The 12 Best Books for Anyone Who Loves Cars

We love driving, writing and talking about cars here at Gear Patrol. And in our downtime, we also love fueling our passion about all things automotive with some great non-fiction books. Here are the best car books to buy for gifts (or personal consumption), featuring everything from bizarre F1 stories to art photography to the surprising role of personal transport in shaping ancient and modern societies.

Amazon

Racing with Rich Energy: How a Rogue Sponsor Took Formula One for a Ride

• $30.00 at Amazon

Elizabeth Blackstock and Alanis King dive deeply into the story of purported energy drinks company Rich Energy’s wild, brief and enigmatic sponsorship of the Haas F1 team.

Amazon

The Atlas of Car Design: The World’s Most Iconic Cars

• $105.00 at Amazon
  $150.00 (30% off)

For those who want to add some gravitas to their (hopefully sturdy) shelf, this tome surveys more than 650 of the world’s greatest car designs with captivating stories and period photography.

Amazon

A Man & His Car: Iconic Cars and Stories from the Men Who Love Them

• $28.00 at Amazon
  $45.00 (39% off)

Car ownership can be a deeply personal experience. In this book, celebrities like Jay Leno and famous automotive collectors share their stories of the cars they fell in love with.

Amazon

Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans

• $14.00 at Amazon
  $18.00 (23% off)

There’s a good chance your dad saw the film Ford v. Ferrari and loved it. But that flick about the story of Ford’s epic quest to take down Ferrari at Le Mans was actually based on a fascinating, informative book by A.J. Baime that’s well worth the read, too.

Amazon

Carbolics: A Personal Motoring Disinfectant

• $10.00 at Amazon

If you enjoy James May’s work on Top Gear and The Grand Tour, you’ll appreciate this compendium of witty and insightful essays tackling various topics of note in the car world.

Amazon

Lonely Planet Epic Road Trips of the Americas

• $26.00 at Amazon
  $35.00 (24% off)

Lonely Planet’s Epic series covers 50 of the greatest road trips you can take in North America with inspirational photography and — most importantly — food recommendations.

Amazon

Ferrari: From Inside and Outside

• $57.00 at Amazon
  $75.00 (24% off)

Enzo Ferrari originally built street cars to fund his Formula 1 racing operation. This is the story of the F1 team artfully told with 300 pages of beautiful photography from legends Ercole Colombo and Rainer Schlegelmilch.

Amazon

A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next

• $23.00 at Amazon
  $28.00 (16% off)

Historian Tom Standage dives into the history of personal transportation and its essential role in shaping societies from antiquity through modern times.

Amazon

My Dad Had That Car: A Nostalgic Look at the American Automobile, 1920-1990

• $27.00 at Amazon
  $37.00 (28% off)

This exhaustive illustrated history spans 70 years, covering 10,000 cars over 1,300 pages from the American auto industry’s golden age. It’s chock full of arcane facts your dad can pretend to remember off-hand.

Amazon

Pininfarina: 90 Anni / 90 Years

• $110.00 at Amazon
  $150.00 (27% off)

Pininfarina is the iconic Italian design firm that has shaped some of the most stunning cars from Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Maserati among others. This book details all 632 — yes, 632— of them over the company’s 90-year history.

Amazon

Indy Split: The Big Money Battle that Nearly Destroyed Indy Racing

• $22.00 at Amazon
  $35.00 (36% off)

Longtime motorsports reporter John Oreovicz writes an authoritative history of the split between Indy Car series that deeply wounded open-wheel racing in the U.S.

Amazon

McQueen’s Motorcycles: Racing and Riding with the King of Cool

• $35.00 at Amazon

Steve McQueen was as cool and notable in the motorcycle world as he was in the car realm. From his first Harley-Davidson to vintage bikes acquired as a Hollywood star, here’s a complete look at his legendary collection.

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