[GTO]

Originally Posted by Sebring

Hi GTO, Came back home, after a few days of travel, to find two gifts on my mantelpiece. These were from Dad. Thanks for the suggest

Your Dad has taste! Both the books are top class. My suggestion = start with the VW book first. It's fast & gripping. Newey's book is awesome too, but a bit slow-paced.

[Sebring]

Where The Suckers Moon; Someone borrowed this book from me and never returned it back. So I searched for it and bought the hard-back. 'Re-reading' it now! Subaru of America, in an effort to counter flagging sales - set out to select a new advertising agency. This was a $75 Million account. Nissan of the present can take pointers, maybe. This book is engaging and fascinating, with behind-the-scenes portraits. See if you can get your hands on it.

[Sebring]

When you talk automotive marketing, the Harley story springs up almost instantaneously. The Early 1980s saw the Company on the brink of bankruptcy. But It regained lost ground with a core group of not just marketing guys but also employees, management, dealers, and vendors. The book is called 'Rebuilding The Brand', and it makes for a fascinating read.

[GTO]

My God, an exceptional car book after ages! If you want some good reading material during the lockdown, here is your saviour. Amazing read on how GM got back on the recovery path, from an industry outsider who knew nothing about cars. The writing style will have you addicted & there are just so many management lessons in it.

Kindle version was cheaper on Amazon.com than .in so I got it from there. Full 5 / 5 stars:

[Leoshashi]

1. Some excerpts from Dr. Pavan Goenka's diary.

2. Indian Passenger car History

[GTO]

Here is one more exceptional book on the USA car industry (how I wish we had more stuff on India) and the bankruptcy of GM & Chrysler. Paul Ingrassia has an amazing writing style - among the best ever. Book includes the full journey, right from their heydays in the 60s to 2009.

Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road to Bankruptcy and Bailout-and Beyond Paperback

Rating 5 / 5 stars. Buy it without a second thought.

[TusharK]

Just released: Niki Lauda - The Biography

It's been a year since Formula 1 legend Niki Lauda passed away. Now, in a book titled "Niki Lauda: The Biography", veteran F1 journalist Maurice Hamilton has documented Niki's life beyond the racetrack.



The book focuses on Niki's racing as well as his business career. It is structured in three sections - up to 1976, 1976-85 and post-retirement.

Hamilton has also sourced information from Lauda's own autobiographies, giving a first-hand account of some of the notable incidents from his life, including the 1977 incident where he walked out of Ferrari after winning the title. The book also documents various stories about Niki Lauda as told by other journalists.

While the book doesn't go into the details of Lauda's personal life, it does include quotes that illustrate his views about certain events.

Link to Team-BHP News

[Tuisha110HP]

Oh man! surely this will be added to my list of "to read" books. The movie "Rush" is one of my favorites when it come to racing. I still remember the dialog from his movie when Niki Lauda says "A wise man learns faster from his enemies than a fool from his friends. Look at us, we were hot headed jerks and this competition made us both world champions." And James hunt says " whats the point of having a million cups if you dont have fun? How is that winning?"

[Sebring]

Thanks GTO. It's a great read indeed. This, in a way explains what happened to American Car industry's very soul, the trajectory

Originally Posted by GTO

Here is one more exceptional book on the USA car industry.Book includes the full journey, right from their heydays in the 60s to 2009.

[wheelguy]

Has anyone here gone through this book, need a review on it. TIA.

[EightSix]

Originally Posted by GTO

Here is a MUST-READ book for any Indian car enthusiast

The Maruti Story : RC Bhargava

Just finished reading this book since GTO recommended it on the Osamu Suzuki retirement thread (Osamu Suzuki will retire after almost 5 decades with the firm).



The Maruti Story
Author: R.C. Bhargava
Rating: 3.5/5

R.C. Bhargava is a brilliant entrepreneur, a wise and experienced leader who has documented a journey of 25 years into the Indian Car Scene very well. But he isn’t an extraordinary author.

The book is ‘just alright’ in the way it is written. It isn’t gripping, it isn’t fast-paced and it honestly bores the reader, that’s why it took me a whole week to get through it.

I would certainly recommend it though, to entrepreneurs since it contains valuable lessons and car enthusiasts who want to know about the car scene as it was in the yesteryears.

Unfortunately, the book contains very less about cars itself and more about managing the Maruti business.

What amazes me is the tremendous attention to detail and documentation of minor problems and how they were efficiently tackled by Maruti. Whether it is the partnership, the government, the vendors, the customers or the employees.

While the book doesn’t tell a great deal about Osamu Suzuki, it does speak a whole lot about the Japanese work culture that helped Maruti become what it was and survive through its toughest times. The book is biased to a very little extent — and slightly a self-congratulation attempt, which I acknowledge. But other than all that, it is a highly informative read.

Turns out, we have a lot to thank Maruti for. And I too, see Maruti in a completely different light than the tin can makers I thought they were.
The events recorded in this book totally prove that Maruti brought India on wheels.

[EightSix]

Just finished reading this book. I started last night, immediately after I finished the Maruti book (impressions posted above).



Bumper to Bumper
Author: Doug Demuro
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½ (4.5/5)

Amazing book! Loved it! Doug is a master storyteller.

It has got all different incidents from Doug Demuro’s car ownership and each one of them contains a lot of witty humour and exaggeration that make it a great and enjoyable read.

Car enthusiast or not, everyone should buy it. I finished ⅓rd of this book in just one sitting and the whole book in lesser than a day, while the Maruti book took me a week! To describe Doug’s narrative, it is very engaging and fascinating and interesting and alluring and all the other words you get when you type these in thesaurus.com I’m a huge fan of this guy and if you watch his videos and are as much of a fan as me, you would hear Doug’s voice narrating the book.

