How to Choose Camshafts and Time Them for Maximum Power explains in simple language how to choose the right camshaft/s for YOUR application the first time and how to find the camshaft timing which gives maximum performance. Also explained are all aspects of camshaft design and the importance of lobe phasing, duration & lift. Applies to all 4-stroke car-type engines with 4, 5, 6 or 8 cylinders. Since the 1990s there has been a huge resurgence of interest in modifying cars and motorcycles for higher performance. Avoid wasting money on modifications that don't work. This book applies to road and track applications.

What kind of car is that? It looks like a big Beetle! If ever there was a car in search of a context and market, it was the VW Type 4. Volkswagen's first foray into the upscale sector brought engineering innovation to Wolfsburg. It also tried to convince worldwide buyers that VW still had the right stuff. With design origins in the Porsche consultancy, the signs were hopeful. However, globally, the automarket was rapidly changing. The VW Type 4's portfolio ran to unitary construction and fuel injection, but had to face fancy competition from Detroit's European subsidiaries. All the while, VW was searching for its future road, and faced challenging developments. The fuel crisis and Japanese competition in North America kept the pressure on at Wolfsburg. Could the VW 411 and 412's solid traditional virtues carry the day? Then and now the Type 4's unbreakable VW quality, and flat out sustainability, appealed to air cooled devotees. The 411 and 412 brought a new dimension in comfort to VW, and its hardware design was utilized by the air cooled clan both on and off road. The Type 4 even had a sportscar connection, and never lost the power to surprise.

The Ferrari 512S, and its successor the 512M are among the most iconic of Ferrari sports-racing cars. These cars competed against Porsche's all-conquering 917 in 1970 and 1971 - a rivalry immortalised in Steve McQueen's film Le Mans. The car was powered by a 5-litre V-12 engine, and was driven by an impressive portfolio of drivers including Mario Andretti, John Surtees, Clay Regazzoni, Jacky Ickx, Ronnie Peterson and Derek Bell. Although the performance of the Porsche and Ferrari were very similar, the Porsche 917 benefitted from greater reliability, and the Ferraris were unable to challenge the dominance of the German manufacturer before the rules were amended for 1972, effectively outlawing the 5-litre-capacity engines used in both the Ferrari 512 and Porsche 917. In spite of only winning a single World Championship race - the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1970 - the Ferrari 512S/M has secured a place as one of the most charismatic sports-racing cars ever built, and the sight and sound of a restored example in full flight today still turns heads.

Jeremy Clarkson gets under the bonnet in Clarkson on Cars - a collection of his motoring journalism. Jeremy Clarkson has been driving cars, writing about them and occasionally voicing his opinions on the BBC's Top Gear for twenty years. No one in the business is taller. In this collection of classic Clarkson, stretching back to the mid-1980s, he's pulled together the car columns and stories with which he made his name. As coal mines closed and house prices exploded to a soundtrack of men in make-up playing synthesizers, Jeremy was already waxing lyrical on topics as useful and diverse as: * The perils of bicycle ownership * Why Australians - not Brits - need bull bars * Why soon only geriatrics will be driving BMWs * The difficultly of deciding on the best car for your wedding * Why Jesus's dad would have owned a Nissan Bluebird * And why it is that bus lanes cause traffic jams Irreverent, damn funny and offensive to almost everyone, this is writing with its foot to the floor, the brake lines cut and the speed limit smashed to smithereens. Sit back and enjoy the ride. Praise for Jeremy Clarkson: 'Brilliant . . . laugh-out-loud' Daily Telegraph 'Outrageously funny . . . will have you in stitches' Time Out 'Very funny . . . I cracked up laughing on the tube' Evening Standard

Americans spend hours every day sitting in traffic. And the roads they idle on are often rough and potholed, their exits, tunnels, guardrails, and bridges in terrible disrepair. According to transportation expert Robert Poole, this congestion and deterioration are outcomes of the way America provides its highways. Our twentieth-century model overly politicizes highway investment decisions, shortchanging maintenance and often investing in projects whose costs exceed their benefits. In Rethinking America's Highways, Poole examines how our current model of state-owned highways came about and why it is failing to satisfy its customers. He argues for a new model that treats highways themselves as public utilities--like electricity, telephones, and water supply. If highways were provided commercially, Poole argues, people would pay for highways based on how much they used, and the companies would issue revenue bonds to invest in facilities people were willing to pay for. Arguing for highway investments to be motivated by economic rather than political factors, this book makes a carefully reasoned and well-documented case for a new approach to highways that is sure to inform future decisions and policies for U.S. infrastructure.

