Showing results for "Cars" in Americas

Lamborghini, Mercedes, Jaguar, Rolls-Royce - true legends of the open road. For decades, car manufacturers have constantly developed innovative ideas that push the boundaries of motoring design and performance. Take an in-depth look at some of the most desirable and iconic cars to have been built in the history of automotive design in all their majestic glory, with this superb publication.

With wit and sharp insight, former Traffic Commissioner of New York City, Sam Schwartz a.k.a. "Gridlock Sam", one of the most respected transportation engineers in the world and consummate insider in NYC political circles, uncovers how American cities became so beholden to cars and why the current shift away from that trend will forever alter America's urban landscapes, marking nothing short of a revolution in how we get from place to place.

When Americans think of freedom, they often picture the open road. Yet nowhere are we more likely to encounter the long arm of the law than in our cars. Sarah Seo reveals how the rise of the automobile led us to accept - and expect - pervasive police power. As Policing the Open Road makes clear, this radical transformation in the nature and meaning of American freedom has had far-reaching political and legal consequences.

Dream Car tells the story of entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin’s fantastical 1970s-era Safety Vehicle-1 (SV1), audaciously launched during a tumultuous breakpoint in postwar history. The tale of the sexy-yet-safe SV1 reveals the influence of automobiles on ideas about the future, technology, entrepreneurship, risk, safety, showmanship, politics, sex, gender, business, and the state, as well as the history of the auto industry’s birth, decline, and rebirth.

Dream Car tells the story of entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin’s fantastical 1970s-era Safety Vehicle-1 (SV1), audaciously launched during a tumultuous breakpoint in postwar history. The tale of the sexy-yet-safe SV1 reveals the influence of automobiles on ideas about the future, technology, entrepreneurship, risk, safety, showmanship, politics, sex, gender, business, and the state, as well as the history of the auto industry’s birth, decline, and rebirth.

The Green Hornet Streetcar Disaster tells the riveting tale of this calamity. Combing through newspaper accounts as well as the Chicago Transit Authority’s official archives, Craig Cleve vividly brings to life this horrific catastrophe. Going beyond the historical record, he tracks down individuals who were present on that fateful day on State and 62nd: eyewitnesses, journalists, and even survivors whose lives were forever changed by the accident.

In Car Country, Wells rejects the idea that the nation's automotive status quo can be explained as a simple byproduct of an ardent love affair with the automobile. Instead, he takes listeners on a tour of the evolving American landscape, charting the ways that transportation policies and land-use practices have combined to reshape nearly every element of the built environment around the easy movement of automobiles. Wells untangles the complicated relationships between automobiles and the environment, allowing listeners to see the everyday world in a completely new way.

In Car Crazy, G. Wayne Miller, author of Toy Wars: The Epic Struggle Between G.I. Joe, Barbie, and the Companies That Make Them and Men and Speed: A Wild Ride Through NASCAR's Breakout Season, takes listeners back to the wild and wooly years of the early automobile era - from 1893, when the first US-built auto was introduced, through 1908, when General Motors was founded and Ford's Model T went on the market.

Elsie MacGill achieved many firsts in science and engineering. In 1923, at the age of 19, she became the first woman to attend engineering classes at the University of Toronto. She was the first woman in North America to hold a degree in aeronautical engineering and the first woman aircraft designer in the world.

Stereoless in Seattle: Why I Tried to Unionize Car Stereo Installers and Failed takes a light-hearted look at the car stereo industry through the eyes of someone who lived it for the better part of 25 years.

In a nutshell, the Studebaker Corporation was, to many, the embodiment of classic American culture and values. It was a distinctly unionized and family-oriented business, its cars and wares built by generations of fathers and sons, and throughout its lengthy history, churned out some 4.2 million vehicles, on top of the 2 million horse-drawn carriages manufactured during its early years. To this day, one can still see the imprints and vestiges left behind by the Studebaker legacy across its hometown of South Bend, Indiana.

Here's a biographical profile of the Freelan and Francis Stanley, identical twins who developed the Stanley Steamers, cars powered by steam engines. In 1897 the brothers, dressed alike in overcoats, bowler hats and sporting thick black beards appeared on Maple Street in Watertown, Mass., driving a horseless carriage that was nearly soundless. Spectators were stunned by the quick pace and eerie silence. One observer later recalled: "It was like watching a pair of pants run down the street with nobody in them."