1 comments about How to Build a Bonneville Salt Flats Motorcycle (Custom Builder).

1. This is more a story of a group effort on how *not* to proceed, ie, "Learn from my mistakes" been-there-done-that 1st hand account. A very entertaining read, it helps to demonstrate that LSR [land speed record] racing is NOT for the light of pocket; the "budget" effort detailed in this story would have been impossible without the considerable sponsorship noted and emphasized (& rightly so) throughout.
   
   This story is about the wrenching leading up to the LSR event, & very short on the "rider's experience" as the author/builder chose to have a professional drag racer ride his machine during the actual record attempt.
   
   Like I said, this is more about "How I bungled things, watch & see what can go wrong" than some formulaic "this is what you need to do" and manifestly more enjoyable reading because of it!

No comments about How to Keep Your Tractor Running (Motorbooks Workshop).

3 comments about VW Bus Custom Handbook (Motorbooks Workshop).

1. You get a taste of the history of the bus along with some pretty good photos of the various models. The book also gets into buying and restoring a bus. With information on customizing. I would recommend the book to someone who is interested in buying a bus, especially if they intend to restore or customize it.



2. a book that is very clearly laid out, points you to the right direction with regards to finding out the history and nature of your bus, camper etc.
   Amazing photos that show you in close detail, things to look for in buying a bus or camper, how to look after the one you have - and points out how lucky you are to own one in today's market.
   cheers!



3. This book doesn't necessarily "read" like a book, or describe "how-to" customize your bus. Instead it has awesome pictures and history of the VW bus and how different people have customized it over the years. Great stuff, makes a perfect gift for those VW Bus cultists like myself.

No comments about Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Stratus & Avenger 1995 thru 2005 (Automotive Repair Manual).

4 comments about BMW 2002: A Comprehensive Guide to the Classic Sporting Saloon (BMW).

1. The book was authoritive in its portrayal of the 2002's history and gave very good advice in what to look for in purchacing one. In my opinion too much of the book was spent covering extremely rare 2002s and ones that were not imported to the US. I would have rather seen more detail on the more common US models and more detail pictures of what the original (US) equipment was like. Some of the pictures and English terminology were not very clear to me. If you're interested in buying a 2002 it is a good book to have, but you may want to supplement it with others.



2. I'm looking to buy a 2002 and found some help in reading this book. Nevertheless, there is a lot of detail here that may be of some interest to enthusiasts, but was a little more than a novice like myself needs to know. Utlimately, the book is what it promises to be, "a comprehensive guide".



3. Hi all,

   I would like to give a word of advise for this book, as it is a great book! Never understood the differences quite well between the different 02`s. After reading only the first chapter everything was clear to me! I self working on a restoration and I do think that this books contributes in a very good way to a make a full and original 02 again!

   Thanks,
   Pascal.




4. I just finished this book and I am very pleased with it. I purchased this book from Amazon hoping to learn the history, year by year details, availibility, and possible modifications of the BMW 2002. My expectations were exceeded. The well divided chapters do a good job of explaining the details in plain English with a good number of pictures and illustrations. Just remember that "wings" actually means fender or quarter panel in the author's dialect. There is a good section on how to properly approach a restoration project with plenty of pictures.
   This is a great book for a novice or BMW enthusiast. I plan to purchase 2002 and this book gave the information I needed to make an educated decision.

No comments about How to Restore Volkswagen Bus (Enthusiast's Restoration Manuals).

5 comments about Car Buyer's and Leaser's Negotiating Bible, Third Edition (Car Buyer's & Leaser's Negotiating Bible).

1. The "fax attack" method for purchasing a new car is genius. I not only got my 2007 Honda Civic for the least expensive price out of the 18 dealerships I faxed in Illinois (darn near the whole state, excluding some northern Chicagoland dealers), but I was able to sleep at night. Not ONCE did I wonder, "could I have gotten this at a lower price?" because I knew for a FACT that the price I got was not only the lowest at that time for that model, but was also fair. Ever get burned by a dealership? (Don't lie, everyone has, even if it was just a waste of time.) Well, buy this book, study it well, and you won't get burned again.



2. This book provides good practical advice for buying or leasing a car. It is clear and easy to understand and takes all the mystery out of the process. I also learned about my own motivations for buying a new car and how car stores are ready to separate me from my money. The book, however, is a couple of years out of date. It's not critical but more up to date data and more info available on the internet should in my opinion be included. The techniques offered for saving money are sound.



