The Illustrated Directory of Muscle Cars Hardcover – August 15, 2013

This book definitely satisfied my expectations but, more importantly, it delighted its recipient. It was ordered as a gift for my son, who has followed this interest since he was a teen and has restored a number of muscle cars (although he is partial to the Firebird). He phoned to thank me for the book, and absolutely raved about it. One point he noted especially: the print is large enough that his 50-something eyes can read it. Somehow, I didn't think the BOOK would be so large -- or so heavy. (It cost a fortune to mail it, even at "media mail" rates.) But that allowed the inclusion of many large photos of various cars of the past. If YOUR guy is as taken with muscle cars as my son is, this would make an excellent gift -- just have Amazon send it direct!

For starters, don't let my low review score fool you-- this is actually an amazing book for the price (if you can look past its flaws,) and I'll explain why I thought so. But first, let me get the bad out of the way. My opinions and criticisms may seem harsh to some, but it's just me expressing how I feel.This book's most prominent flaw is simply the fact it falls victim to extremely poor editing-- spelling mistakes, incorrect labels/pictures, plain wrong information, and just some really bad formatting. For example, the book makes an outlandish claim that Pontiac's "1975 GTO" sold tremendously for that model year, but many car enthusiasts know the triumphant GTO ended its life during its (sad) third generation as a 1974 model (essentially, a rebadged 2-door Pontiac Ventura with a 350ci V8 and shaker hood.) Really?!? Another thing that really bothered me about the book was the fact that some pictures were totally in the wrong spot... One later chapter showed a picture of a pro-touring 1969 Camaro under the 1970 AMC AMX section. Early on in the book, even, it was evident that there were going to be some careless mistakes throughout. These may be nitpicks to casual car enthusiasts or the seasoned weekend reader, or even a bookstore browser, but to the car fanatic, it really upsets me that such a huge, beautifully illustrated book would ultimately be sub-par due to mistakes in proofreading and the like. The book had a very "rushed" feel to it, and the quality suffers as a result.Another thing that really upset me, there were absolutely NO cars from the late 70s to the late 80s... It jumped from mid-70s to the mid-90s. What? Are we totally going to forget the late-model performance vehicles such as the Yenko Turbo Z Camaro, or the Chevy Cosworth Vega? What about the Buick Grand National/GNX? Perhaps the Chevy Monte Carlo SS, the turbo'd Pontiac Trans-Am, Ford Mustang SVO, Chrysler Conquest TSi, or the Callaway Sledgehammer? I understand that it just wasn't the right time for muscle to flex, and sure, those cars may have been limited in their production, but wow, I guess I expected a little more from this ginormous book! This book is a bit harsh in its purity: no cars between 1974-1994 are even mentioned, despite many great cars released between those years, like the IROC-Z Camaros, the Fox body 5.0 Mustangs, etc. I guess they aren't muscle cars, but on the other hand, there are many factors of that era that would lead to their exclusion from the book. While the book does a decent job of mentioning some impressive 90s cars such as the 94 Impala SS (ultimate sleeper) and the really powerful SLP-tuned Z28 SS Camaros, as well as the Dodge Viper, it makes some unfair exclusions. I would have loved to have seen the 2003-4 Ford Mustang Cobras, or even the Saleen S351. While I may have expected too much from this bargain-priced hardcover, if you are able to look past these flaws and place some prideful opinions aside, this is actually an amazing book, especially considering the price!While I wouldn't say this book is anything near authoritative, it definitely has some awesome pictures and nice variety in cars, ranging from the roots of muscle in the late 1940s with the Olds 88 to the present day reborn muscle with the Big Three's offerings towards performance. It certainly had some neat cars, and not just the typical Camaros, Mustangs, Challengers, etc. An impressive lineup of golden-era muscle from all contributing parties is presented handsomely. For the larger, more well-known models, there's quite a few pages containing information and pictures not only on that model year but the later model years of that car. Though I do not know everything about cars, especially muscle, I learned a lot from the book, there were plenty of cool and interesting facts about all the cars. One thing I would have liked to see more of was more in-depth specs on all the cars-- not all of them had weight, or price-when-new filled out, but I guess this is just a nitpick. It would also be cool to see horsepower-to-weight ratios or top speeds.The book itself is a huge, heavy coffee table book. It's elegant and well-bound. In the hands of somebody who doesn't trash their books, it could easily last a lifetime.Ultimately, this book falls short in many areas, but if you're able to look past them, it's a great book. It would sit right at home in the collection of the gearhead or enthusiast, whether casual or hardcore, or in-between, like I am.

