More than 500 detailed illustrations enhance this contemporary guide to the inner workings and mechanics of turn-of-the-century automobiles, trucks, and motorcycles.
Released in 1911 as “Self-Propelled Vehicles: A Practical Treatise,” James Homans’ spectacular, all-encompassing book about the fascinating world of gas-powered, electric-powered, and steam-powered motor vehicles leaves no stone unturned in its celebration of the classic automobile.
Classic car collectors, racers, and enthusiasts will enjoy this thorough look under the hood as Homans dissects every part of the “horseless carriage” from a unique and contemporary viewpoint that offers a keen insight into the bygone age of dramatic motoring. Antique Cars and Motor Vehicles spans more than 640 pages, immersing readers in a world of automotive history, vehicle parts, driving gears, steering, suspension, engines, exhaust, and even old fashioned American road signs.
The hundreds of Images of cars, engines, parts, and mechanic operations are crisp and detailed, created by skilled master artists with a sharp eye for detail. It’s everything that you ever wanted to know about classic motoring in a single, entertaining, and well-illustrated volume!
This enhanced 2020 re-release features enlarged 7” x 10” pages that retain the original classic type font and page layouts, crisp, digitally re-scanned images, and a new retro cover design created to enhance your reading room and garage.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 – History of Self-Powered Vehicles
Chapter 2 – The Make-Up of a Motor Carriage
Chapter 3 – Compensation and Compensating Devices
Chapter 4 – The Driving Car
Chapter 5 – The Steering of a Motor Vehicle
Chapter 6 – Combined Steering and Driving
Chapter 7 – The Supports of a Motor Vehicle
Chapter 8 – Motor Carriage Wheels
Chapter 9 – Tires
Chapter 10 – The Construction of Tires
Chapter 11 – Pneumatic Tire Troubles
Chapter 12 – Care of Pneumatic Tires
Chapter 13 – Types and Merits of Automobiles
Chapter 14 – The Theory of Heat Engines
Chapter 15 – The Parts of a Gas Engine
Chapter 16 – The Four-Cycle Gas Engine
Chapter 17 – The Two-Cycle Gas Engine
Chapter 18 – Compression and Expansion
Chapter 19 – Efficiency in a Gas Engine
Chapter 20 – Exhaust
Chapter 21 – Water Cooling for the Cylinder
Chapter 22 – Air Cooling for the Cylinder
Chapter 23 – Power Elements of a Gas Engine
Chapter 24 – Carburetors
Chapter 25 – Ignition
Chapter 26 – Balancing Gasoline Engines
Chapter 27 – Governing and Control of a Gasoline Engine
Chapter 28 – Clutches
Chapter 29 – Transmissions
Chapter 30 – Brakes
Chapter 31 – Roller Bearings
Chapter 32 – Lubricants
Chapter 33 – Practical Operation of Gasoline Engines
Chapter 34 – Motorcycles
Chapter 35 – Steam Engines for Automobiles
Chapter 36 – Boilers and Flash Generators
A rare and extremely important early motor racing book by the Englishman, Charles Jarrott, who was a very successful competitor in many of the major early international racing events in Great Britain and Europe from 1895-1906. The book has many black ad white photos and illustrations and a wonderful appendix that identifies the winners of each of the early competitions from 1895-1906, (by date, vehicle and race)! This is the personal story of a man who participated in the earliest days of motoring and the first international motor races including the: – the famous city-to-city races ( 1901 Paris-Berlin, 1902 Circuit Du Nord, 1902 Paris-Vienna, 1902 Circuit Des Ardennes, etc.), – and Gordon Bennett Cup events (1900-1904). The first English Edition was published in 1906 by E. Grant Richards in London.
This edition is a modern re-print.
VW Classic Beetle is the latest in the Maintenance and Upgrades Manual series, which are based on real-life experience and written by expert authors. The original air-cooled VW Beetle is a hugely distinctive and popular classic car with over 21 million produced over a 65-year period. It is also an ideal starter classic for anyone looking to get their hands dirty. This new book includes an illustrated timeline to the various models produced and a useful buyers’ guide with a systematic approach. There is information on workshop tools and equipment and a service and maintenance schedule. How to maintain all aspects of the engine, transmission, brakes and bearings, suspension and electrics are covered. Information on modifications and upgrades for the engine, brakes and suspension including front beam, dropped spindles, spring plates, air ride, and wheels and tyres is included. Troubleshooting tips for when your car won’t start or won’t go into gear are given and, finally, tips on restoration of the paint and bodywork, or respray. There are useful chapters on fitting an ISOFIX base for a child safety seat, as well as fire suppression.
Between 1997 and 2014, Tom Kristensen won the world’s toughest motor race, the Le Mans 24 Hours, a record nine times and finished on the podium on five more occasions. Every time his car made it to the finish, in fact, he was in the top three. It is no wonder that this great sports car driver is known as ‘Mr Le Mans’ to motorsport fans around the world.
