Automobiles of America: Milestones, Pioneers, Roll Call, Highlights

The independent automakers who had survived the depression of the 1930s had flexibility and enough capital from the war to be the first to launch all-new models for a car starved nation. So lucrative was the American post-war car market that new automobile companies were also formed to cash in on the pent-up demand for new cars. This is their story told through text and the use of contemporary brochures, period literature, factory photos, road test info and over 90 new, unpublished color photos of restored examples to relate the importance of these historic vehicles.

The history of lesser known car manufacturers that no longer exist, though they were the best-sellers in their time, is generaly limited to a paragraph. This wonderful book on the DeDion-Bouton, #6 in the Ballantie series on the "History of the Car", is a treasure at 159 pages long. The paperback covers the 20 year rise of this most popular car and the reasons for its 20 year decline. It is plentifully illustrated with black-and-white photos, drawings and diagrams of car parts and many, possibly all, models. Nowhere else have I been able to find anything in literature or at local musea that might help me identify the model or the reason why and when my great-grandfather bought a DeDion-Bouton in the 1890's. If the others in this Balantine Series are as exhaustive, they make a great read/gift for the car enthusiast.