Motorbooks

Ultimate American Cars (Five-View Series)

by  Craig Cheetham, ed

Reviewed By  Joe Staudt, IPMS# 39453

MSRP: $19.95 ISBN: 0-7603-2570-7 Format: Hardbound, 320 pages, 1000 color illustrations. Available from Motorbooks (www.krausebooks.com). The concept behind this book is interesting. Select a number of "ultimate" American cars, then provide a four-page photo spread for each one, along with a brief history of the model, a drive train description, a list of specifications, and other bits of information as space allows. The primary feature of each spread is a set of five views: front, rear, overhead, and left and right sides. The result is a somewhat interesting and potentially useful reference book for car modelers and car enthusiasts alike. So, what constitutes an "ultimate American car"? Just about anything, it appears, so long as it has some unique or interesting characteristic that either made it stand out in its day or makes it stand out now. Ford's entries range from the Model T to the GT40, while Chevrolet's stretch from the Corvair to the. All the well-known American makes are represented: Cord, Duesenberg, Studebaker, Chrysler, Lincoln, Cadillac, AMC, et al. There are also some lesser-known marques, such as Dual Ghia, Panoz, and Vector. Candidates for inclusion tend to be high-powered, top-of-the-line, sports, or luxury vehicles; with only a very few exceptions (Dodge Viper, Delorean, Panoz) they also tend to be pre-1974, with a heavy concentration on the 1950's and 1960's, arguably the heyday of American automobiles. It helps to realize that this book is published in Great Britain, so the editor's choices tend to be made from a European perspective. Regardless, of the perspective, the editor's choices also tend to mirror model manufacturers' choices over the years. As a result, this book can serve as a decent reference for many of us model builders. Each entry in the book is structured the same way. The first two pages provide some general "beauty" shots of the featured vehicle, including a photo of the dashboard and interior and, sometimes, a photo of the engine compartment. A simple cutaway drawing shows the layout of the drive train, and a "Milestones" sidebar provides interesting information about the development of the vehicle or the times in which the vehicle was developed. The second two pages provide the five-view spread with notes on various design elements, plus a sidebar listing the vehicle's specifications. All photos are full-color. Overall, the book is quite good. Its' layout is clear and consistent, it is well organized, and the cars are beautifully photographed. If it has any shortcomings, they are in the editor's choice of vehicles: while it is hard to argue with most of the vehicles he included, one has to wonder about some of the omissions. For example, there are two Mustangs featured, but one of them is a heavily-customized 1966 that, while certainly interesting, is no more representative of production Mustangs than Boyd Coddington's "CheZoom" is representative of 1957 Chevys. And speaking of the 1957 Chevy, you won't find one here; the only full-size Chevy included is the 1958 Impala. The Oldsmobile 4-4-2 and Pontiac GTO are represented, but by only one example of each (from 1969 and 1966, respectively). Two Camaros are presented, but both are 1969 models. I suppose it is a combination of the foreign viewpoint, the practical limitations of publishing a book, and the inevitable disagreements that erupt whenever two car lovers are asked which models they consider to be the most significant, but I can't help but thinking a couple of better choices could have been made along the way. Nevertheless, the book is an interesting read and could be a nice reference for many car modelers. Many thanks to IPMS and Motorbooks for allowing me to look it over.

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