Book Description
The ability of U.S. car enthusiasts to satisfy their need for speed changed dramatically in the late 1940s as car-crazy veterans returned home from World War II with formal mechanical training, courtesy of Uncle Sam. This is the story of how one such veteran, an exB-17 airman named Alex Xydias, established the SO-CAL Speed Shop and helped transform hot rodding from a scruffy, underground, outlaw sport into a defining part of postwar American culture. SO-CAL racers dominated early salt flats racing and the shops products became must-have performance parts, giving SO-CAL international name recognition. This book traces the path Xydias took to develop performance parts, build winning race teams, and become a leader in the early days of hot rod history. Accompanying author Mark Christensens compelling narrative about Xydias and nascent hot rod culture are period photos from notable personal archives, as well as new color images of classic SO-CAL hot rods.
Customer Reviews:
Cool Story about a Hot Time in Hot Rod history.......2006-05-18
SO-CAL Speed Shop: The Fast Tale of the California Racers Who Made Hot Rod History, by Mark Christensen, forward by Alex Xydias, epilogue by Tony Thacker, Motorbooks, 2005.
Hardbound, 10x10", 192 pages, 75 color and 100 B&W images.
ISBN 13 978-0-7603-2263-5
ISBN 10 0-7603-2263-5
$34.95
There is little question that this book's subject, the hot-rod culture of the early 1950s, shaped the lives of many a baby boomer. If you are a fan of hot rods, custom cars, drag racing, or American muscle cars, even one too young to have experienced that time in American history, this book is a delightful chronicle of the early-postwar period in the car hobby. To read this book is to understand an important part of the ancestry of cars like the Chevrolet Corvette, Pontiac GTO or the Dodge Charger because, had it not been for the hot rodders of the So-Cal Speed Shop period, the Corvette might have never made it past the 1955 model year and the GTO and the Charger might never have been.
In Fall of 1946, on the day he was discharged from the Army Air Force, Alex Xydias, former B-29 mechanic, hot rodder and entrapneurial spirit, opened what was then a new kind of business, a "speed shop" where car enthusiasts could purchase aftermarket performance parts for their hot rods. Xydias' "So-Cal Speedshop" was not the first to sell parts to rodders and racers but it pioneered some business practices the performance aftermarket still uses today. Xydias was also the first to see the value of using professional race team, with well-built cars, sharp looking crews and winning achievements to market the So-Cal Speedshop's products, enhance its reputation and attract national attention to hot rodding as a business and a credible motorsport. The So-Cal racing team, headlined for a time by the famed "So-Cal Speedshop Special" streamliner, set countless records and was on the cover of Hot Rod magazine five times between 1950 to 1953.
The original So-Cal Speedshop closed in 1961 but, in it's 15 years, it had a phenomenal influence on the hot rod movement. Mark Christensen's
SO-CAL Speed Shop is a book, rich in imagery, both actual pictures and what perception Christensen's prose creates with the reader. It explains in what it was like to have been a hot rod enthusiasts, dry lakes racer and Bonneville competitor in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The reader is left with a clear understanding of the events which drove some of the circumstances by which the Corvette, as we know it today-a high-performance sports car powered by the most powerful production V8 engine in any car in its class-came to be.
I really enjoyed reading this book!
SO-CAL Speed Shop is a great read and belongs in the book collection of any Corvette enthusiast who wants to both correctly understand the car's ancestry and enjoy a story about a wonderful time in the car hobby.
Average customer rating:
- Better than most of the TV episodes!
- Speed Racer Born To Race
- A must have
- Great Story
- Tommy Yune+Speed Racer=Superb Book!
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Speed Racer: Born to Race
Tommy Yune
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Speed Racer: The Original Manga
ASIN: 1563896494 |
Book Description
The adventures of Speed Racer have delighted animation fans for more than thirty years. Now, the Demon on Wheels latest adventures are brought to life in a spectacularly illustrated new graphic novel that draws on the Japanese manga drawing style of the original Speed Racer cartoons. This adventure tells the origin of the Mach 5, Speeds incredible car, and assembles the racing team that takes Speed to the finish line!
Customer Reviews:
Better than most of the TV episodes!.......2006-04-06
Don't know how I missed this before, but this was a terrific story line. The untold origin of Speed Racer and how Trixie, Sparky and Chim Chim became part of Mach Racing. The full color art was much more pleasing to the eye than the original black and white manga that started this series.
