If you managed to not get sick this far into 2019, pat yourself on the back. BangShift Mid-West got absolutely leveled by something that didn’t test positive for the flu, but you will have a hard time proving isn’t the flu. You wanna know how bad it was? I had to beg off a couple of days because I was that bad. We’re talking taking medicine perfectly on time, not leaving the bed for anything or anyone, sleeping until I feel better levels of “this sucks”. I rested until I couldn’t sleep anymore, and then…I didn’t do much of anything. I’m not one to watch a lot of television (in fact, outside of our dinnertime, I don’t watch TV anymore). What I could’ve done is read some, but all of the books in the house are either informational (like some of the countries that Haley has visited), cookbooks, or are the comics that I’ve had forever. Even if I went out to the second stash of books in the garage, that brings me to books I’ve already read or…ugh…my yearbooks. No, thank you. Those are kept hidden for a reason.
What I don’t have, to be honest, are a lot of gearhead books. The closest thing I have is a first-print copy of Stephen King’s Christine that I swiped from somewhere back in high school, and I’m pretty sure that doesn’t quite count for what I’m going for. So, this is where I’m hitting you up, readers. What is the best bit of gearhead reading you’ve ever done? I’m not so much about picture books, though I’m fine if there are pictures that go along with it. I’m looking for stories, history, information, shit that I haven’t read up on before. I’m starting my newfound collection with one that is a classic: “Blue Highways” by William Least Heat-Moon. Published in 1982, Heat-Moon’s story is based upon a road rip that he took in 1978 after he lost his job and his marriage ended. He shoved what he had into a van and drove on the roads that the Interstates had made redundant and obsolete.
I’m waiting for my copy to arrive, but given the way I read, I’ll burn through the book in a few days so long as I can find the time to read it. Got any other good tomes for me to check out?
“Rebuilding The Indian” by Fred Haefele. Not just rebuilding a basketcase, but finding himself. Or the “in the barn” series by Tom Cotter (the Haggerty guy).
The art of driving in the rain.
I’m not into novels. I’d rather read how to books. Sure reading about history is cool and all, problem is to many are sticking to that old school ways. and remembering the good old days instead of promoting the here and now.
I’m reading a basic welding book at the moment..
Smokey Yunick’s autobiography
Without a doubt.SPEED DUEL.It’s about the land speed racing in the 1960’s. Mostly interviews and conversations,real easy reading. It gets into Craig Breedlove and Art Arfons braking each others records. Loaded with small stories. You can leave this one in the bathroom. Real good for reading 15 mins at a time. I don’t read books normally. However I really enjoyed this one. Very interesting.
Yes! You beat me to it–I also really enjoyed “Speed Duel,” especially the Arfons-Breedlove back-and-forth record-breaking runs. Very interesting book…
Offerings To The God Of Speed
Jupiter’s Travels
Never Leave Well Enough Alone, by Raymond Loewy
EJ Potter’s autobiography
Self Propelled Vehicles (1907)
Truck, by John Jerome
Hot Rod Empire by Matt Stone tells the story of the beginnings of Hot Rod magazine and the Peterson Publishing Co. empire. Pretty good read, although I was somewhat disappointed that there weren’t more anecdotes about staff shenanigans in the 60-70s.
They Call Me Mr. 500 by Andy Granatelli is a great read and has some of THE funniest anecdotes I’ve ever read. All Corvettes Are Read is a fascinating look inside GM in the 90’s. And anything by Brock Yates.
Stroker Ace – One of the funniest books of all time. It seems like I\’ve known about half of the characters in the book.
Blood Sweat & Gears.
-Engineers from Detroit take one of their wife\’s cars and go Can-Am racing, and are reasonably successful.
The Unfair Advantage.
– Mark Donohue gives first a hand look at his racing career.
Unless you somehow care about determining how good a roadside diner is by the number of calendars it has on the wall, trust me when I tell you that Blue Highways is the most boring book ever written. I regrettably wrote part of a senior paper on it at college. Nothing really happens in it and the character is an uninteresting sad sack. Don’t wast your time.