Extreme Cars

by Jim Travers

'Extreme Cars' investigates the most outrageous performances, histories, prices, and owners of vehicles ranging from the Weinermobile to Hummers and armoured SUVs to futuristic cars designed to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060891440
• ISBN13: 9780060891442
• Release Date: December 2007
• Publisher: Collins
• Length: 217 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.4" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Lots of Fun...

My significant other received this book as a gift. He isn't a "book" kind of guy, so at first he was a little taken aback. But it didn't take long for this little gem to suck him in. He is an auto lover and he really enjoyed the entertaining anecdotes and facts about his favorite cars. He was also delighted to find a plethora of fun facts, tales and car models that he wasn't familiar with. There were even a few "Honey! Come check this out!" moments. Overall, this book will get my highest rating for the sheer excitability it created in a non-reader. And I have to admit, the book is sitting on our coffee table and even I have picked it up a time or two and gotten sucked into an interesting little snippet about a subject I usually don't get all that excited about.

Extreme fun read

Automotive compendiums are a dime a dozen these days. (Actually, they are a bit pricier and even more plentiful, but you get the picture.) Most are textbook dry, rehashing automotive milestones that any self-respecting gearhead can recite quicker than their own phone number. The obligatory first Corvette, Mustang, GTO, blah, blah, blah are often complimented by the usual array of vehicles just odd enough to inspire disdain and disinterest. Then there is "Extreme Cars," a fresh, entertaining book that reads less like an encyclopedia than an automotive insider's list of fun tales to share at a party. It hits myriad key, historically significant production models, race cars, green machines, and military vehicles, contrasted with interesting, often off-beat vehicles and personalities. Presented with prose laced with a dry, knowing wit, it makes for an entertaining read. Where else can you bone up on the history of alternative fuel vehicles, the greatest automotive flops, and the sultan of Brunei's obscene car collection in one volume? Extreme cars, extreme personalities, extreme "otherwordly" vehicles, and extremely fun. Worth $12? Hell, yeah. I'm ordering a couple as gifts next holiday season.