3. James Bragg has made a successful career out of helping people through the intimidating process of buying cars. And his success is well-deserved. I just recently bought my first new car. I had put off the process for a long time, because:
   (1) I'm young and could be seen as an easy target by car salesmen
   (2) I was intimidated and had how idea how to even approach the car buying process.
   
   So I began to do my homework, researching car buying on the web. I found a lot of advice out there, much of it conflicting. One thing people never disagreed upon was the value of the Fighting Chance, the information service by James Bragg. When I finally decided that the time was right, I ordered the Fighting Chance and bought this book. Armed with the all of the knowledge and preparation I needed, I now knew exactly what I needed to do to launch a successful "fax attack" on dealerships surrounding me. I knew exactly how to field every response from car dealers. I knew how not to fall into their traps. I knew how to defend myself and control the situation. I was doing everything on my terms and not letting the salesmen know too much or dictate any of the terms. I got a great price on a car (way below invoice price). And when I went to the dealership to sign all of the papers, I knew exactly what to do and what to look out for. I drove away feeling happy, satisfied, and NEVER taken advantage of.
   
   This book will arm you with all of the knowledge you need to buy a new car. You'll know exactly what to say in every situation. And you'll know how to not fall into playing a car salesman's games. Whether you've done it before or not, you will be amazed by how effective the techniques taught in this book are. James Bragg's writing is entertaining; you'll breeze through and thoroughly enjoy this book. As one reviewer said, this book does somewhat play out like a long infomercial for the Fighting Chance service. But it fleshes out a lot of areas that Fighting Chance doesn't. And for someone like me who has never done this before, it helped me walk into the dealership with full confidence that I would get what I want.. with no surprises. It is a vital companion piece to the Fighting Chance package.
   
   If you're in the market to buy a new car, you need this book. If you think you can get a great deal by walking into a dealership (or a few) and negotiating well, you are greatly mistaken. Buying a car is like a high stakes game of poker. And the dealership is holding most of the cards most of the time. This book will give you a chance to level the playing field. And it will enable you to have the upper hand in getting the best price for the car you want.



4. If you are reading this review then your must be considering buying a new car. Don't even think about walking into a dealership and talking to the salespeople. Except of course to test drive and see which one you really want. After that run out of the showroom. I highly recommend using Mr. Bragg's strategy for buying a car. It is so easy and stress free and you will have the dealers eating out of the palm of your hand. I also highly recommend visiting his web site fightingchance.com and purchasing his information package. Actually if you get the package you may not even need the book. But the book is a good read in any event. I was looking for a compact car which typically doesn't have a lot of wiggle room for dealers because they generally don't come with expensive extras like leather seats, real wood trim etc.... I was able to get mine for $1150 under dealer invoice and maybe could have even gone a little lower but I had to stop the dealers from chasing me at some point. It was crazy. I finally just said enough. It works that well. Before finding Mr.Bragg's information I probably would have been happy to get a couple hundred of the MSRP. I can laugh about that now. One word of caution would be if you use this method and have a trade-in the dealers might try to really stick it to you on your trade. They won't be making much if any money on the sale of the car to you so they will most likely try to make it by low balling you on your trade-in. That was my experience until I told them I'd take it some where else and sell it. Bottom line is if you think you can walk into a showroom and negotiate the best deal, you're CRAZY. Buy the book or buy the info packet. And pocket the rest of your hard earned money.



5. After reading this book and doing what it said, I saved over $4,000 on my new Camry. If you're looking for a new (or even used) car, this book will teach you what discounts the dealers receive, what the kickbacks are, what you should expect to pay for your new car and how to get the best deal possible. The book will teach you how to pit the dealers against each other and give you the upper hand when it comes to negotiating. No more sitting in a dealership for hours while they play their waiting games, no more high-pressure sales, no more haggling. The "fax attack" portion of the book tells you where to get the information about your car, how to present your deal, and who to fax your information to. It's that simple. With just a little research on your part, you can make a really great deal. Simply put, do the research, create your fax, send to the dealers in your area (the more the better), wait for the phone to start ringing with great offers on the car that you want. Take the lowest offer and call the dealers who will, in turn, try to beat the offer. Do this until all of them are done bidding. Go pick up your car.

4 comments about Mitsubishi: Eclipse 1990-98 (Chilton's Total Car Care Repair Manual).