Speed Racer Born To Race.......2001-10-25
The best way to see Speed Racer,thanks (...)
A must have.......2001-01-19
This wonderful book is an oversized comic book. The illustrations by Tommy Yune are masterfully done, with a quality that I had not expected. The first chapter begins some eight years previous to the series, and tells the story of the apparent death of Rex Racer and the birth of Racer X. Chapter 2 advances the story some seven years; Dr. Bent Cranium brings his E-RX racing engine (forerunner of the G-RX) to Pops for testing, which is installed in the Mach 4, which crashes with Hank Racer (Speed's cousin). Chapter 3 brings in Sparky (fresh from Caltech) and the Mach 5, and brings Trixie and Speed together. At the end are many notes and sketches, including the words to the theme song, the original Japanese and English names for all of the main characters, and an episode list.
This is a great book/comic book. My son is a big Speed Racer fan (chip off the old block), and was very happy to be given this book. I waited on pins-and-needles until he finished it so that I could read it. It was a little advanced for his reading ability (seven-years-old), but he enjoyed in nonetheless. There was nothing objectionable in the story, with very little violence, and no sex.
As for me, I enjoyed the book immensely, and want to recommend it to all Speed Racer fans. It's a must have!
Great Story.......2000-07-26
I think this is a good story.Tommy Yune did a good job telling the orgin of Speed Racer.Overall it was an awesome book.A must have for all anime/Speed Racer fans.
Tommy Yune+Speed Racer=Superb Book!.......2000-05-03
I have been a long time fan of Speed Racer and also have been a long time fan of Tommy Yune's work since the days when he made his Buster the Amazing Bear comic series. Now to see two of my favorite things together is like chocolate in my peanut butter. Speed Racer: Born to Race is an original back story written by Tommy Yune telling the origins of Speed Racer (Mr. Yune writes, too!). The art and story are awesome. Way cool. I definitely got my money's worth. =)
Book Description
When a group of Indianapolis businessmen built a 2 1/2-mile track and decided to stage a 500-mile race in 1911 it was an epic undertaking with a huge purse for the times that drew racers from Europe as well as America. Delage, Peugeot, Ballot and Mercedes cars came to win dollars and inspire America's racing-car builders, Harry Miller and the Duesenberg brothers. Soon these native talents came to dominate the 500-mile race, introducing supercharging and front-wheel drive with great success in the 1920s and 16-cylinder engines in the 1930s. This new book in the Ludvigsen Library Series covers racers through the 1930s, completing the Series' sweeping panorama of the cars that raced in the '500' from 1911 to the end of the 1970s. Many rare photos from the earliest days of Indy bring the cars, engines and personalities of these pioneering years to life. The drama of their achievements made the Indianapolis 500 the world's greatest auto race.
Customer Reviews:
Old-School Speed Racer!.......2002-10-28
I purchased this book as a gift for my brother, who is a big Speed Racer fan (of course, I had to read it first before giving it to him!). If you read a lot of recent manga, comic books, or graphic novels, the stories may seem a bit simple and the drawings may seem a little crude. However, they're still good stories, and the flavor of the era in which they were written really comes across. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves Speed Racer or manga in general!
wiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeerd.......2001-02-17
a speed racer manga.............soooo wierd. i guess everyone's gonna think its dumb 'cuz of the english show, which is really horrible, but you should giv ethis book a try because it was a hit in japan, and there has to be a reason for that. so just give the book a try, i thought it was ok. definetly like %200 better than the english tv show
Book Description
In this first comprehensive history of cheating in NASCAR Winston Cup racing, drivers, crew chiefs, and team owners openly discuss how they have worked around, bent, and outright broken the rules. Top NASCAR officials are equally candid as they describe their efforts to police and punish those infractions. Now the politics and subterfuge in the garage area has become as intriguing as 7/8ths-size cars and other ingenious examples of cheating. Covers from 1949-2002.
Customer Reviews:
Great Read.......2004-06-22
If you have ever wondered how Nascar teams try to better the rest of the field then this book is for you. It looks at the form of cheating or "being creative" in order to be the best race car out there. It looks at the sport from 1949 all the way till 2002 and how the rules have to changed to conform to the ever creative teams and the way in which they would modify the cars so as to not break the rules but to get an advantage. The book goes through each year and states are the rules were bent by the crews, and then how nascar wrote the rule to create an equal playing field.
