Muscle: America's Legendary Performance Cars - Softcover

Leffingwell, Randy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 076033305X ISBN 13: 9780760333051

Publisher: Motorbooks, 2008

Synopsis

Now available in paperback, it is the only definitive history of muscle cars from the emergence of the V-8 engine, through baby boomers, to today's million-dollar collectibles. Unlike anything seen before, these were brutal, exciting machines, built for speed and power, and quickly became defined as vehicles for the rock-and-roll, sex-and-drugs generation. A chronicle of this period in history through it's signature automobiles, this brings to life the history of American Muscle Cars from Hot Rodding after WWII right up to the new breed of Muscle cars coming out of Detroit today. With David Newhart's exquisite photography and text that pulls no punches, this is the definitive resource and history for Muscle cars.

About this title

About the Author

Randy Leffingwell, MBI’s best-selling author, brings a unique perspective to the subject of muscle cars. In addition to his impeccable research skills, Leffingwell lived through the tumultuous classic muscle car era. Leffingwell is the author of such best-selling titles as Porsche 911: Perfection by Design, Farmall: Eight Decades of Innovation, John Deere: A History of the Tractor, Corvette Fifty Years, and Mustang Forty Years.

Darwin Holmstrom has written or co-written many books on motorcycling, including the best-selling Billy Lane Chop Fiction: It’s Not a Motorcycle, Baby, It’s a Chopper and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Motorcycles. This is his first opportunity to write about the transportation subject he first fell in love with: muscle cars. Darwin lives in Crystal, Minnesota.

David Newhardt is one of the best automobile photographers working today, with an artistic eye that views life in accord with a muscle car’s sinuous lines and exaggerated curves. He is the author of such best-selling books as Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, and has provided photography for MBI’s best-selling titles Corvette Fifty Years, Mustang Forty Years, Mopar Muscle, and Shelby Mustang: Racer for the Street. David lives in Pasadena, California.

From the Back Cover

Don't know anything about muscle cars? You can fix that. Think you know everything? There's something you don't and it's here.

Edmonds.com, May 2007

In the 1960s, three incendiary ingredients developing V-8 engine technology, a culture consumed by the need for speed, and 75 million baby boomers entering the auto market exploded in the form of the factory muscle car. These brutish machines were unlike any the world had seen or will likely see again Muscle cars were the four-wheeled embodiment of the sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll generation.

Muscle: America s Legendary Performance Cars chronicles this tumultuous period of American history through the primary tool Americans use to define themselves: the automobile. From the street-racing hot rod culture that emerged following World War II through the new breed of muscle cars emerging from Detroit today, this book brings to life the history of American muscle. Featuring exquisite photography of classic muscle cars by top photographer David Newhardt and a text that pulls no punches, Muscle: America s Legendary Performance Cars is the definitive muscle car history.

A boldly illustrated, entertaining introduction to, or reminder of, the muscle car era.

Road & Track, January 2007

If any single book can be called the essential volume on the entire muscle car era, it has to be Muscle. A must-read for anyone with a serious interest in muscle car history as it fully captures the essence and significance of this era.

Musclecar Enthusiast, December 2006

Muscle not only documents the development of the ever-famous American automobile trend, but its whopping 382 full-color pages are packed with eye-catching and gorgeous photography.

Mopar Muscle, October 2006

A must-read because it not only deals with the individual cars, but delves into the bigger picture: the social forces and automobile industry climate that gave rise to muscle cars.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 2006

Edition details

• Publisher: Motorbooks
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 076033305X
• ISBN 13: 9780760333051
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384