Now retired from racing, Kristensen shares in this book his deepest personal reflections and insights from inside and outside the cockpit. He looks back on more than 30 years spent striving for perfection in racing and tells of the battles and setbacks that sometimes seemed impossible to overcome, including a terrible accident in 2007.
- Climbing the racing ladder, from karting into Formula 3 single-seaters, including championship titles in Germany (1991) and Japan (1993), then Formula 3000 and a Formula 1 testing role with Tyrrell.
- Winning as an underdog on his first visit to Le Mans, in 1997 driving an elderly Joest-run privateer Porsche in which he impressed all onlookers with a night-time charge to vanquish Porsche’s factory-entered favourite.
- His second Le Mans victory came in 2000 on his maiden drive for Audi in the R8, a car that was to become all-conquering.
- Kristensen won the next five editions of Le Mans, four times with Audi and once with Bentley (in 2003), his last victory in this sequence taking him past Jacky Ickx’s previous record at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
- His eighth win came in one of the all-time classic contests at Le Mans, in 2008, a rollercoaster of a race in which his ageing diesel-powered Audi was never expected to beat the fancied works Peugeots.
- One more victory with Audi in 2013 sealed his reputation as a true legend of Le Mans.
- His story includes exploits at other racetracks all over the world, none more prolific than Sebring, home of America’s long-established classic endurance race that Kristensen won six times.
- Personal reflections together with contributions from notable observers — including English journalists Gary Watkins and Charles Bradley — complete a truly rounded portrait of the man and his achievements.
Voted ‘Sports Book of the Year’ when originally published in Kristensen’s native Denmark, this thoughtful memoir is now available in English.
Land Rover One Ten and Ninety Specification Guide is designed to give guidance on the original, ex-factory, specifications of the coil-sprung utility Land Rovers built between 1983 and 1990. Known to Land Rover as stage 2 models, they were sold as the Land Rover One Ten, Ninety and (later) One Two Seven.
James Taylor has taken the first step in undertaking detailed research into the Stage 2 models, and putting together all the known facts in one place. Topics covered include vehicle identification; specification changes in detail; options, accessories and special equipment; conversions and, finally, promotional material.
Car Suspension, Repair, Maintenance and Modification provides an easy-to-follow practical guide to the maintenance, repair and modification of the different types of suspension used in cars. With over 170 illustrations, including colour photographs and diagrams, this practical book explains what suspension is and why it is needed; it reviews the different types of suspension of available; it covers the key maintenance and repairs that an owner can undertake, and finally, describes modifications in detail with step-by-step photographs.
The fascinating story of two American giants—Henry Ford and Thomas Edison—whose annual summer sojourns introduced the road trip to our culture and made the automobile an essential part of modern life, even as their own relationship altered dramatically.
In 1914 Henry Ford and naturalist John Burroughs visited Thomas Edison in Florida and toured the Everglades. The following year Ford, Edison, and tire maker Harvey Firestone joined together on a summer camping trip and decided to call themselves the Vagabonds. They would continue their summer road trips until 1925, when they announced that their fame made it too difficult for them to carry on.
Although the Vagabonds traveled with an entourage of chefs, butlers, and others, this elite fraternity also had a serious purpose: to examine the conditions of America’s roadways and improve the practicality of automobile travel. Cars were unreliable and the roads were even worse. But newspaper coverage of these trips was extensive, and as cars and roads improved, the summer trip by automobile soon became a desired element of American life.
In The Vagabonds Jeff Guinn shares the story of this pivotal moment in American history. But he also examines the important relationship between the older Edison and the younger Ford, who once worked for the famous inventor. The road trips made the automobile ubiquitous and magnified Ford’s reputation, even as Edison’s diminished. The automobile had come of age and it would transform the American landscape, the American economy, and the American way of life.
Guinn brings to life this seminal moment when a new industry created a watershed cultural shift and a famous businessman became a prominent political figure. The Vagabonds is a wonderful story of two American giants and the transformation of the country.
CARLO FACETTI Trainer, Test Driver and Race Driver
Carlo Facetti, mechanic, trainer and driver over a span of 70 years of activity: the book is the story of his life, of his story as a driver through technological development in the sports car field. So much commitment and so many adventures told with passion, with many unpublished photographs taken from his personal archive. The book is a sincere and spontaneous testimony to his unique career
Getting a Rover K-Series engine properly up and running can be a difficult task, but the result is always worthwhile. Rover K-Series Engine – Maintenance, Repair and Modification is a practical guide to keeping these unique engines in fine working order. The most well-known issue with the K-Series is the head gasket, and this book identifies common faults, before giving practical advice on how best to solve them. Step-by-step guidance on long-term engine maintenance is provided, in addition to the improvements required to prevent further problems. A K-Series engine is stripped down to examine its clever and interesting structure, and is rebuilt with improvements. Authors of over twenty automotive books, Iain Ayre and Rob Hawkins have combined their knowledge to bring you this book on the Rover K-Series engine. Topics covered include the history of the K-Series; common faults and solutions; full strip down and rebuild; the Rover KV6; modifications for power and reliability; electronics and programming and comparisons with similar engine options.