An example would be when fuel lines. In the 50's, they did not specify the length or diameter of the fuel lines. So one crew being as smart as they were, decided to use a very wide diameter to fit more gas into the tank. Nascar caught this and mandated a specific size of line to be used. This example is one of many types of rules that are broken that the book portrays and then shows how it is corrected.
The book is full of information. The author took two years to write it by gathering many interviews from drivers to owners. Some even confess their ways of cheating, while others think best to keep it to themselves.
This book is for any Nascar fan and non Nascar fan, as it provides a past and present view of how teams skirted or still jump out of the boundaries of Nascar Racing.
Cheating: An Inside Look at the Bad Things Good NASCAR Winst.......2003-03-08
The book over stated and recounted the same infractions over and over. Always comparing one modification to the one in the previous chapters.
It would have been nice if NASCAR would have let the author maybe list a chapter from modification that teams have tried to get pst NASCAR and didnt. Plus the fines.
Interesting even for people who aren't NASCAR fans.......2002-12-17
I thought the book was fascinating, even though I know little about cars and even less about NASCAR. It details how drivers, mechanics, and/or team owners have either attempted to skirt the NASCAR rules or even thumbed their noses at NASCAR officials, all to get a slight competitive edge on the rest of the racing field, and the book spans from the humble beginnings of NASCAR to the present-day sports juggernaut that NASCAR has become. Jensen's writing style is such that even those who do not have a great understanding of automobile mechanics can visualize just what alterations are being made to the vehicles, and he is consistent in explaining clearly just what advantage those alterations might give the drivers. To see the book solely as a history of how NASCAR participants have attempted to get a couple of extra miles per hour, miles per gallon, or laps on a set of tires does not do the work justice, though. It is also a case-study in risk-taking behavior as the book's subjects can be seen and heard, in their own words, weighing the benefits of winning versus the consequences of getting caught playing outside the rules and existing in the political arena which governs both. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys competition.
Intriguing Look At Illegalities Within NASCAR.......2002-12-15
Tom Jensen authors this overdue look at the "black art" of cheating in NASCAR, and along the way manages a decent job of seperating fact from fiction. He delves into the acts of cheating in the sport from its beginnings (when apparant Grand National winner Glenn Dunaway was disqualified and the race win went to Jim Roper) through the 1990s into the 21st century.
Three cheating scandals stand out here, and all three involve teams owned by Junior Johnson. If there is a theme to this book, it is that Junior Johnson was the sport's most dishonest team owner. The first was the 1973 National 500 at Charlotte. Cale Yarborough won the race, but his car and second-place Richard Petty were protested by Bobby Allison. An extremely long tear-down took place, and NASCAR ultimately said the race results would stand - which led Allison to file a lawsuit against NASCAR, because there was evidence that Cale's Chevrolet, wrenched by Johnson, ran some 70 cubic inches more than allowed by the rules.
If there is an eye-opener in this book, it is the admission by Junior's engine builder at the time, Robert Yates, that that particular engine and others built for Junior were indeed illegal; Yates states it measured 500 CID, versus the 431 limit of the time. Actually, though, Yates' admission isn't a surprise, as former crew chief J.C. "Jake" Elder stated in several 1990s interviews that Junior's crew chief Herb Nab acknowledged to him that Junior usually ran illegal displacement in his engines.
The second involves the infamous "Pettygate" Charlotte race of 1983. Jensen doesn't delve into any new ground here, which is a shortfall, because there was more to that scandal than is usually acknowledged. Petty's team had won twice in 1983 but had struggled against Johnson and also the DiGard Racing team headed by Gary Nelson (and powered by Yates) in horsepower (Jensen deals at insufficient length with cheating by Gary Nelson with DiGard and other teams elsewhere in the book), and Maurice Petty built (and readily acknowledged after the race) a 381 CID engine. What is underappreciated is that Petty beat Junior's driver Darrell Waltrip - because Waltrip backed off in Turn Two and let Petty take a big lead. There was speculation then and later that Waltrip was also running more CID than allowed, and given Yates' and Herb Nab's admissions there is no reason not to believe that Waltrip usually ran illegal displacement.
