As for the book being for sale...
It is best to be honest about the situation here. The book takes right at 30 hours to make. 26 hours of machine time, 2 hours to polish everything, and 2 hours to assemble it. The printing is about $200 each copy, as the book is 300 pages long and the pages are all from "cover stock" paper.
This does not count the over 400 hours to write the book, the programming, or the design time.
When Larry got the book, he said it was much nicer than the book he got with his McLaren F1. That made me smile! It made me think all the work was worth it.
Full disclosure--I also gave a copy of the book to Jamo and one to Ron Richards. Now, there will be some who think I am trying to bribe, cajole, coerce, bully, beg, whatever, the moderators on this site. Well, they can think what they want.
The fact is, Jamo has helped our company for many, many years with legal advise. He has never asked for a dime in return--never. He helped my sister when she was first starting out in law. He has been a dear friend of ours for a long time. Those who see him moderate on this site know he is fair and will call me (and anyone else) an idiot when I deserve it. True friends do that sort of thing. If your friends won't tell you, no one will.
Ron Richards is the Kirkham Registrar for SAAC. He spends countless hours tracking the history of our cars--all without any compensation. Our company has been blessed with wonderful customers who have become our friends over the years. Ron Richard's wife thanked me for the book in an email, "My tears tonight are full of joy for you and your family." I hope he doesn't mind I posted that. They both called immediately upon receiving the book thanking me. I have been more than paid for the book. It was the least I could do for the many years they have helped us. Another dear friend of mine once told me, "You need to take care of your friends, or you won't have any."
Because of the expense of making the billet book, and realizing there are some who want to read the book and can't afford it, I decided to publish it on the web. I have decided to publish it online so everyone can read it who wants to see it. Sure, the book is cool to have in your hands. Sure I'd like to make a million of them and sell them. But it is simply out of reach for some people as the machine time is pretty extensive.
The book has 72 pages dedicated to making the aluminum body. Many of our secrets for making the aluminum body are laid out in detailed photos and descriptions. Alloy selection, including F1 material selection, is detailed in the book. Much of that information was given to us for free by experts in their respective fields...now we want to pass it on too, for free.
An Army Of Davids by Glenn Reynolds of
www.instapundit.com (A great site, BTW) says the world is changing. I want everyone to be part of the information revolution who wants to be. Information is king. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis once said "Sunshine is the best disinfectant." With the web, sunshine is now free.
David
