that new Shelby book is apparently on the market

[Historybuff]

I am only a few days late getting the word but apparently the new book by Coliln Comer on Shelby is out on the market. Entitled The Complete Book of Shelby Automobiles Cobras Mustangs and Super Snakes it is hardbound and you can get a peek at it on Amazon. comThough I haven’t seen the book in person, I was interested in the description on Amazon.com, to whit:

“Shelby American gained almost instant recognition from the moment the first Cobra hit the street. The entire original Cobra/Ford GT/Shelby Mustang period spanned just over eight years, eight years filled with countless racing accomplishments, the World Manufacturer's Championship, a 1-2-3 finish at LeMans, you name it and Shelby won it. The underdog did it, and to this day we are still rooting for him. And deservedly so.
The stories and accomplishments are legendary, but none more so than what can only be described as the magic this company and its cars possess to this day. It was the perfect storm. Shelby found the right ingredients, the right talent, the right sponsors, the right drivers, and enough unbridled enthusiasm to take what some had called "a bunch of junk" out into the world and not come home until there wasn't a challenge they didn't win. Call it what you will - dumb luck, stubbornness, or just being in the right place at the right time, nobody can deny that we will never see the likes of anything like Shelby ever again.
The Complete Book of Shelby is just that - a complete listing of Shelby automobiles. It is the story of every car ever touched by that Shelby magic. From Cobras to Mustangs, race cars to street cars, AC Cars to Toyota, it is your ticket to knowing a little more about every vehicle that Shelby "messed with" as the big Texan would say. Like anybody else, and any other manufacturer, Shelby had its ups and downs. There were great cars and cars we'd rather forget. But the story is indeed one of legend, and larger than life. The tale and the cars transcend traditional boundaries. It doesn't matter if you are a Chevy person or a European car enthusiast, a drag racer or a road racer, into NASCAR or sports cars, or even if you're not even really a "car person" there is something about Shelby that appeals to us all. It is an American success story. And not one of us can ever deny we always respect the underdog who beat all the odds to come out on top. That, in a nutshell, is the story of Shelby American. And every one of the cars that follows has that DNA in it. Grab a copy of the Complete Book of Shelby, fasten your lap belt, and enjoy the ride.

Book Description
Shelbys are the most iconic performance cars in the history of the American auto industry. This lavishly illustrated work conducts readers through Shelby American's forty-plus years. An exhaustive review of American high performance, from the first Cobra produced in 1962 through today's fire-breathing, world-beating Shelby GT500KR Mustang, The Complete Book of Shelby Automobiles offers an in-depth look at the ultra high-performance cars that have made Carroll Shelby a living automotive legend. With extensive details, specs, and photographic coverage, this book is the ultimate resource on America’s most exotic performance car. "

The book is 256 pages, hardbound, ISBN-10: 0760335788
ISBN-13: 978-0760335789 and weighs almosts four pounds. It measures 10.9 x 9.9 x 1.1 inches , and is just over an inch thick at least. It is rated at #12414 in popularity the day I read the review, so it’s moving up fast, already twice as popular in one week as Matt Stone's book on Steve McQueen which has been on the market at least a year.
I don’t know if it was Kindle but somehow on the net you can see the table of contents and a sample page of text and I like the fact the book has an index. I will be interested to see the pictures, having collected Shelby pictures for 40 years to see what new ones have been unearthed.
I will head over to Borders and Barnes & Noble and see if they have it though it only came out Nov. 16th, 2009. Incidentally it is list priced on Amazon.co as $45 but wouldn’t you know they have it priced at $29.70. It might be similarly priced at the big bookstores as Borders and B & N are having a price war at present.
Further opinion after I see it--I knew there would be an "ultimate coffee table book" on Shelby published someday but have to see this one before I can apply that title. I was thinking something more along the order of larger in page size and about 430 pages!

________________________________________

[Yetiman]

Look for a couple of my pictures taken at Road America in the book also !

-Charlie Terry-

[SunDude]

I hate to say it, but I beat you to the punch by about four months...

[Historybuff]

I knew the book was coming but details weren't available until just the last two weeks...when I went to Borders & Barnes & Noble I got the runaround, no books in, have to pay $47 unless I got a coupon,yadda yadda. How come Amazon says it's so much cheaper? Amazon must be making a nickel profit a book...

[Trevor Legate]

Been available in the UK for several weeks.......I supplied some images, some were used, others failed the test

[rms427]

I purchased this book on November 23rd and received it on the 25th. Paid $29.70 from Amazon with free shipping. Nice book with some great pictures.

[Historybuff]

I knew that someobody would eventually write the Ultimate Shelby book, and this is a good effort in that direction, especially in terms of the color pictures including historical ones and the black and white, also including some period photos instead of restored cars. The text is sufficient to be a words and picture book rather than just a picture book with captions.The author who buys and sells real Cobras and Shelby Mustangs shows off his expertise by including lists of serial numbers of significant cars such as FIA 289 Cobras, etc.

The author chose not to go into the background of why Ford did this or Shelby did that or why GM or Ford or Toyota tied in with Shelby--he sticks pretty close to the facts on the cars, their features, their production numbers and so forth. Following the background of decisions might have made a much longer book and delayed its production.

Mr. Comer includes chapters on the Dodge Shelbys, the Viper, the modern day replica Cobras, the modern day Shelbys, etc. and does not slight them in coverage because they aren't all Ford-based. His view is that all mechanical things created by Shelby will be possibly potential appreciators.