The only reason why it misses out on a full 5 star rating is because towards the ending, Doug has copy-pasted his existing articles from Jalopnik. These are slightly boring but some of these can still give you a nice chuckle, especially at the end of each story.

Warning - Few instances of profanity which is mostly censored.

[anjan_c2007]

This book was released on 05/04/2021 and just scrolling through this thread found it apt to write about it, though a bit late in the day. A must on the book shelves of automobile bookworms, who will all enjoy reading it.





(Price Rs 440=00)

Gautam Sen (most of us know him well) is a journalist, author and automotive design consultant based in Paris and is Vice - President, Federation Internationale de Vehicules Anciens (FIVA). He has authored ten other critically acclaimed books on automobiles. Gautam’s association with the Indian automobile industry is nearly four decades old as Founder Editor, Indian Auto Journal, Auto India, BBC Top Gear and later of one more magazine. The book offers insights into the dawn of the automobile era and its acceptance in India’s roadscape. The author aptly says that there is a tendency to blame the automobile for ills and problems, but it has benefitted mankind and continues to fascinate us.

Chapter 1. “A Love Affair Begins” lists the first car shipped to India in the early 1890’s, a French De Dion Bouton of Maharaja Rajinder Singh of Patiala. This chapter has mind-boggling anecdotes of several royal collections. Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji Jadeja alias Ranji (1872 – 1933 of Ranji Trophy fame), was the Maharaja of Nawanagar (1907-1933). Ranji is acclaimed as the best cricketer of all times. A fan of car brand Lanchester, he bought its 12 hp model in 1904. His Lanchester collection became the most extensive apart from his Bentleys, Bugattis, Rolls Royces, Lagondas and more. He passed away in 1933. Being childless, his nephew Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja succeeded him, continuing the passion, acquiring 42 Lanchesters by 1940. The 12th and last Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamaraja Wodeyar Bahadur was a knowledgeable car collector. A Delahaye175 Coupe bought by him in 1949, went out of India in the 1970’s and was owned by pop singer Sir Elton John. This car is now with a museum in Los Angeles. Gayatri Devi (1919-2009) and her spouse Sawai Man Singh (1911-1970) of Jaipur were holidaying in Europe in the 1950’s when a white sports car whizzed past them. The Maharani exclaimed “What was that?” The next morning she got the keys of a similar Jaguar XK 120 in her hotel room, as a surprise gift from her husband. Yeshwantrao Holkar II of Indore was the finest automotive aesthete India has ever had according to the author. The Holkar cars with their custom-made perfections landed in collections abroad. In fact, most Indian royal collections have landed abroad either through the export or smuggling routes.

Chapter 2. “The Love Affair Continues” traces the merchant class, lawyers, doctors and newly successful professionals from various Indian cities. J.R.D. Tata (1904-1993) at age 21 owned a Bugatti Type 35 A, while Homi Batliwala owned a Bugatti Type 39 A. JRD’s passion apart from aviation was for quick and dynamically delightful automobiles, as he enjoyed racing and driving as much as flying. The huge Pranlal Bhogilal , the Viveck Goenka and many other collections too find mention. Diljeet Titus, an advocate of Delhi has a huge collection of very rare and exotic cars in a museum in his farmhouse. The author decries the fact that the government and certain regulatory bodies have been working towards destroying India’s automotive heritage by encouraging crushing of vehicles that are of a certain age. The most common makes on our roads truly reflect India’s industrial history, much more than imports.

Chapter 3. “Make in India” traces the first attempts to make a car here during 1912-14,the later years viz. the imports era and subsequent “Make in India” galore.

Chapter 4. Talks about Maruti and its beginnings along with the beginnings of many other automobile companies here from their embryonic stages onwards.

Chapter 5. “Love For Speed” chronicles the commencement of car races, sports bodies, men and women of eminence in the field and the significant events conducted since the early years till recently.

Chapter 6. On “Sports Cars and Convertibles” has facts and anecdotes starting from the 1920’s and 30’s. The Indian roadster, San Storm with its 1149 cc/ 60 bhp Renault D7F engine finds a mention. The author was a part of its development and evolution.

The Chapter 7. “Bikes and Bikernis” covers our two wheelers from the imports of the pre-Independence era till the mid 1950’s and the subsequent Indian assembling/ manufacturing. "Yours Truly" was requested by the author for inputs for this chapter that were duly incorporated and acknowledged.

The last Chapter 8. “The Art of Automobile” covers automobile art, photography and cinematography. Ritwik Ghatak’s “Ajantrik” depicting the taxi driver Bimal’s love for his vehicle. The film was an entry to the Venice film Festival (1959). The 1920’s Ford Model A (Champion car) of the Ganguly Brothers too finds mention as the forced-upon winner on the Juhu airstrip in Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958), as having outwitted much faster cars including a MG TC and nearly five others. The author jokingly says that perhaps its the only time in the history of the automobile that the Model A has achieved this feat. There are a few anecdotes here again by "Yours Truly."

The book reveals many interesting, unknown and untold facts about automobiles and its Indian connection. Auto-buffs will find a real pleasure reading it as much as anyone who loves to delve more into this arena.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

This book was released on 05/04/2021 and just scrolling through this thread found it apt to write about it, though a bit late in the day. A must on the book shelves of automobile bookworms, who will all enjoy reading it.

I also read this book. Good rundown on history, but I found his writing style to be terribly boring. Also, his stories on a lot of important events lacked depth and felt rushed through.

[Amey Kulkarni]

There’s a Book Fair happening in Studio City, Dubai.

Happened to visit there yesterday and got these collectibles



Cheers
Amey