Gearhead at Large
A Backroad Tour of Automotive History and the Old Car Hobby
$29.95
In stock
About the Book
A popular feature in Antique Automobile magazine, Steven Rossi’s columns open up the world of old cars, transporting readers to earlier times from the age of horseless carriages through the evolution of cars and car culture. This compilation from a decade’s writings draws on a lifetime of knowledge and experience amassed in the antique auto hobby, the enthusiast community and the automotive industry to explore topics large and small.
The selected essays, edited and with photographs provided by award-winning Antique Automobile editor West Peterson, include informative treatments of historical subjects and technical matters, whimsical observations, important brand and model analyses, profiles of compelling personalities and an abundance of fascinating excursions down side roads of the automotive map. For the curious, think of this collection as a crash course in automotive history. For those already immersed in the old car universe, it offers fresh insights and an authoritative perspective on topics of lasting interest.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
Steven Rossi with West Peterson
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 355
Bibliographic Info: 187 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2021
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8117-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3981-9
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Historically Speaking 3
Bless the Bicycle 3
The Making of the Motor City 6
The Ascent of an Industry 11
Detroit in Decline 15
Bankruptcy and Beyond 21
Desperate Times, Desperate Measures 25
How the West Won: The Gestation of a Global Automotive Industry 34
Challenging Conventional Wisdom 47
The Return of the Retractable 58
The Unrecognized Origin of the Sport Utility 65
Flights of Fancy 72
Dialing-In a Cast Iron Carburetor 72
The Long-Lost Language of Antique Automobile Lore 75
The Best Way to Embrace the Future … Is to Appreciate the Past 80
Pipedreams and Other Flights of Fancy 85
For All Seasons and Reasons 92
Shipping Shenanigans 105
On The Marque 112
The Halo Around the Hyphen 112
Initial Impression 123
Good Things Come in Threes 130
Happy 100th 137
The 10 Most Significant Automobiles That Influenced the American Automotive Industry 149
What the Heck Is a Hotchkiss? 156
Life’s a Learning Experience 162
Yeah, but … It’s Only a Model T 171
A Pullman for the People 179
Been Thinkin’ About Lincoln 187
People and Personalities 198
My 10 Favorite Car Quotes 198
Enzo Ferrari in Emotion and Feeling 206
From Office Machines to Automobiles, Part I 212
From Office Machines to Automobiles, Part II 219
Technicalities 229
The Roll of the Radio 229
Requiem for the Running Board 236
A New Beginning 244
Three-Peat 251
Talking About Torque 257
Power Density: Lessons Learned from Automotive History 264
Third Time’s the Charm! 270
Persistence Pays Off: The V-6 Saga 279
Here’s to the Hobby 289
The Antique Automobile Hobby: The 10 Best Things That Ever Happened 289
Our Greatest Asset 296
Old Habits Die Hard 298
An Alternative for the Armchair Enthusiast 303
At the Crossroads: In Between the Car Show and the Concours 305
On the Road Again 310
Survival of the Fittest 310
The Automotive Influence on America’s Garden of Eden 316
Shake, Rattle and Roll 328
From Here to Gone: Architecture’s Influence on the Automobile 332
Cars on the Cusp 342
Index 347
Book Reviews & Awards
“If this is something you haven’t learned or heard before, you’ll greatly enjoy columnist Rossi’s prose as he imparts knowledge to you… All in all, cover to cover, Gearhead at Large offers enjoyable auto-oriented reading entertainment.”—Speed Readers