Where the book is a pleasure to own is the quality of printing, and the successful attempt to over the huge scope of ithe subject, covering as it does nearly 50 years of Shelby-created cars, and the rare photos which make it a keeper. Compare it to some of the same publisher's books on say, the Pontiac GTO, that don't have the same level of research or fact finding. Sad to say many "coffee table" books are only fit for the coffee table not for a serious library.

The Colin Comer book is available at Amazon.com for under $30, as a result of a price war with two book chains in which Amazon.com gives a hefty discount. The list price is $45, so there's enough money to order two or three other books in the same category, also at discount, if you were expecting to pay $45, the list price.

There might be heftier Shelby tomes to come (something,say 3 inches thick) but as far as value for the money, this one is a keeper at under $30...

[Dwight]

Great book. Lots of great pictures.
My wife has a book store and bought four copies for me. Now my Cobra buddies want her to get four more.
Great book for any Cobra buff.

Dwight

[MaSnaka]

I was lucky enough to receive this book as a birthday present last night. My wife somehow came across this publication without any guidence (in the form of hints or a wish list) from me. She said she had trouble locating it but fortunately our local Borders had 1 in stock, $45.00 less coupon. My first impression is it's a nice book on Cobras and Shelby cars. Great looking cover. As soon as I saw it couldn't believe it's the same book mentioned in this thread. Great wife intuition.

John

[eric johnson]

Originally Posted by Historybuff

I knew that someobody would eventually write the Ultimate Shelby book, and this is a good effort in that direction, especially in terms of the color pictures including historical ones and the black and white, also including some period photos instead of restored cars. The text is sufficient to be a words and picture book rather than just a picture book with captions.The author who buys and sells real Cobras and Shelby Mustangs shows off his expertise by including lists of serial numbers of significant cars such as FIA 289 Cobras, etc.

The author chose not to go into the background of why Ford did this or Shelby did that or why GM or Ford or Toyota tied in with Shelby--he sticks pretty close to the facts on the cars, their features, their production numbers and so forth. Following the background of decisions might have made a much longer book and delayed its production.

Mr. Comer includes chapters on the Dodge Shelbys, the Viper, the modern day replica Cobras, the modern day Shelbys, etc. and does not slight them in coverage because they aren't all Ford-based. His view is that all mechanical things created by Shelby will be possibly potential appreciators.

Where the book is a pleasure to own is the quality of printing, and the successful attempt to over the huge scope of ithe subject, covering as it does nearly 50 years of Shelby-created cars, and the rare photos which make it a keeper. Compare it to some of the same publisher's books on say, the Pontiac GTO, that don't have the same level of research or fact finding. Sad to say many "coffee table" books are only fit for the coffee table not for a serious library.

The Colin Comer book is available at Amazon.com for under $30, as a result of a price war with two book chains in which Amazon.com gives a hefty discount. The list price is $45, so there's enough money to order two or three other books in the same category, also at discount, if you were expecting to pay $45, the list price.

There might be heftier Shelby tomes to come (something,say 3 inches thick) but as far as value for the money, this one is a keeper at under $30...

Thanks for the nice review. How about GT40 content? How much? Anything new?

Eric

[FatBoy]

My wife bought me this book for Christmas.
A nice book with some great period photos not previously seen (by me).

As a side point, Borders went bust in the UK just before Christmas with all stores closing down. In the last few days, literally everything was for sale, including the shelves and cash registers.

[Gunner]

I got this for Xmas as well. The collection of images makes the book well worth having - but do buy it at Amazon prices, not retail!

The writing is barely competent. Maybe it doesn't matter much in a gearhead book but I found the text hard to follow and leaning way too much on a "good ol' boy" tone that was misused and came off like someone doing a bad, suspender-snapping impression of Shelby.

Freakin' amazing pictures, though, and plenty of solid information to back them up. It confirmed my general impression that there are hardly any two original Cobras alike - every batch of three or four or maybe a dozen was different from all the others. Puts the question mark in the originality debates...

[ERA Chas]

Trevor, any of your archive shots "borrowed"?

[Got the Bug]

I just received the book from Amazon today. My first impression was that it looks like a college textbook. I've only had a chance to thumb through it, but the book appears to have some really great pics.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-...2896703&sr=8-1

[Excaliber]

Well if it has pictures then even I could "read" it, I'm sold.

[Trevor Legate]

Hi Chas

No, I did get an email to ask if I had any interesting shots of the cars on their long wish-list. I supplied a packet of stuff but they only used a couple of early b&w shots of the Cobra's greasy bits. Most of my photography is 'non-American' for obvious reasons. We agreed a mutually beneficial deal....(a polite way of saying no money changed hands ;-)

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by Trevor Legate

Hi Chas

No, I did get an email to ask if I had any interesting shots of the cars on their long wish-list. I supplied a packet of stuff but they only used a couple of early b&w shots of the Cobra's greasy bits. Most of my photography is 'non-American' for obvious reasons. We agreed a mutually beneficial deal....(a polite way of saying no money changed hands ;-)

Glad to see piracy of the web has not struck you again.

[Got the Bug]

Chapter 23 details the "halcyon" years of Shelby's relationship with Dodge. All of the classics that you fondly remember...Charger GLHS, Omni GLH, The Shadow, Shelby CSX.

It puts a lump in your throat...like something coming the opposite way.

[Gunner]

"Put the big boy engine in there, paint it white with blue stripes - or vice-versy if you like - slap on some purty mags and two stickers with Ol' Shel's name... $100k for design services, Mr. Iacocca. Call me back aaaaannny time."