1. This is a very big book that covers the Eclipse series. The illustrations are in a mechanical diagram layout and are pretty easy to follow. The wiring diagrams are a must for anyone that wants to play with the car electrical system (for example: Car Stereo additions, fog lights etc). It covers just about every system in the car. It's also nice to find out how to remove panels or parts so you don't have to tinker around trying to find out how they come apart. It also includes a complete preventative maintanance section and tune up section, which will help you keep you car in top shape so you won't run into problems down the road. I cannot say much about all the step-by-step instructions, as some of them are rather vague, while others go into great detail. I have really used this book a lot and it is one of the best things I have got for my car! I would recommend this book to someone in the automotive hobby or someone with technical background. If you don't want to get your fingers dirty, then this book won't be of much help. But then again, I would NOT recommend this book to automotive professionals. There is no replacement for a factory service manual, which the dealers have. For under 20 bucks, this book is a must for any die hard Eclipse owner!



2. This book is simple if you don't know a socket wrench from a regular wrench, but when you need details to make the repair you just did not need a professional mechanic later, chilton's lacks. usefullness.



3. Work fine, Lacks part numbers for replacement pieces and such, little odd to follow at places unless you really know your car.



4. Much better than the Hayes repair manual that doesn't even show the 1995 trough 1998 models on the cover. Chilton has always been my favorite repair manual. It's a drag that they seem to be so hard to find these days at the local auto parts store. This manual covers everything from normal maintenance to engine overhaul and all that falls in between. A must-have for the do-it-yourself people at any level.

5 comments about The End of Detroit: How the Big Three Lost Their Grip on the American Car Market.

1. This book provides a helpful overview of the major problems and challenges that the American auto-makers are currently encountering. Its breadth is impressive, covering everything from automotive history to market analysis to profiles of and leadership anecdotes from Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, BMW, and others in addition to the Big Three.
   
   But at only 310 pages (hardcover), what it has in breadth it lacks in depth. Books like Turnaround (about Ghosn's revival of Nissan) and Car (about the design of the Ford Taurus), both cited by Maynard as sources, provide more direct insight on automotive industry leadership. And Halberstam's The Reckoning, although it's twenty years old, makes a more compelling and analytical argument as to why Detroit should worry about the imports.
   
   Maynard's allegations are nothing new: Detroit has huge pension and health care burdens; it overestimates its understanding of the American market; it relies too much on emotion and nostalgia, not enough on engineering, research, and quality; its hands are tied by UAW contracts; it relies on huge discounts to motivate buyers; it's suffering brain drain to the import companies; it has too much corporate inertia. And while there is some background information to support each claim, much of it is anecdotal and cherry-picked. For example, while much is made of Nissan's ability to reinvent itself, Chrysler's multiple successful revivals are used only as an example of its inability to be consistent. And although the American companies have improved their vehicle quality dramatically in the last decade, Maynard focuses on the negative and profiles on a handful of individual consumers who happened to buy American lemons.
   
   While I didn't find it especially insightful or interesting, I think it's still a worthwhile read for those who want to build automotive industry knowledge.



2. I was disappointed when I first started reading Ms. Maynard's book. I had expected to delve into the details of the manufacturing process and appreciate Japan's robotic genius. If you are interested in the technology then look elsewhere.
   
   But Maynard is a pretty good storyteller. She tells stories about the founders of Toyota and Honda. She chronicles their cars, the Camry and Accord, and the engineers behind their success. If I have any complaint about her book, it's that she writes more about the import companies and their leadership then she writes of Detroit, her home town.
   
   Perhaps she is hoping that the CEO's of GM, Ford and (Daimler)Chrysler will read her book and take a lesson or two from their competition:
   1. Listen and learn from your customers. Had Ford paid more attention, Taurus might still be the number one selling sedan.
   2. Respect your workforce. Toyota and Honda are demanding of their workers, in Japan and in America. But they also value and actively seek their suggestions for improving the production process. (Whether the United Auto Workers hinders this communication in Detroit is left unclear.)
   3. Stay humble and hungry.
   
   In the end I'm impressed with the case Ms. Maynard makes for leaderhip. Poor decision making by the Big Three Execs explain much of the reason that Detroit matters less in the automotive world than it used to.



3. Here we are, March 2006 and reading this book for the second time will give one chills! Wagoner had a road map predicting the demise of GM and yet stayed the course. This book combined with The Toyota Way makes the unfortunate End of Detroit painfully clear and often sheds more light on cultural paradigm than business sense!



