|
Corvette C6
by Phil Berg
Retail price: $35.00, 160 pages
 With
more photos than text occupying the pages, this is not on par with All
Corvettes are Red. There are occasional nuggets including the
impact "9/11" had on the automobile industry, budgets and eventually the
launch of the C6...supposed to have been ready for the 50th Anniversary.
Corvette
Fifty Years
by Randy Leffingwel
Retail price: $50.00, 383 pages
 Let's
see, where do you begin? How about "Wow!" Fantastic
photographs in a coffee table formatted book which can double for a
dumbbell in your exercise routine, i.e., thick and heavy. The
photos are so impressive that they overpower the historical information.
You're easily drawn into just viewing the photographs. Do so at
your own risk...you miss the other strength of the book...the narrative history of
the Corvette. Interesting factoids appear, e.g., Earl
Harley's son raced a Ferrari...and Harley wanted his son to race an
American sports car. Hmmmm...could have been one of many
reasons Harley created the Corvette. GM executives new in the
seventies that there wouldn't be a 1983 model year. Buy this one
and put it on top of the Impressionism art book on your coffee table!
The Beginning
by Noland Adams
Retail Price: $24.95, 253 pages
 If you are
interested in Corvette history and in particular the first generation, you must read Noland Adams' series,
Corvette American Legend. We picked up the first in his series,
The Beginning, and couldn't put it down. The book features
lots of old photos which you've probably never seen before...and great
little factoids about the 1953. The bad news about this book?
You're hooked and will need to buy the rest of the series.
Corvette from the Inside
by Dave McLellan
Retail Price: $39.95, 292 pages
 Dave McLellan has written
Corvette from the Inside, a book rich with
detail about the history of the Corvette before and after McLellan's
tenure as chief engineer. We picked up
a copy at the 50th Anniversary
kickoff in June, 2002 in Bowling Green. The book is worth reading
although there's an uneven treatment of the 5 generations. The
last chapter provides Dave's view of where Corvette should go in the
future...probably worth the price of admission itself. Drawings
abound...including some by McLellan...and sidebars with technical
explanations. A must-have for any Corvette-phile.
...and he even autographed our copy.
Zora Arkus-Duntov: The
Legend Behind Corvette
by Jerry Burton
Retail Price: $39.95, 417 pages
 Jerry Burton,
the founding editor and current editorial director for the Corvette
Quarterly, has written a biography, Zora Arkus-Duntov: The
Legend Behind Corvette. Although the prospect of reading
material on the early years of Arkus-Duntov that have nothing to do
directly with the Corvette seemed to be a reason NOT to purchase the
book, we took a chance anyway. Retailing for $39.95, we hesitated
for a while after returning from Bowling Green before picking up a copy.
(Burton was in Bowling Green signing copies.)
We weren't disappointed. The book is a superb biography of the man
and his interests...and make no mistake about it, Zora Arkus-Duntov is
the heart and soul of Corvette. Earl may have created the
Corvette, but ZAD is Corvette. Burton's readable biography
is well written, providing fascinating revelations about ZAD, his
relationship with Chevrolet and his vision for Corvette. If you
can afford only one $39.95 Corvette book this year, this is the book!
|
