Preston Tucker & Others – Tales Of Brilliant Automotive Innovators & Innovations

Author: Arvid Linde
Paperback: 160 pages
Publisher: Veloce (November 2014)
Price: £19.99 (RRP)
ISBN: 978-1-845840-17-4
Recommended? Yes

There aren’t too many books on the market that are like Arvid Linde’s excellent Preston Tucker & Others – Tales of brilliant automotive innovators & innovations. This is a reason in and of itself to recommend the purchase. Whilst many other automotive books out there will gush over the supercar of the moment, raving about hyperbolic performance and covering the most beautiful angle with a glossy picture or two, this book takes a different tack. Instead, the men and women behind the innovations are placed under the microscope for a greater understanding of the people and their ideas behind some of the world’s most significant (or infamous) cars.

The book features accounts of the people as they really were, such as Preston Tucker and his Torpedo through to John DeLorean and his legendary DMC-12. The text is written in a very easy to read and understand style. The stories are conveyed with warmth and enthusiasm for the subject matter and no punches are pulled when revealing the types of characters that the people involved were, both for better and for worse.

The photographs in the book are also revealing, showing off some images that you won’t have seen before. They really do accent the text and provide an anchor for some of the points being made. There are 165 pictures in total split between black and white and colour.

Preston Tucker & Others is split into three separate parts, the first of which covers specific people in industry, the second looks at times and countries and the final part covers specific great inventions in motoring history. Each is broken up into easy to read segments that can be digested without having to cover lots of pages at once.

We at Car Articles can thoroughly recommend Preston Tucker & Others – Tales of brilliant automotive innovators & innovations. It offers a rather unique insight into automotive history without being overly dense and difficult to read. As the book states on page 5 in the Introduction – “Let’s show some respect to the dreamers. Our world wouldn’t be quite so exciting without them.” We salute that sentiment, just make sure not to bore too many people at the pub with your new found car knowledge!

Veloce books can be ordered directly from their website or can be purchased from your local bookstore.