4. Maynard does a splendid job analyzing Detroits's current problems but ignores some important history. The industry as a whole was badly damaged by the great depression and later even more so by the FDR, The NRA, and the new dealers. Once upon a time American cars were like their Japanese and European counterparts in the sense they were precision machines loaded with engineering inovations, Cadillac offered 3 engines in 1931. V-8, V-12, V-16. By 1941 Cadillacs were nothing more than Chevrolets in basic design but grown longer, wider,and fatter. The American auto industry in the 1920's & 30's was like Europe's auto industry today building all different kinds of cars in all different price ranges. There were cars like the Doble and Stanley that were steam powered, in 1935 there were about 20 different car makers other than the big 3. The Depression coupled with sky high New Deal taxes destroyed the fine car makers like The Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company of Buffalo NY, Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg leaving the way for the Europeans to grab this important market starting in the 1950's after the economy began to recover from the war. Low cost car makers like Studebaker were hated by the UAW because they could not afford to pay the same wages Ford, or GM could. Ther biggest part of this whole tragedy is the art of making, desiging, well crafted cars died with the Pre-WWII generation From 1946 - 1973 American cars were been big, heavy, rolling pieces of costume jewelry. When oil prices after 1973 made building the cars in this manner no longer possible, Detroit has struggled since as to what to do. No longer able to fool people with cheaply made cars disguised to look well made under tons of steel, they have had to re-invent the way they build cars. To Detroit's credit they have made some progress over the years. The problem they faced in the 80's was they had not had to build anything remotely resembling a sophisticated engine in over 50 years. Up to the early 80's the 1928-37 Indiana made Duesenberg Model J still held the title of most technologicly advanced American car, when Detroits new front wheel drive engines could not match Toyota fuel economy they had to remove weight off the cars to make them lighter, since most consumers know nothing of engineering and only judge cars by what they see and feel, American cars were dismissed as being Tin Cans on four wheels, to quote my mother. In recent years Detroit has made some progress. Cadillac seems on the mend, the XLR is a wonderful car but like the Allante before it, way over priced. The new Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky are really nice but GM blundered big time dropping Oldsmobile.Ford has not been doing so well, the new Mustang is a 1967 Mustang front end and 1970 Mustang rear-end redone in plastic. YUK ! Mercury is almost dead. The new Lincolns are hideous. Chrysler has benefited from it's association with Damiler Benz. The Chrylsler 300 is the nicest sedan in it's price range. Time will tell if things turn around. The U.S. Auto industry has been written off before and has come back.



5. The End of Detroit looks like a great book with a lot of great information. As a source for a research paper, however, its layout isn't helpful. Cryptic chapter titles and a lack of sections or section headings mean that one must, in essence, read the entire book to obtain valuable contextual information.
   
   Bottom line - it's written more like a novel than a documentary. I don't have the time to appreciate that.

2 comments about Standard Catalog of American Muscle Cars 1960-1972 (Gunner's Guide).

1. I find myself being "out classed" by my friends and acquaintances that know eveything there is to know about 'muscle cars'. Although my personal interest lies in the antique automobile hobby
   (that means automobiles from before WWII)
   no matter where I go (whether it is a car show, a car auction or a car museum) the current craze and fascination in with the big engine cars of the late 60's and 70's. Well this is the Bible when it comes to a treasure trove of important detailed and comprehensively presented information. You might find it handy and useful to have this authoritative book at you finger tips when the argument comes up as to what size engine was in a thus and such or how many hardtops were manufactured in a certain year. Moreover, if you have a bucket full of cash and you find yourself seated at one of them fancy televised auto auctions bidding on a million dollar muscle car, this would be a fine book to research as to the details and specifics of the make and model in question. It has great color photographs and I have yet to be disappointed in failing to find an American made muscle car presented in its pages. This book is a sure fire way to "win a bet" if you've got the Bible tucked under your car seat while the work bench "experts" argue the finer points of muscle car power, style and history. You'll need to store it under the car seat...I just won't fit in the glove compartment. My only complaint...(what would a book criticism be without at least one complaint...) the editor and the publisher mite hav benifited from a secund or thud proff reed befour they wint to printt!



2. This is a great overall, but at the same time very detailed, guide to the Muscle Car era. Never saw before an all-in-one book where you can browse each major model and year. Great book for the colletion of car fanatics and amateurs.