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Best Car Books for Christmas: Speed Read
In-depth historical books on Triumph, BMW, and Porsche are great stocking stuffers.
Our favorite racing book is a memoir written by a doctor who tended to drivers after a crash.
One of the best car books this holiday season showcases the love of music and hot rods.
From automotive history to racing and rock and roll, if you have an avid reader on your holiday shopping list, here are six of the best car books today. Any one of these is guaranteed to be a hit on Christmas morning!
Everything on this list was featured previously as part of our Book Garage series. While we have read and showcased dozens of books as part of that series over the years, the titles below are some of our most recent favorites. We divided this list of best car books into two sections: automotive history and racing and motorsport.
We also include a gem about how rock music and hot rods fit together like candy canes and gingerbread houses!
Best Car Books For Christmas: Automotive History
These selections on Triumph, BMW, and Porscshe are published by Motorbooks, which has an extensive library of automotive history books. Although titles from Motorbooks are often illustrated with archival and contemporary photographs alike, they are more than just “coffee table books.” Underneath those ornate and stylish covers is some of the best automotive writing in the world.
Motorbooks authors are often longtime automotive journalists, broadcasters, professors, and historians who have poured through mountains of documentation and invested countless hours of research into their writing to deliver the full historical scope of the subject.
Triumph Cars: 100 Years
In his review of Triumph Cars: 100 Years, Tony Borroz recalls how he grew up in a sports car family, but with a caveat that it was always a British sports car (made all the more interesting since his family is Italian). Despite shedding literal blood while turning wrenches on Triumph cars, Borroz still has a fondness for them.
If you have someone on your holiday shopping list who has a place in their heart for these loveable machines, Triumph Cars: 100 Years is the best gift you can get them.
Author Ross Alkureishi covers the first 10/20 and the early Supras and Glorias on the way to the TR and Spitfire ranges. There are a few interesting digressions that any Triumph enthusiast will appreciate, including a sidebar about Bob Tullius. Complementing Alkureishi’s writing are rare racing photographs and Triumph advertisements from the past.
The BMW Century
The BMW Century, now in its second edition, was written by Tony Lewin, an editor for and contributor to Automotive News Europe. In addition to The BMW Century, Lewin has written a host of other titles for Motorbooks, but this BMW volume is among his best car books.
For the BMW fan on your Christmas list, this book will give them the complete picture of how the storied German automaker rebuilt the company out of the ashes of World War II.
While cars are a significant part of the book, Lewin dedicates time to BMW’s motorcycle production. Lewin covers the 1923 avant-garde R32 and how its engine design eventually led to the R90S, R100RS, and R80GS. Giving further context to the written words are hundreds of historical, contemporary, and racing photographs, many sourced from BMW’s internal archives.
Porsche 356: 75th Anniversary
In our reading and review of Porsche 356: 75th Anniversary, we liked how the book was thorough but not hindered by long lists or unnecessary tangents. Instead, author Gordon Maltby is one of the most genuine Porsche enthusiasts, having owned 31 of them over the last five decades and doing most of the maintenance and restoration himself.
Maltby’s writing, honed by nearly 30 years as the editor of the Porsche 356 Registry, will speak to the Porsche fan on your holiday shopping list.
In his book, Maltby covers all 356 variants: the A, B, and C series coupes, the Speedster, the Glocklers, and the Spyder race cars. Maltby even makes time for outlaw builds, Emory versions, and non-authorized cars that add a certain flair to the history of the 356.
Best Car Books For Christmas: Racing & Motorsport
The selections here come from Motorbooks and Evro Publishing, each providing a unique perspective on racing and the world of motorsports. Like the automotive history books above, the authors here have dedicated their lives and careers to the track, sharing that experience with us through the pages of the racing books featured here.
One of the selections, Rapid Response, is a rarity as it covers the topic from the perspective of a doctor who spent his career running onto the track to attend to drivers after a crash. It’s been one of the best car books in our personal library ever since it was first published in 2019.
If you have a racing fan on your holiday shopping list, they will enjoy reading through one of these books after Christmas dinner.
NASCAR 75 Years
NASCAR celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2023, and this book will make any fan grin from ear to ear on Christmas morning. Like any good historical analysis of stock car racing worth its weight in motor oil, NASCAR 75 Years takes us back to the sands of Daytona Beach, with each following chapter organized by decade.
For those who grew up watching the sport in the 1990s, that chapter will bring back plenty of fond memories with household names like Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Terry and Bobby Labonte, and the late Alan Kulwicki and Dale Earnhardt.
