History's Greatest Automotive Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed: James Dean's Killer Porsche, NASCAR's Fastest Monkey, Bonni

Description

A juicy selection of stories, covering subjects from racing to automakers, crime to pop culture, and historical events to modern-day happenings. Did you know that after James Dean's death behind the wheel, parts of his car were sold off and cursed their owners? Did you know Bonnie and Clyde almost exclusively stole Ford V8s as their getaway cars because they were the fastest cars of their day--and that Clyde Barrow even wrote Henry Ford a thank-you card? Did you know peanuts in the shell are considered bad luck at NASCAR races? Did you know James Brown's wife once tried to claim diplomatic immunity when fighting a traffic ticket because her husband was "the ambassador of soul"? Did you know Harry Houdini learned to drive late in life only because he needed to get to an airport for a stunt, and it was the only drive he ever made? Have you heard the story of the mythical 200-mile-per-galon carburetor that the oil companies and auto manufacturers kept hidden from the public? Or the story of the mechanic working in a car's trunk who was mistaken for a kidnapping victim? The automotive world is filled with crazy stories, mysteries, myths, rumors, and legends. This book compiles them all-spanning subject areas from racing, manufacturing, and mechanics to crime and pop culture--with explanations of their origins and where the truth lies.

MATT STONE (Glendale, California), former executive editor of Motor Trend magazine, has been a professional automotive journalist and photographer since 1985. He has authored and photographed several books, including the bestselling My First Car, 365 Cars You Must Drive, and McQueen's Machines, all from Motorbooks. PRESTON LERNER is a Los Angeles-based journalist who covered his first race-the Dallas Grand Prix-in 1984. Since then, he's written about motorsports, automobiles, aviation, aerospace, technology, and a wide variety of other subjects for magazines ranging from Sports Illustrated to the New York Times magazine. He's a longtime contributing writer at Automobile and a contributing editor at Popular Science. He has also authored three books for Motorbooks-Scarab, Winning, and History's Greatest Automotive Myths, Mysteries and Rumors Revealed-and one novel, Fools on the Hill. He also club races a Spec Miata and a Nissan 240SX with NASA and the SCCA.

"... an interesting read...they weave entertaining stories of vehicular crime, racing, moviemaking and various mishaps and mayhem." - The New York Times "Authors Matt Stone and Preston Lerner are seasoned automotive writers and the book reads with the insider intrigue of two scribes talking to friends over beers." - San Diego Union Tribune "... chock-full of amusing car-related trivia and miscellany - perfect for dipping onto on drowsy, cloudy winter afternoons." - Detroit News "The answers are here, one question and answer per chapter. Authors Stone and Lerner, both auto magazine writers, know how to weave a compelling tale. Each chapter's brief length and unconnected nature make this the perfect book to read, put down and come back to. It's a guilty pleasure; one that's hard to put down for good and is certainly my favorite book this year." - Boston Herald "Maybe you grew up liking the Ripleys' Believe it Or Not panels that ran in your local paper's comic section. If so, the format and content of this interesting exercise in debunking the past may genuinely catch your interest... it's an entertaining read." - Hemmings Motor News "A good deal of the fun here is in following the authors' steps as they sought to prove or disprove the various tales." - Auto Restorer "The topics are interesting; the research is impressive, and the writing is clear and informative." - RV Life