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Giles Chapman

Autor/a de Cars That Time Forgot

37+ obres 222 Membres 6 Ressenyes

Sèrie

Obres de Giles Chapman

Cars That Time Forgot (1997) 25 exemplars
The Worst Cars Ever Sold (2006) 9 exemplars
The Land Rover Story (2011) 6 exemplars
Cars We Loved in the 1980s (2014) 5 exemplars
The Story of the Car (2017) 5 exemplars
Cars We Loved in the 1960s (2014) 5 exemplars

Obres associades

Car: The Definitive Visual History of the Automobile (2011) — Editor, algunes edicions; algunes edicions107 exemplars

Etiquetat

Coneixement comú

Gènere
male

Membres

Ressenyes

Rating: 5* of five

The Publisher Says: Jaguar Century chronicles one of the auto industry’s most revered car brands, from the Jaguar SS sporting saloon to today’s F-Type sports cars, F-PACE SUV, and X-Type sedans—filled with images, history, and in-depth analyses of the incredible cars created year after year.

Automotive historian Giles Chapman showcases how company visionaries William Lyons and William Walmsley developed the brand in the trying economic times leading up to World War II before resetting Jaguar during England’s bleak postwar years, first with its XK120, then the XK140 and XK150. Sporting saloons (i.e., sedans) like the Mark 2 and Mark X established further standards for four-door luxury in the 1950s and ’60s, while the stunning E-Type unveiled in 1961 became a holy grail of automotive design and gave Jaguar a genuine 150-miles-per-hour sports car. The story continues to the present, tracing all of Jaguar’s ups and downs right up to the acclaimed all-electric I-PACE. Chapman also covers Jaguar’s rich motorsport heritage, including open-wheel Formula 1 racers and the sports cars that went head-to-head with Ferrari, Porsche, and others at legendary circuits such as Le Mans over the decades.

From pre-Depression motorcycle sidecars hammered out in a modest shop in Coventry to the cutting edge of 21st century automotive technology, Jaguar Century offers a full review of British design and engineering at its finest. The book is illustrated with hundreds of historic, contemporary, and racing photographs, as well as detailed text. It is a definitive volume no Jaguar enthusiast can be without.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review
: My stepmother was the Jaguar-lover's Jaguar lover. Her XJ12L was the first, and to date only, Jaguar I ever got to drive...a silver-grey lovely with oxblood red interior leather. My teenaged self was in absolute Nirvana pottering about behind that wheel! I obeyed her strict instructions to heed the speed limit and to be very defensive as a driver, because I knew how much it cost to fix damage to the beast. (Those rules were for me, not her, and the results were predictable.) The one time I got to open it up on Highway 17 between our house in Los Gatos and Santa Cruz, with her in the passenger seat, was...indescribably delightful.

That connection was why I hopped on this DRC the second I saw it. The person who has no direct experience of driving a Jaguar is still going to get a lot out of reading about the history and the ideas behind the company's scrappy independent years, through today's automobile conglomerate-owned, technological powerhouse days. The Table of Contents will show you the track the author takes to get the reader in the know with him, sharing his depths of knowledge and opinions about the storied Jaguars of past and present.

The history of the various corporate entities, and the owners and operators of same, fascinated me. I am and always have been a passionate follower of car culture because, well, I grew up in 1960s California and Texas...go fight those odds. Design is one of Jaguar's historical strengths, but those designs had to be thought up and then thought through, to get to the place a kid could groove on them. I was aware of that early...again, California 1960s...so I really liked reading about the whys and wherefores of the gorgeous machines I saw (and see) on the streets, like these:



I confess that I miss my now-gone stepmonster (in-joke between us) when I read this book, as I've done twice now. I'd've give it to her, so we could delight in looking at and learning about the cars we both loved so well.

Whoever your gearhead giftee is, they will look on this gloriously designed and produced celebration of automotive beauty and history with delight. Triple that if Jaguar is their very favorite car.
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richardderus | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Dec 6, 2023 |
A delightful pictorial book covering everything imaginable about automobiles.
 
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knightlight777 | Mar 1, 2023 |
Jaguar Century: 100 Years of Automotive Excellence by Giles Chapman is a coffee table book that is every bit as fun to read as it is to skim and look at the photographs.

At various times while reading I wished the book was a different type of book, which ultimately led me to believe it actually offered the right mix. I'll explain what I mean. Sometimes I wanted bigger photographs. There are plenty of big pictures with a lot of smaller ones throughout. I usually felt this way when I was in the mood to just gawk and admire the automobiles. Yet there were times when I was so enthralled with the story of the company and of Lyons that I actually wanted more text on a page. So my ideal book would have been unwieldy (though beautiful) and more long-winded. As it is, there are enough wonderful photographs to please the eye while the text tells a fascinating story.

I would recommend this to those who simply love automobiles as well as Jaguar aficionados. I also think it would make an interesting read for someone with an interest in cars but who also has an interest in history and/or business development.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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pomo58 | Hi ha 1 ressenya més | Oct 13, 2021 |
Cars on Film by Giles Chapman is a deceptively simple book that delights on so many levels. I admit to expecting something a little bit different but found the style and format to work quite well.

First, to clarify, my expectations were for a book with a body of text with a lot of photographs with captions, and the photographs referenced in the text. There is, to speak of, no text in the sense of chapters and exposition. But each photograph is accompanied by an extensive caption about the vehicle, the movie, or both. Once I realized the format, I shifted my approach to the book and had a great time with it. Basically, rather than a long expository aspect highlighted by pictures, this was more like sitting down with a friend who is showing you his beloved collection of film stills and telling you what he has learned about each one.

By the time I finished the book, I had learned about some vehicles I was completely ignorant of (1971/72 RecTrans Discoverer 25R) and revisited some films I had long forgotten (In the Heat of the Night). This book has something for both the automobile aficionado and the film buff. Well, assuming the reader is an active reader and engages with the material.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
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Marcat
pomo58 | May 20, 2021 |

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Estadístiques

Obres
37
També de
1
Membres
222
Popularitat
#100,929
Valoració
½ 3.7
Ressenyes
6
ISBN
62
Llengües
3

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