassis. It shows how this last bastion of traditional British sports car motoring went against the grain of troubled automotive times, outstripping its predecessors in sales and popularity.

The R-Series BMW MINI had a lot to live up to.

Launched in 2001, it was riding in the wake of the classic 1959-2000 Mini. At the time, BMW were going to have to create something as special and innovative as its longstanding predecessor in order to silence the naysayers. And they did. Since its launch in 2001, BMW's modern MINI has become the pinnacle of small yet funky family cars in the premium small (and sometimes not so mall) car segment.

Now in its third generation, having unveiled the new F-Series in 2014, BMW MINI offers 3- and 5-door hatchback models and convertibles,...

Not only has Cosworth designed and supplied many race car engines, which won F1, CART, and many other Championship races, but it has also produced many celebrated high-performance road-car engines. In more recent times, its growing expertise in developing electronic data capture components, and in providing ultra-high-tech engine manufacturing facilities, have made it a world leader at many levels. The expansion continues, and in this book the Cosworth story has been brought up-to-the-minute to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of the legendary DFV F1 engine.