It is a shame because it tarnishes the accomplishments of Waltrip (a great driver despite also being overrated as such) and also Cale Yarborough (a superior driver incapable of being overrated), who won the majority of his races (55 of 83 career wins) and all three of his titles in Johnson racecars. It also puts a period to NASCAR's long-running practice of being more nitpicky to certain teams over others (notably Johnson's), notably Petty Enterprises, Wood Brothers Racing, Ranier Racing, Bill Elliott's racing team, Hoss Ellington Racing (whose owner cheated mostly for fun and readily admitted such), and (somewhat ironic given how much success they enjoyed) DiGard Racing (one of the most revealing such episodes involved Bumpergate at Daytona in 1982; NASCAR made Gary Nelson lower the rear bumper on the DiGard car to increase drag; Nelson angrilly had it slapped on with insecure fasteners to fall off on the track; he denies that he had it deliberately slapped on to fall off during a race, but there is no reason to believe him); this nitpickery practice does continue today, though at a far less blatant level.
Another who got a lot more than his fair share of NASCAR nitpickery was Harry Hyde, whose cars won the 1970 title with Bobby Isaac and whose cars were regularly torn down more thoroughly than most, such as in the scandal-plagued '73 National 500; Hyde's car was torn down four times during the weekend and when NASCAR demanded another teardown, he refused and was disqualified. Hyde also got swept into the Nitrousgate scandal of 1976; after Daytona 500 qualifying his Dodge was found with a moveable flap on the radiator, which allowed air to flow more efficiently and increase aero slickness; the flap met the letter of NASCAR's rulebook but amid the discovery of speed-enhancing nitrous oxide bottles on several cars, NASCAR ruled it didn't meet the spirit.
Nitpickery shows in a recent area dealt with by Jensen - the "Tiregate" New Hampshire 300 of late August 1998. On final stops with some 73 laps to go Jeff Gordon took two tires to the four taken by Mark Martin, John Andretti, and others (this was when tires were much softer and wore more easily than in 2001-2, when Goodyear went with compounds of such hardness that wear became almost impossible); under such circumstances Gordon should have been swamped by cars with four fresh tires, but instead he outpulled the cars on four fresh tires and easily won a race he had not run all that competitively in throughout that day.
Jensen details the inaccuracy of claims by Jack Roush of chemical treatment of tires by Ray Evernham, but ignores that this was a red herring to begin with - the real issue being Goodyear playing favorites on tires, a practice angrilly noted a year later by team owner Andy Petree in a spat over lack of access to Goodyear tires for much-needed test sessions, and also briefly discussed by Geoff Bodine in Shaun Assael's superb NASCAR book "Wide Open: Days & Nights On The NASCAR Trail."
The third big scandal discussed in the book was Jimmy Spencer's two restrictor plate victories of 1994; once again, we have a cheating scandal involving Junior Johnson racecars. In fairness to Spencer, comments about his ability by Jeff Gordon's stepdad John Bickford (made in naturally fawning comparison to Gordon's ability) are a little out of line, as Spencer had shown superb drafting ability years earlier in Travis Carter's Chevrolet and showed it again in Dick Moroso's Grand National Ford, Travis Carter's Winston-sponsored Fords, and James Finch's Grand National Pontiacs.
Regardless, it should be clear that Spencer's two Winston Cup wins were achieved with an illegal restrictor plate manifold; that it could have escaped NASCAR pre-race inspection is not as difficult as Jensen implies at points, given the ingenuity of raceteams.
One area where Jensen could have set the record straight but does not even discuss is suspicion about the 1984 Firecracker 400. During "The Call" mini-controversy of 1995 there was some question about the legality of Richard Petty's 200th win, about how the engine supposedly was over the limit on displacement. There ought to be no question about the legality of that win or all but one or two other Petty wins, given how NASCAR scrutinized his cars more than most, how Petty did not show more horsepower than race favorite Cale Yarborough (Petty won on superior handling and the car's better drafting ability; Cale's Ranier Chevrolets of the time were noticably inferior in handling than Petty's Pontiacs or Bobby Allison's Buicks), and also how the Pettys had feuded with NASCAR's France family almost from the beginning, making claims of a "Call" going to him implausible. Jensen likewise should have noted that in the '73 controversy Petty readily admitted running a mixture of engine cylinders of varying displacements - a few over the legal limit, several well under it, for an average within the rules. As Bobby Allison himself noted during the Pettygate scandal, "Richard shoots straighter than most."
