The Heart of the Beast by Anthony Young
In 1990 when the ZR-1 was released by General Motors it was dubbed The Beast. It was an appropriate name. Anthony Young takes you through the inner sanctums of GM, Lotus during the development of the 32 valve, 4 cam LT5 engine that is the Heart of the Beast. This is a great Corvette history book that should be on the book shelve of all Corvette aficionados.

Busted Tractors and Rusty Knuckles: Norwegian Torque Wrench Techniques and Other Fine Points of Tractor Restoration by Roger Welch 1997
Roger Welch is a funny guy. His books, and there are many, are what I might call “owners manuals” for guys. Even though I have not had the urge to own a tractor (yet), I find the Roger’s insights to be transferable to much of life.

Roadster: How, and Especially Why, a Mechanical Novice Built a Car from a Kit by Chris Goodrich 1998
I’m sure you have been to a car chow or cruise night and saw a car that took you breath away. You talk to the owner and find out that it is a kit car. There are many kits available, the Cobra being the most popular. This memoir is a saga of the building of a Lotus 7 replica know as the Caterham 7 or just “Seven.” The Lotus 7 was designed by Colin Chapman and built by Lotus Cars between 1957 and 1972.
This is the story of Chris Goodrich and his Seven.

Are We There Yet?: The Golden Age of American Family Vacations by Susan Sessions Rugh, 2008
I’m sure at some time in your life you were packed into the car for a family vacation, or maybe you were the packer. This is a history book, complete with footnotes but don’t let that scare you off. Although scholarly, it is a fascinating story of the evolution of the family vacation in the United States. For many of us, getting there was part of the fun. Some vacations did not have one destination but many. This is a fascinating look back at what has become a lost part of American culture.

Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least Heat-Moon; First published in 1982
Named for the back roads printed on US roadmaps in blue ink, not red as are the interstates, this book is a travelog that documents the journey taken William Least Heat-Moon on the back roads of America and the people he met. This is a true American classic. As he traveled, he would stop in small towns, meet the people and often have a meal in a local diner or restaurant. He had a way of judging the quality of the meal he was going to get by the number of calendars on the walls. Two or more meant it would be a great meal. Reading this book will ignite your urge to hit the road and really see this great country.