First of all, I only gave this product 3 stars because I cannot leave a review about the shipping.. The book itself to me is great. It is well put together, has a great, solid cover and spine. The information inside is also great. This book is full color and complete with detailed specifications on each vehicle featured as well as a couple pages dedicated to discussing a little of the history etc behind the car. I subtracted one star for the shipping because not only did it take 5 days to even ship out but it also took 5 days to actually arrive and in my experience of buying things online, this product coming from Kentucky, going to St Louis MO it should have only been 3 days MAX .. If it were promptly shipped. That being said, I purchased 2, one being a gift for my father and the corner of one was damaged in shipping. I also subtracted a star from the content of the book. To me it definitely would have been a 5 star book BUT.. The chapters inside go from "Muscle Cars of the 1950s" to the 1960s, then the 1970s but it skips the 80s and goes to the 90s and the 21st century. No love for the Cutlass, Grand National/GNX or Monte Carlo from the mid-80s.. Three of my favorite muscle cars. I consider them muscle cars anyway so big bummer for me on that note but other than that it is a great book and I am happy with it as I hope my dad will be when I give it to him.After actually reading this book, well, about a dozen or so pages, I have found NUMEROUS spelling errors as well as several incorrectly tagged pictures.. I am NOT impressed with this publishing company AT ALL and I will be sure to steer away from them in the future but it does not change my opinion about the book itself. I will be contacting Chartwell Books and suggesting they look into new proofreaders or use a computer program that has spell-check. If I were a publisher at Chartwell Books I would be embarrassed.

Very impressed with the size and amount of info and pics in this coffee table book. Especially for the price I paid at Christmas.

It's well illustrated and I use it for a quick reference book for 1/4 mile times and 0-60 from the factory and to simply learn more than I knew before.

I purchased this book for a friend who is in jail he loved it and so did others. a good one.

Rating is based on prompt and safe shipping from distributer. Can't comment on content as book is wrapped in plastic...purchased it for vbrother-in-law Christmas present. He has rebuilt several muscle cars from the 50s and 60s, so I thought he would like this collection. If the inaccuracies are as bad as other reviewers have said, he and I will both be disappointed.

Fantastic book. Every car guys must have. I bought for my son, but my husband reads it as much as he does.

Large format and large print, but quite a big book. I paid under £13 for it. It's ok don't expect a lot of detail, I found one caption that refers to a car as an AMX, but it is a Chevy Camaro and there are several photos where the publisher has shaded the car windows in grey. The shading doesn't look good and in one picture they have shaded the windscreen of a convertible in grey but the rest of the picture is full colour. When I say shading think of colour filling an object in a Microsoft programme.A better book in terms of content and photos is the Auto Editors of the Consumer Guide book on Musclecars (the big one its 18-20" tall).

Absolutely fantastic book! Amazing value for money too. Hundreds of pages of well written, detailed descriptions of (almost) every muscle car ever made coupled with wonderful colour images of the cars and details. I bought this for my 12 year old son and we both enjoy delving into the the evolution of this special breed. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to get a comprehensive encyclopedia of American muscle cars. The only drawback is the weight! :-)

This is exactly the kind of book I was looking for. It is huge and full of all kinds of interesting information.

good informative book, good value.

El libro es una maravilla. Lastima que me llego con las esquinas golpeadas por el pauperrimo embalaje, el mas pobre embalaje con el que se podia enviar un libro de este peso y dimensiones.El libro contiene una gran cantidad de informacion en sus 432 paginas con unas excelentes fotografias. Es como un diccionario enciclopedico; es decir, cada automovil se trata en una ficha de como minimo dos paginas y el contenido del libro es unicamente esa larga serie de fichas, sin capitulos sobre historia de los fabricantes, contexto social, personajes, etc.Las fichas tecnicas son tal vez demasiado escuetas y contienen pocos datos; pero hay una por cada modelo.Las fotografias son excelentes, practicamente todas son en color; si bien en unos pocos casos solo se muestra la parte posterior del automovil. Tambien existen algunos fallos de maquetacion, estando asignados pies de fotografia de forma erronea a imagenes a las que no corresponden; aunque se ve facilmente cual es la fotografia a la que realmente deberian estar asociados.Se incluyen todos los coches que se pueden considerar muscle cars de 1950 a 2012, pero el libro tiene una considerable laguna: Se da un salto de 1974 a 1994, excluyendo los modelos de ese periodo.Aun asi, el libro es estupendo. Lastima del pauperrimo embalaje...