Motor City
Dream Garages
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YOU'RE PUTTING TOGETHER
A LIBRARY OF CAR BOOKS, it's difficult to choose from the amazing selection
that is now available to buy —
personally,
I want them all.
Motor City Dream Garages: Amazing Collections from America's Greatest Car
City, by Rex Roy, documents twenty of Detroit's finest car collections.
One chapter is dedicated to each, starting with "The First Dream Garage" —
Henry Ford's hacienda-style Power House purpose-built for his historic collection
of automobiles. Included is the Ford grandchildren's scaled-down gasoline-powered
cars made by the Custer Speciality Company.
Where, but in America's Motor City, would you expect to find the most collector
garages, or the greatest stash of automotive metal? Detroit is ground zero for
motor madness, hosting some of America's most spec-tacular garages — from
barns to converted churches. Parking places that most of us can only dream of.
Motor City Dream Garages takes the reader on a guided tour of Motown's
most interesting garage palaces — including those of noted collectors and
industry insiders like Bob Lutz and Jack Roush (Roush Fenway Racing) and GM's
Heritage Center. Many interesting cars feature, such as Bill Couch's 1934 Ford
— one of the most-recognized hot rods in the world.
Superbly selected colour photographs and period black-and-white images illustrate
this wonderful book that gets inside the greatest garages of America's Motor
City — garages like the one Don Soenen uses for his collection of cars
and motorcycles that includes a Superperformance Cobra (classified as a kit
car), a Plymouth Prowler and a 2007 Shelby GT500 Mustang.
Don has created an historic time capsule, complete with a 1950's-style soda
bar and a jukebox full of 45's — this is really awesome! On the wall is
a magnificent, three-dimensional mural that depicts an old mobilgas service
station and there is a painting of Don's boyhood home.
James Cousens has one of the most complete collections of electric vehicles
in the world. Housed in a building — called Cedar Crossing — that
you'd be proud to call a home, his collection is surrounded by a cornucopia
of motoring memorabilia. Most notable is his black 1912 Baker Electric Special
Extension Coupe that has the finish of a grand piano.
You may have caught a glimpse of one of these cars on American roads. You may
not know what the car was or where it came from.
The chances are that if it was around Detroit, that car is here. Whatever —
this book is a testament to those who have preserved
a part of history not only for others to admire but also for their own enjoyment.
And after all, that is what cars are for.
Take an eye-opening inside look at the loving care that the Motor City lavishes
on its own, preserving our motoring dreams for today's generation as well as
tomorrow's. If you like unusual garages and the beautiful machines they house,
this book is definitely for you!
• Motor City Dream Garages: Amazing Collections
from America's Greatest Car City by Rex Roy, with a Foreword by Don Sherman,
is published by Motorbooks and is out now in hardback, available from all good
bookshops at an RRP of £25.00. ISBN: 978-0-7603-2989-4. Motorbooks is an imprint
of MBI Publishing Company. Its titles are available from all good bookstores,
wholesalers or to order direct from Grantham Book Services on Tel: 01476 541080.
Rex Roy is a frequent contributing editor to Inside Line, the enthusiast
magazine of the on-line automotive-information giant, Edmunds.com. His editorial
work also includes photography, with work published in Car and Driver,
AutoWeek and other motoring publications.
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