Long Time Coming
It’s been ten years since I found myself in the Skillman Branch of the Detroit Public Library, a venerable treasure trove of automobilia and automotive history. I was there to research a question that had been bothering me for some time:
“just what IS a speedster?”
I was an avid car buff and belonged to several car clubs, as I could never make up my mind as to what one make of car or era I identified with the most. Like many a car hobbyist, I had owned more than several, and all being of different makes. But I was always attracted to the sport versions of cars, and that is what drew me into the conversations with my buds as they discussed the topic of speedsters.
An old speedster cresting a hill at a hillclimb. Note the twist in the frame! image courtesy AACA Library
Each grouping—Fordists, Auburnites, GMmers, Marmonistas, Porschephiles—you name the group, and they all had their notion of what a speedster was. And it usually centered around their company’s versions.
A pair of 1935 Auburn 851 Supercharged Speedsters. image courtesy Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum
Which got me to thinking about the larger picture, about the world collection of speedsters, and what pegged this type of sport vehicle. What defined it? When was the first speedster made, and by whom?
Which brought me to the Skillman, as I was searching for the answers to those questions. And what it provided me was the realization that the topic had been, for the most part, ignored by scholars as they sought to define the motorcar and place it on the continuum of technological and cultural histories. There was no over-arching document that chronicled this type of car. Something had to be done about that!
What Needed To Be Done
Long story short, as told in prior email posts about my book journey, I researched the topic of speedsters and speedsterism. I selected 12 companies that would illustrate the progression of speedster design and purpose over their prominent years of the twentieth century’s classic era. I then wrote about them: the people who owned or drove them, the cars and companies in nested in their socio-cultural era for context, and the economic tides that ebbed and flowed through their histories.
The book was edited, designed, published, and is now for sale on this website. And I have been enjoying modest but steady sales as word gets out about the book. I encourage you to take a look at the book’s sale page for details on the book itself.
Although some of the blog content derives from the book, the book itself goes into more depth on the topics it covers. The blog has a broader sweep of the speedster world and covers more auto companies, as well as other topics related to speedsterism.
Think of it this way: the blog goes wide; the book goes deep.
Classic Speedsters book Table of Contents, chapters 1-6
The book’s Table of Contents, chapters 7-12.
Hagerty Does a Book Review!
Recently I was interviewed by a senior writer at Hagerty Media, Jeff Peek, who wrote a very complimentary assessment of the book, Classic Speedsters. It appeared in their daily online publication, the Daily Driver, on December 15. The link to that article is
https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/the-definitive-book-on-classic-speedsters
I encourage you to read it, and if you haven’t yet, consider buying a copy of the book for yourself. You will not be disappointed!
Each chapter begins with an image of a speedster from that chapter.
The book’s sales page is a tab on the menu bar at the top of the website page; click on it to go visit and read more information about the book. Please share this information with your friends and those you know who would be interested in such a book. Hint: it would make a great holiday gift, and my local P.O. person told me that December 17 mailings are likely to make it home before December 25!
Special Note to Non-U.S. Customers
Postal rates are hideous for mailing one copy of the book internationally, even when I use a discount mailing service such as PirateShip.com. However, what some of my non-U.S. customers have found is that by combining orders with like-minded friends and shipping all in one box, the postal cost-per-person drops significantly. My books come in robust printer’s cartons of six, but I can build a box for two, three, whatever. Email me at SteeringWheelPress@gmail.com if you would like to get a shipping quote that will save you money. Please include your physical address and how many you would like to order.
I interrupted the blog calendar to share this news about Hagerty because it is so timely; I hope that you enjoyed reading it!
Like I mentioned in my previous post, I have start reading other author’s work again. I’ve decided to share with you other car books that I have found worth reading. Next post we will review a recently published text on automobile advertising, a book that I think many of you would be interested in purchasing when they become available again in January 2022. Lucky for me, I bought a copy the day before the first edition ran out!