In all, though, the book is worth having for providing information on a "black art" in NASCAR racing. Jensen provides a look at the psychology of cheating when he notes Darrell Waltrip's infamous 1976 quip, "If you don't cheat, you look like an idiot; if you cheat and don't get caught, you look like a hero; if you cheat and get caught, you look like a dope."
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Speed Racer #2 October, 1987
Manufacturer: Now Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Comic
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ASIN: B000ID1GKM |
Product Description
English-language comic book based on the popular Anime series from the 1960s. A rare early example of an Anime-based title prior to the Manga/Anime explosion of the 1990s.
Customer Reviews:
My kids love this book.......2007-02-24
Who would have ever thought my kids (10 & 8) would love Speed Racer so much that we ended up getting them a book about Speed Racer's history. They love it and keep reading it over and over. Any book that a kid will read over and over again is a GREAT book.
Go Speed Racer Go!.......2004-07-28
This is a great book. Even non speed racer fans will love it. It is very informitive.
"If we crash, I can't win!".......2003-04-30
Good ol' Speed. Forever stating the obvious in his trademark excitable tone. Speaking of which, this book is perfect for "Speed Racer" fans to get excited about.
Author Elizabeth Moran hits the track with infectious enthusiasm and leaves in her backdraft plenty of fun info on all the various iterations of "Speed Racer," from the original manga and Japanese series to the imported version I grew up with... to the newer versions, including a proposed live action film that never got off the ground. Moran includes the requisite episode guides (and rates them!), plus interviews with both the Japanese and American creative teams, racing terms, a complete dictionary guide to Speed's world and transcripts from the ESPN "Nascar" commercials. And wait until you read the original Japanese lyrics to the now-classic theme. Yep, even master auto-designer Pops Racer couldn't have done a better job, because this book has more features than the Mach 5!
What's especially neat about this is that it's all in glorious full-color! The design matches the vibrant and vigorous animated series. A fun package, and highly recommended for any "Speed Racer" fan. Go, Speed Racer, go!
A wonderful guide to the show.......2002-03-25
This book is a thorough and complete look at that great show, Speed Racer. It starts out with a quick look at the theme song of the show, the characters, the Mach 5, and the people behind the characters' voices. Then, the book launches into the best part of all, a one-page synopsis of each of the 52 episodes, complete with a picture from the episode. After that the book continues with the history of Speed after the show, complete with images from the new Mach Go Go Go show, and a glossary.
This book is a wonderful stroll down memory lane for anyone who grew up watching Speed and the gang. My eight-year-old son, who is a chip-off-the-old-block and a Speed fan too, did not find too much in this book, but it is not intended as a story book. What the book is designed to be, it is wonderfully, a guide for fans of Speed Racer. I enjoyed this book and think that you will too!
PARA LOS LATINOS SIEMPRE SERA METEORO.......2001-05-26
...ESTE LIBRO CUENTA TODO, LA HISTORIA DE SU CREADOR,DE LOS PERSONAJES,RESEñAS CAPITULO POR CAPITULO,HASTA COMERCIALES CON METEORO Y UNA FUTURA SERIE Y PELICULA.NO SE LO PIERDAN....
Customer Reviews:
A MUST HAVE for all race fans!.......2003-12-15
My dad, Erik Arneson, is one of the best writers ever. After reading this book of "Triumphs and Tragedies" you will feel as if you have known Darryl your whole life. This book gets you so interested that you wont want to tear yourself away. I read a good chunk of the book in one sitting. I hope my dad (Erik) writes another highly fascinating story.
A must read for any Motor Sport fan.......2003-09-19
A well told story that even non drag racing fans would find fascinating.
MK
Average customer rating:
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Speed Racer Notecard Portfolio
SPEED RACER
Manufacturer: Peaceable Kingdom Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Cards
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MJ15 - Speed Racer Mini Journal
ASIN: 1593952414 |
Product Description
Ten 3 1/2" x 5" blank notecards (5 each of 2 designs) in a colorful wallet-style portfolio. Perfect for anytime gifts or personal use!
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Drag Racer (Built for Speed)
Matthew Pitt
Manufacturer: Children's Press (CT)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0516232622 |
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