A friend of mine asked me, "What kind of idiot would drive a thousand miles to drive a thousand miles, to drive a thousand miles home?" The answer, apparently, is one like me. Exactly like me, in fact. That is the spirit that launched most of the adventures in this book. Road Trip captures the author's quest for new places to see in old cars that are not quite suited for the task. In most cases, the spirit was way in front of the planning. It also accurately depicts the typical thorough thought process that precedes a departure. There is nothing so liberating yet useless as a Road Trip. A Road Trip is one with no purpose other than the going. If one is moving to a new job or going off to college or to a new home, it is not a Road Trip; it has a purpose. In order to be a real Road Trip, the trip itself must be the purpose...and, just to be clear, driving an old car home after buying it, rather than shipping it, cannot be construed as a purpose- rather it is a clear choice. It is a choice to make a Road Trip. Welcome to some of Ross' favorite Road Trips

For the first time, one of the major names in Italian car design tells his story from the beginning; from when he made his first sketches on paper, unbeknown to his parents and not only of cars, to reaching a point at which his name became synonymous with some of the best known and most important cars on the international front. In his 23-year career at Pininfarina, Leonardo Fioravanti, who was first a designer and architect, then managing director and director general of 'Studi & Ricerche' department, created some of the most beautiful Ferraris of all time; they ranged from the 1965 250 LM sports coupe Speciale to the immortal 1968 Daytona through to the 1975 308 GTB and GTS and the 1984 288 GTO, as well as the P5 and P6 of 1968. While continuing his Ferrari essay during his Pininfarina career, Fioravanti also guided the creation of numerous other projects, among them the Dino road car, the 1980 Pinin four-door prototype and went on to the 1984 Testarossa and the 1987 F40. He worked for the Fiat Group from 1988 until 1991, during which time he took on the roles of deputy director general of Ferrari, later became responsible for advanced design CRF and then head of the Fiat Styling Centre. In 1987, he founded Fioravanti srl, an architectural studio, and in 1991 he extended his services to industry, in particular the design of means of transport. Images of an epoch, designs from his own personal archive never previously seen and, above all, a passionate first person account. Those are the key elements of this outstanding book which, through the creations of Leonardo Fioravanti, covers over 50 years of the history of automobile style and culture.

Virtually from the moment of its launch in April, 1964, the Ford Mustang has been a favorite among road racers. From the Tour de France, to production sports car racing, the SCCA Trans-Am series, regional and national A/Sedan competitions, and international and domestic sedan championships in Great Britain, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, the Mustang has enjoyed a following like few other models. This book is a photographic celebration of road racing Mustangs throughout the world. It focuses on production-based cars, rather than the heavily modified tube-frame silhouette machines that began appearing in the late 1970s. Included are images of big-budget factory-supported cars competing in the Trans-Am series, right through to low-buck independents, and cars competing throughout the world. Using only period images, including countless photos that have never before been published, this is a true photographic history, depicting the global popularity of the Ford Mustang as a road racing car.

Lincoln’s heritage is as rich as that of any car built anywhere in the world, and more impressive than all but a few. The Continental produced in the 1940s was one of the first cars to be universally recognized by classic car cognoscenti. The list of Lincoln-built cars in the postwar era certified with classic—or comparable “milestone”— status by various sanctioning bodies is likewise lengthy. The Mark II tops that list, but the slab-sided Continental sedans of the 1960s led the industry in design, and the forthcoming Mark 9 promises to continue the tradition. In recent years, Lincoln has risen from an also-ran in the sales race to a leadership role opposite arch-rival Cadillac. Today, it is vying for preeminence in what has suddenly become an international market. Along the way, the cars have been unfailingly interesting, frequently magnificent and—in several instances—quite literally legends in their own time.

Once upon a time, there was a guy named Max Balchowsky who decided he wanted to beat Ferrari and Jaguar at their own game-road racing. The trouble was, he didn't have the cash for a factory racer. So he built his own. Using a Ford homemade tube frame, a souped-up Buick V-8 and running on recapped whitewalls, Ol' Yaller whipped them all.

Welcome to "American Road Race Specials 1934-70." These were the glory days of road racing in the United States, from the first races between imported MGs to the world-winning Made-in-the-USA Scarabs and Chaparrals, and on toe the downfall of the Shadow.

This is the story of the men who built and ran their own homemade cars in pioneer SCCA and Cal Club races on town streets, airports and then the first purpose-built American racetracks. Here is Jim Hall, Lance Reventlow, Ken Miles, Carroll Shelby, Ak Miller, Balchowsky, Troutman and Barnes, Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Roger Penske, George Follmer, and all the rest. . . .

And the cars: Ol' Yaller, Cunningham, Scarab, Chaparral, Kurtis, Devin, Zerex Special, Bocar, Caballo de Hierro, Pooper, Shadow, Ferraries with Chevy V-8s and every other possible chassis-engine combination a racer could think of. Some were crude, others deceptively homespun; most were half hot rod, half sports car-all of them were unique and built with passion.

Historian Allan Girdler's straight-talking technical writing and colorful storytelling brings to life the home-builts' history as no other could. Girdler is a former "Car Life" and "Cycle World" editor and is currently an editor-at-large for "Road & Track." His other books include "Harley-Davidson Racing 1934-1986" and "Harley-Davidson XR-750."

Jeep adventure stories, lots of valuable mechanical facts and advice, interesting history; this quick read appeals to Jeep enthusiasts of all ages. Follow off-road adventure in a wonderful winding journey unfolding in the 1960's and still continuing down the off-beaten path today. Told from different points of view, girlfriend/wife, small boy/husband, it covers repair shops, parts and accessories, Jeep and four wheel drive rallies, and history of the Jeep vehicle. Chocked full of hard-learned information about power and engine changes in Jeep vehicles throughout the years, and even the dreaded "ripped off belt loop." Guaranteed to bring back fond memories, create smiles, and awake man's primal need for adventure.