- The completely revised bestseller by René Staud and Jürgen Lewandowski in a 70th Anniversary Edition
- An inspiring and must-have treasure trove for all fans of the “sports car of the century”
- Photographer René Staud and author Jürgen Lewandowski are synonymous with expertise of the highest caliber when it comes to automobiles
This iconic sports car, from the first Mercedes 300 SL to its latest successors, proves that technology can indeed evolve into art. And who better to showcase this procession of pioneering automobiles than René Staud, whose striking photographs will captivate any enthusiast. This book, based on Staud’s successful calendars, is an ode to an extraordinary vehicle whose spell stars such as Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Alfred Hitchcock have all fallen under. The elaborately orchestrated pictures show sleek curves and precision in every detail, conveying the passion for this breathtaking automobile. A photographic tribute to the “sports car of the century”, covering the 70-year history of the 300 SL racing car models from 1952 to the latest SL generation.
Text in English, German, and French.
These stunning images of some of Hollywood’s most iconic stars and their beloved dogs are possible the best thing we’ve ever seen” – Marie Claire Hollywood Dogs showcases a fine selection of photographs from the famous John Kobal Foundation. Taken between 1920 and 1960 during the Golden Age of Hollywood, they feature stars including Humphrey Bogart, Buster Keaton, Elvis Presley, Tony Curtis, Sophia Lauren, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Ava Gardner, Shirley Maclaine, Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn posing with dogs of every stature and breed. In almost every case, these stunning photographs have never been seen before now. As much as the Hollywood studio system tried to control every aspect of their stars’ lives, there was nothing the bosses could do to manipulate their illustrious employees’ responses when photographed with their dogs. Hollywood Dogs celebrates this special relationship between these famous owners and their animals. Often caught off-guard, and almost always relaxed and natural, these are photographs of the Hollywood stars as real people. Amongst the images are some of the most famous dogs in Hollywood films: Lassie; Asta; Rin Tin Tin and Toto from the Wizard of Oz. There are also a few carefully-set-up publicity shots, such as Frank Sinatra on the set of Pal Joey, and Jean Harlow accessorized with a large hat and two Old English sheepdogs. Each image has been researched to identify the breed and wherever possible, the name of the dog, and Catherine Britton has included intriguing details about the location and background to the photograph.
Grumpy Jenkins, Carl Olson, Sneaky Pete Robinson, Von Dutch, prankster TV Tommy Ivo, Hunter S. Thompson, Art Arfons, Jungle Jim Lieberman, Cha Cha Muldowney, Steve Gibbs, Joe the Fonz Carloni, Danny Ongias, Benny Osborne, Tony Feil, Pete Van Iderstein, William Jeanes and Wally Parks.
Dozens of wacky stories like the time my dad called the police on me, panic the night I sold my Scrape Zephyr, Frank Sinatra’s Facel Vega, Larry Shinoda and the silver bullet, Lions drag strip was Mecca, antics in Australia, how not to get people’s attention, the dumbest thing I ever did, the Ant Farm, redneck pickup in Arkansas, the first hot rod I ever saw plus never before told behind the scenes antics by Car & Driver Editor Bob Brown and Hot Rod Editor Jeff Smith.
America’s Racing Trinity
Twenty years after they hung up their helmets, their names remain synonymous with the sport they carried to new heights. A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, and Richard Petty rose to fame just as the American media – print, radio, and, crucially, television – began to legitimize auto racing. The timing was perfect. In Foyt, Andretti, and Petty, the nation found characters as compelling as any in sports or entertainment.
Foyt was all Texas, John Wayne in a fireproof suit, stomping into Victory Lanes from Indianapolis to Le Mans. Andretti, who’d sailed from Italy with his family at age 15, struck for all outsiders the same yes-you-can chord sounded by another Italian-American, the great Frank Sinatra. Petty, the genial North Carolinian who signed autographs until the last fan went home, put a smiling Andy Griffith face on the American South, no small feat in the tumultuous ’60s.
They crossed paths often, on the track and in the headlines. Take 1967, which opened with Andretti beating NASCAR’s best at Daytona, peaked with Foyt’s third Indianapolis 500 win, and ended with a record 27 victories for Petty. Or the three-season stretch from 1977-79, during which Foyt became the first four-time Indy winner, Andretti earned the World Driving Championship, and Petty captured a landmark Daytona 500.
They even throttled back their careers in near-unison, Petty in 1992, Foyt in ’93, Andretti in ’94. Today all three are revered; as they walk through crowded pit areas, people step back to make way. Charisma never ages.
This is no mere three-act biography. Laced with quotes from first-hand interviews with Foyt, Petty, Andretti, and their peers, and spiced with period accounts from the motorsports world and the changing social landscape, this is award-winning author Bones Bourcier’s history of modern American automobile racing as refracted through the lives of three extraordinary champions.
Weather, darkness and twists of fate have contributed to more than three hundred airplane crashes in San Bernardino County, California. Many of these accidents occurred in the vast Mojave Desert, others on the cloud-shrouded, snow-capped mountains of the largest county in the lower forty-eight states. Searches often were labored yet fruitless, even for the privileged: Frank Sinatra’s mother perished here in a downed plane. The quest for an aircraft containing $5,000 in cash has become the stuff of legend. Tales of survival in uninhabited, rugged landscapes have been especially harrowing. Join renowned aircraft-crash search specialist G. Pat Macha for dozens of sorrowful, triumphant, touching and surprising true stories of those who lived through the ordeals of plane crashes–and others who didn’t.
