For over 50 years, car manufacturers have been using fantasy cars to gauge the American public's acceptance of possible automotive innovations. Now, in this dazzling, color-filled gallery, over 100 experimental show cars that never made it to the assembly line parade past once again.

Formula One is widely seen as the pinnacle of motor racing. It's a valuable business, a powerful, glamorous global brand inextricably intertwined with worldwide television, sponsorship, merchandising, advertising, publishing, video, and movies. Take a no-holds-barred look at the public and private face of Formula One and see how it's changed over 50 years. Hear the inside story of the relationships between the team bosses and their drivers and read the tales of the great races and championship battles. Go behind the scenes to find out about the power struggles over control. Start your engines! The checkered flag is down--the race is on! And, all the excitement is here. 256 pages (125 in color), 55 b/w illus., 7 3/4 x 9 5/8.

The best American dream-mobiles came from Detroit, "Motor City," USA. As you pore through superb illustrations of the greatest autos that ever rolled off the production line, from the Model-T to today's icons, you'll also get an overview of the industry's history, birth, growth, and present-day position. A chapter on each decade, starting at day one and projecting into a fantastic future, shows the changing design and magnificence of these classic autos. "Portrays the full breadth of the auto industry.""--Publishers Weekly."

* It was 'the most modern city in the world, the city of tomorrow'. But the Fifties witnessed one of the greatest economic slides of the last century, as Detroit, formerly a beacon of the capitalist dream, degenerated into the urban wilderness it is today, where trees grow from the rooftops of derelict buildings and wild pheasants roam the long-empty parking lots. * By the end of the nineteenth century Detroit was thriving. 1913 saw the arrival of Henry Ford and the Model T plant, mass-producing cars and transforming the area into the Silicon Valley of its day. By the mid-1950s General Motors had become the single biggest employer on earth, and Detroit the fourth largest city in America. * But by the time Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1960 - creating Detroit's other great assembly line - the cracks were already beginning to show- big industry was looking elsewhere for cheaper sites, cheaper labour and better tax breaks; urban planning was in meltdown; corruption was rife; racial tensions were running high. * The 1967 riots - at the time the worst in US history - left 43 dead, more than 7,000 arrested and 3,000 buildings destroyed. Detroit, a former beacon of the capitalist dream, had degenerated into an urban wilderness where unemployment ran at 50%. With more guns in the city than people, the murder rate was the highest in America - three times that of New York. * Mark Binelli returned to live in his native Detroit after a break of many years. He tells the story of the boom and the bust - and of the new society to be found emerging from the debris- Detroit with its urban farms and vibrant arts scene - Detroit as a laboratory for the post-industrial, post-recession world. Here's what an iconic rust-belt city now looks like and how it might transform and regenerate itself in the twenty-first century.

Detroit: Motor City... and the poster child for urban blight and dysfunction. This presented challenges and opportunities for Cotter, as he trolled the historic city looking for lost automobile gems. Here he tells the story of these "barn finds" and shares anecdotes of the cars and his journey.

Prohibition's Proving Grounds examines the tumultuous dry years in this trans-border region through its thriving motorcar culture. In the 1910s local automobile factories churned out affordable vehicles that put many Toledo-Detroit-Windsor corridor residents on wheels for the first time, just as a wave of prohibitionist sentiment swept the area. State, provincial, and federal dry laws soon took effect in Ontario, Michigan, and Ohio, and native rumrunners fully utilized the area's robust automobile culture to exploit weaknesses in prohibition legislation and enforcement. Ultimately, the noble experiment failed on the TDW corridor. Its failure can be partly attributed to controversial policing practices that angered area motorists suspected of bootlegging. Local sheriffs, troopers, and dry agents could not stem the tide of motorized professional smugglers who increasingly perpetrated brutal crimes in the region's rural roadways and city streets.

"Vigorous, provocative... The Sack of Detroit is compelling, bold and stylishly written." —Barbara Spindel, The Wall Street Journal A provocative, revelatory history of the epic rise—and unnecessary fall—of the U.S. automotive industry, uncovering the vivid story of innovation, politics, and business that led to a sudden, seismic shift in American priorities that is still felt today, from the acclaimed author of Hoover In the 1950s, America enjoyed massive growth and affluence, and no companies contributed more to its success than automakers. They were the biggest and best businesses in the world, their leadership revered, their methods imitated, and their brands synonymous with the nation's aspirations. But by the end of the 1960s, Detroit's profits had evaporated and its famed executives had become symbols of greed, arrogance, and incompetence. And no company suffered this reversal more than General Motors, which found itself the main target of a Senate hearing on auto safety that publicly humiliated its leadership and shattered its reputation. In The Sack of Detroit, Kenneth Whyte recounts the epic rise and unnecessary fall of America's most important industry. At the center of his absorbing narrative are the titans of the automotive world but also the crusaders of safety, including Ralph Nader and a group of senators including Bobby Kennedy. Their collision left Detroit in a ditch, launched a new era of consumer advocacy and government regulation, and contributed significantly to the decline of American enterprise. This is a vivid story of politics, business, and a sudden, seismic shift in American priorities that is still felt today.

Vols. for 1919- include an Annual statistical issue (title varies).