The Complete Book of American Muscle Supercars by Tom Glatch. Review by Gary Smith.
Detroit’s muscle cars were simply the raw material for dealers and specialty car builders. They were out to satisfy customers’ needs for barely legal, brute, raw power for the hottest, highest performance cars on the street. Muscle Supercars. Represented is everything from Michigan’s Royal Pontiac dealership and the Royal Pontiac Bobcat hotrods they built and sold, to the new cars from Carroll Shelby, Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodge, Nickey Chevrolet, Don Yenko, George Hurst, Baldwin-Motion, Calloway, SLP, PAS, and Steve Saleen.
Get the full details of the backstory of how all of this happened. Bans on factory racing didn’t stop the big three from shipping high performance hardware to the hot-rod subculture bent on building the biggest, baddest, bully on the block.
But wait. More than just the muscle car era represented. Example: Chapter 10 tells the story of PAS, Inc., builders of the 1989 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am and the GMC Cyclone, Sonoma GT, and the Typhoon. The Turbo Trans Am is rarely mentioned in any muscle car book. The engine from the Buick Grand National GNX stuffed in a platform that handled and stopped. Quarter mile in 13.4. Top speed: 150+. I have one. Read how it happened.
The book chronicles the history of brute performance clear to the present day. It’s a well-documented book, great photographs, and interesting history.
And for all you fans of pop-up books, the hoods of the Camaro and Mustang on the cover open to reveal the motors.
Description from the publisher
Uncover the captivating history of the highest-performace cars in America, illustrated with beautiful photography.
The American muscle car began not in the factories of the big three automakers, but in the garages and dealerships of a hot-rod subculture bent on making the hottest, highest-performance cars on the street. The Complete Book of American Muscle Supercars catalogs these amazing cars, along with the builders who unleashed them on the American scene. From Michigan’s Royal Pontiac dealership and the souped-up Royal Pontiac Bobcats they built and sold, to the new cars from such fabled names as Carroll Shelby, Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodge, Nickey Chevrolet, Don Yenko, George Hurst, Baldwin-Motion, Calloway, SLP, and Steve Saleen.
This gorgeously illustrated book chronicles the outstanding contribution of the tuner/builder to American automotive history through the amazing machines they created. From the oldest of these muscle tuners commanding top dollar at today’s classic-car auctions, to the latest vehicles by Ford and Chrysler, with their SVT and SRT divisions, this book gives readers a full and fascinating look at American high-performance in its purest form.
About the Author
Since 1983, Tom Glatch has contributed hundreds of stories and photographs to major collector, Corvette, Mustang, muscle car, and Mopar magazines. Tom grew up during the muscle car era, and his first car was a very quick 1970 Plymouth Duster 340. Tom and his wife Kelly have contributed photographs to books by other Motorbooks authors, as well as Motorbooks’ Corvette calendars. When not pursuing old muscle cars,
About the photographer
David Newhardt is one of the best automobile photographers working today and has provided photography for best-selling Motorbooks titles Muscle: America’s Legendary Performance Cars, Corvette: Fifty Years, Mustang: Forty Years, Mopar Muscle: Fifty Years, and Shelby Mustang: Racer for the Street.
Tom works for a Fortune 500 corporation as a data and systems analyst and developer. He lives in southeastern Wisconsin with his wife and two children, daughter Keara and son Sean.
The Complete Book of American Muscle Supercars by Tom Glatch
Published by Motorbooks
Format: Hardcover Book , 224 Pages
ISBN: 9780760350065
Illustrations: 320 color & 25 b/w photos
Size: 9.75 in x 12 in / 248 mm x 305 mm
Published: Oct. 17, 2016
$50