“501 Must-Drive Cars”, by Fid Backhouse, Kieran Fogarty and Sal Oliver

 

544 pages, Bounty Books, ISBN-13: 978-0753726006

I am very much an amateur car guy; that is, I like cars – classic cars, muscle cars, custom cars, antique cars – but really know only a little about them. This is one of the reasons that I volunteered at something called Stahl’s Automotive Collection in Chesterfield, Michigan: to cure myself of my ignorance. It is also why I buy books like this, 501 Must-Drive Cars by Fid (Fid?) Backhouse, Kieran Fogarty and Sal Oliver. Evidently, there’s a whole mess of these “501” books, none of which I have; I got this one at my local 2^nd & Charles for – get this – $2.00. I mean, just how in the hell can I go wrong? So anyway, this book is what it says it is: a photographic record of 501 of some of the most interesting, breathtaking, stylish cars that have ever graced the roads. Each entry features color photographs of the car in question, along with such necessary information that a proper autofanatic ought to know, such as year and make, country of manufacture, engine details, performance data and the like. A great resource for the experience car nut or, in my case especially, the car nut-in-training, 501 Must-Drive Cars has something for everyone and must be added the every auto enthusiast’s library.