Today I'm going to feature a book that I've had a long time and is almost really cool...but not quite.
In the late 60s and early 70s, car culture was everywhere. The wild custom "show car" craze was born on the west coast and spread over the entire U.S. By 1973, government regulations had put a huge dent in the muscle car industry, but the show cars were still going strong. It was at this moment that "The One and Only Crazy Car Book" by Sloan Walker was published.
I picked this up at a garage sale years ago, and assumed it was a Scholastic book. (I used to love those order forms that would be handed out at school every so often- and waiting for your order to come back was heaven!) However, upon closer indpection, I see it's a Young Reader's Press book. Anyway, let's take a quick look, shall we?
So there you have it! There are other cars that I didn't show, but you get the idea.
Now I said this book was not quite really cool. Why? Well, first the text really talks down to kids, I think, and second is that they cheaped out and printed it in black and white. One of the main attractions of these cars is their fantastic paint jobs! In this book, you would never know that.
Still the book sits in my book shelf as a testiment to a time when the crazier the cars got, the better we kids loved them!
Until next time, keep searching for treasure!
YAY Scholastic Book Club! I loved ordering and getting those books in school. Remember ordering posters, too, from the Scholastic Book Club? They came folded up.
ReplyDeleteAnd, YAY, Batmobile! I loved that show when it first came out in the 60s. I had a crush on Robin. I sure had funny taste, didn't I? But remember, I was only 5 or 6, at the time.
Stu, thanks for sharing more fun finds! I see that I've missed a number of your past posts....I'll look at them later tonight, as soon as I have more free time....
Hi Sue!
DeleteHoly Sidekick, Sue! I'm sure Robin was cute in his way. As a kid, I was much more interested in the Batmobile! Come to think of it, I still am...
More to.come!
Ha! The cover of this book, with it's groovy colors and font, has "seventies" written all over it.
ReplyDeleteI actually enjoyed looking at these wild cars, and I'm not really a 'car guy'. I noticed the Bob Hope golf cart. Most of these I'd never seen before, like the telephone booth car and the Coca Cola machine car.
Sue, you must have been into masked and caped men wearing tights. ;-)
An amusing side trip back to the '70s. Thanks, Stu.
I think I'm much more of a "Show Car" guy than a regular car guy. Of course, now all cars look exactly the same. Someone said it's because being optimized for aerodynamics always looks that way. I say booooooooring!
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