Volkswagen’s air-cooled engine is a simple and reliable unit that can be maintained by anyone with a basic tool kit and a willingness to learn. The VW Air-Cooled Engine is your guide, giving highly illustrated step-by-step descriptions covering all the tasks you are likely to encounter, from routine servicing to dismantling and rebuilding a type 1 engine. Most of the operations described in the book can be applied to the type 4 unit used in 1700, 1800 and 2-litre Transporter models as well.
After months of preparation, practice and planning, the season’s race championship can rely on just one fastener doing its job. If that fastener shears or loosens, the whole race can be lost—not to mention valuable machinery and perhaps even lives.”
“Failure does not have to happen. If the persons responsible for the design, installation and maintenance of the equipment had done their job properly, it could have not happened. If the persons responsible for maintenance had read—and understood—this book, it probably would not have.”
—Carroll (Preface)
Many people remember Don Edmunds as the premier builder of open wheel race cars during the 1960s, 1970s, and into the early 1980s, but the Don Edmunds story isn’t just about iconic midgets and sprint cars. Don was a true innovator, whose cars combined art and performance and were always at the forefront of open cockpit safety and design, but few readers realize Don Edmunds touched so many parts of the racing world and beyond. Author, Paul Weisel, Jr., has partnered with Don to tell the Edmunds story in a new 182-page book, complete with more than 200 photos, titled, ‘The Saga of Rotten Red – The Don Edmunds Story’.
From his childhood in Anaheim, CA, his teenage years as a part of the southern California roadster scene, including appearances at El Mirage and Bonneville, his first oval track exposure racing jalopies with the California Jalopy Assn., to his graduation to the midgets of the United Racing Assn., the book chronicles Edmunds’ journey toward his greatest racing triumph, qualifying for the 1957 Indianapolis ‘500’ and subsequently being named ‘Rookie of the Year’ at Indy. Along the way Don learned the ropes from car owner, Doug Caruthers, paid attention to tips by drivers, Billy Cantrell, Edgar Elder, and others, worked with Eddie Kuzma, fabricating race cars for Indy and the championship trail, and had his moniker of ‘Red’ transformed forever to ‘Rotten Red’, a tag he has always embraced. Even today, Don signs all his e-mails with ‘RR’. Don types the letters with a grin and all his friends smile when they read to the end of the message.
After Indianapolis 1959 Don retired from driving championship cars and returned to Anaheim to enjoy married life and to pursue his plans to eventually open his own race car shop. Stints with Bill Devin, Bill Stroppe, and Bill Thomas culminated with Don’s design and fabrication of the prototype of the Cheetah sports car and gave Don the practical experience he needed to open Don Edmunds’ Autoresearch in 1964.
Three separate shots at Indianapolis as a car builder and literally hundreds of midgets, sprint cars, supermodifieds, and super vees later, Don Edmunds replaced Frank Kurtis as the country’s most prolific designer and builder of open wheel race cars. Don Edmunds was on the cutting edge of open wheel race car design and later enjoyed a superb career driving supermodifieds, including a junket to compete with cars of his own design in South Africa. In 1991, Don Edmunds was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and in 1994, the National Midget Hall of Fame, two awards he holds in the highest regard.
Away from the track Autoresearch designed and built Evel Knievel’s X-1 Skycycle, the prototype vehicle the stuntman would use to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho. Don also became involved in the restoration of several significant 1930-era race cars and used his ‘retirement’ to produce dozens of stunning scale model race cars. Author Paul Weisel takes the reader on all of Edmunds’ adventures and provides insight into the thought process of one of the true ‘dreamers of the day’.
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Is this the end of The Office? Pat O’Sullivan and his buddies uncover a secret revolutionary group with ties to the most famous murder group in Los Angeles’ history. And ties to more, in a thriller that may end everyone’s careers.
This Mazda MX-5 Maintenance and Upgrades Manual will help owners develop the workshop skills needed for the maintenance and repair of their cars, and give guidance on possibilities for improvements and upgrades to performance.
With step-by-step instructions and safety information throughout, this book is a valuable technical resource for owners of Mk1 and Mk2 Mazda MX-5s.
Illustrated with over 700 color photographs the book covers:
-Tools and safety
-Weekly routine checks and twice-yearly checks
-Preparing for the MOT test
-Engine maintenance and tuning
-Gearbox and differential
-Brake maintenance and upgrades
-Uprating the suspension bushes and changing the springs and dampers
-Bodywork and hood maintenance
Based on real-life experiences and written by expert authors, the books in the Maintenance and Upgrades series from Crowood will help owners develop the workshop skills needed for the maintenance and repair of their cars, and give guidance on possibilities for improvements and upgrades to performance.
With step-by-step instructions and safety information throughout, this book is a valuable technical resource for owners of the Land Rover Discovery, Series 1 and 2. Illustrated with over 300 photographs, the book covers sourcing parts and tools; common problems and solutions, covering all engine types, including Rover V8 and diesel engines; service and repair; improvements for wheels and tyres and detailed specifications for Discovery Generations 1 and 2.