While covering 75 years of NASCAR history, the book also dedicates some ink to the “Next Gen” cars that debuted in 2022 and the drivers who have helmed them around legendary tracks like Daytona and Talladega.
Mr. Le Mans: Tom Kristensen
Between 1997 and 2014, Tom Kristensen won the Le Mans 24 Hours a record nine times and finished on the podium on five more occasions. Now retired, Kristensen’s autobiography is a welcome treat for fans who have followed his career.
During our reading and review of Mr. Le Mans: Tom Kristensen, we enjoyed how Kristensen talked about his relationship with his parents and what it means to be a father himself. The book provides a firsthand look at someone many of us may only know from TV screens and highlight reels.
About 325,000 fans attended the 91st 24 Hours of Le Mans held on June 10th and 11th, 2023. If someone on your Christmas list was there or among the many more watching at home, Kristensen’s autobiography will make their holiday season a little brighter.
Rapid Response
One of our favorites from Evro Publishing is quite different from your average racing book, which is why it makes for such a good holiday gift. Rapid Response is the memoir of Dr. Stephen Olvey, the physician who organized the first traveling medical team in motorsports and whose research on crashes led to advances in race car safety.
Alex Zanardi, whom Dr. Olvey saved after a horrific and bloody crash in 2001, pens the foreword. While competing during the 2001 American Memorial at the EuroSpeedway Lausitz in September of that year, Zanardi lost control on pit road and slid onto the track. Patrick Carpentier narrowly slipped past him, but Alex Tagliani could not avoid Zanardi, hitting him head-on.
“Alex Zanardi is extremely critical; he’s had severe injuries to both of his lower extremities and significant blood loss,” Dr. Olvey told viewers at the time, indicating that Zanardi was breathing on his own as they were preparing a transport to a hospital in Berlin. Dr. Olvey was the Director of Medical Operations for CART. Zanardi would eventually have both legs amputated as a result of the crash.
When he was 11, Dr. Olvey attended his first race, the 1955 Indianapolis 500. Young Olvey’s favorite driver, Bill Vukovich, was killed during a multi-car crash on the 57th lap. Photo from Rapid Response by Dr. Stephen Olvey, published by Evro Publishing.
As we found in our reading and review of Rapid Response, the Good Doctor’s memoir is straight to the point, never backing away from the grim details that emerge when drivers crash but not relishing in them either. Dr. Olvey’s work provides a rare look at what happens when emergency responders punch in at the track.
For that racing fan on your Christmas list who loves and appreciates the sport on another level, Rapid Response is the perfect gift. Dr. Olvey’s memoir was made into a documentary film in 2019 with the same name. In addition to Dr. Olvey, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, Rick Mears, and Tony Kanaan appear in the film.
Bonus Book: Billy F Gibbons: Rock + Roll Gearhead
If you have someone on your Christmas list who likes to rock and roll all night and play with cars every day, consider stuffing their stocking with this gem. ZZ Top’s Billy F Gibbons opens the door to his personal garage and takes us through his collection of custom hot rods and cool guitars.
Published as a reprint in 2020 at the height of the COVID lockdowns, we found this book a welcome respite against all the uncertainty in the world at the time. While at home, we enjoyed flipping through the pages and admiring Gibbons’ unique car collection, which includes the Whiskey Runner ’34 Ford Coupe, the El Camino Grocery-Getter, and the Mexican Blackbird 1958 Thunderbird. The Eliminator Coupe is there too!
For the rocker and car lover on your Christmas list, consider gifting them Billy F Gibbons: Rock + Roll Gearhead. When they open it, they will surely give you all their lovin’ and hugs and kisses, too.
Best Car Books For Christmas Conclusion
Any one of the books featured here will make for a unique and memorable gift if you have a car lover on your Christmas list who loves to read. The automotive history books are great for expanding one’s knowledge on the subject, while the racing volumes lend an insider’s perspective. And if you have someone on your list who loves both cars and music, go for the Billy F Gibbons book!
Carl Anthony is the Managing Editor of Automoblog and the host of AutoVision News Radio and AutoSens Insights. As a respected automotive industry thought leader, Carl has appeared on numerous podcasts and radio shows, including Wrench Nation, Cars Yeah, The Car Doctor, and Brains Byte Back, in addition to appearing as a regular contributor on MotorMouth Radio on WHPC 90.3 FM. His work can also be seen and heard 24/7 on the Automoblog YouTube channel.
Original article: From Racing to Rock & Roll: The Best Car Books to Gift This Holiday Season (2023)
