Very interesting book, even for those that may not have a "car guy" love of cars. My husband read it also, he IS a car guy and there were some facts that surprised him. An easy read and a source to go back to over and over again. Good for random trivia facts to throw out at parties.

Splendid reference work. I can't imagine any work using succinct precise facts and figures being more complete and knowledgeable than what Steve has compiled in 1001 Muscle Car Facts. An era of power machinery has never been more deliberately documented and Steve Magnante is the master of facts, figures and distinctions that prove that Muscle Cars not only existed and roamed the earth, but that they ruled the imaginations of every driver who ever dreamed of limitless power, absolute precision and rocket speed.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. So, in all honesty, I am not really into muscle cars, BUT my dad REALLY is and has been for most of his life, and he re-builds and restores these cars. I would consider him to be an expert, so, growing up around him, I'm not completely ignorant on this topic.

The first thing that struck me about the book is the physical quality of it! It is one heavy book since it is printed on smooth, heavy-duty paper. The binding almost allows for the book to lie flat, which is nice. This book would have been the ultimate in quality to me if it were in full color, but everything is in black and white. There are quite a few captioned pictures spread throughout, and though they are not in color, they are clear enough to see important details. And now that I think about it, it's probably not all that important to have color images when you're looking at close-ups of engine or body parts. It only feels lacking when you see a mostly full shot of a car and can't see what beautiful paint color it has on it.

I like that the book is organized in a simple way. The facts are divided by corporation then by make then by category for each make: legend and lore, body and interior, engine and driveline, suspension and brakes, and number crunching/press commentary.

The writing showcases Steve Magnante's encyclopedic knowledge, while still being fairly conversational and easy and interesting to read. It even gets personal with some anecdotes throughout. I'm not really interested in muscle cars, but I think I could read this book all the way through without being bored, especially since all the information is in bite-size chunks. Each entry is about one to three paragraphs in length, which makes this a great book to keep around somewhere you want to sneak in a minute or two of reading here and there. I can't imagine even experts not learning something new since most of the 1001 facts are very technical and specific. This book is a must-have if you have any level of interest in muscle cars!

I will be passing this book onto my dad as a gift, which I'm sure he will love. I will update this review if he has any special comments on the book, since his perspective is more useful than mine when it comes to the content.

I really wish that this book was part of a series that covered different topics. I am jealous of muscle car enthusiasts who have this book. I would love to read a book written in Magnante's style on a topic I'm passionate about. ( )

Steve Magnante's 1001 Muscle Car Facts certainly lives up to its title, it is crammed full of facts. If you want a book of facts—interesting facts—that is what you get. I like the book, but I found the concept lacking. One thousand and one facts essentially means most paragraphs have a number (some facts run two or three paragraphs). While the book is organized by manufacturer and five subcategories, it has no index or other means to find facts about a specific car, engine, interior, etc. The back cover poses some questions, such as: "Did Pontiac actually ever build any GTO wagons?" The cover indicates the answer can be found on Page 45. Without that information, you would not know it was a question or that it was answered in the book without reading all thirty-seven pages devoted to Pontiac (100 facts). All in all an interesting read, although not a very helpful reference. ( )

I know nothing about cars beyond the deep-seated desire of acquiring a 1967 Chevy Impala, painted black, with which to travel across the country after retiring from my traditional office job. As I do not have a driver’s license – fun fact – I’m hoping my partner will buy me this car and then drive us all over North America for adventures.

Because I have a hugely nerdy impulse to learn about everything and anything, I was very excited to receive this collection of facts. A numbered list about a subject I had little knowledge of? Perfect. The book is neatly broken down into sections of the models of cars: GM, Ford & Mercury, Chrysler, and American Motors & Studebakers. I was disappointed at the lack of introduction of what makes a muscle car a muscle car – upon further internet searches, I found that a muscle car is, according to Merriam-Webster, “any car of a group of American-made two-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving.” However, despite my initial disappointment, I quickly got sucked into this book.

The book utilizes a bit of car enthusiast lingo that, without a quick Google search or a vocabulary bank, the average reader would not know. VIN? Vehicle Identification Number. I had no idea. And the mere mention of cars is not enough for someone who is a visual learner, like me. I had to Google each car mentioned – I can identify a Pontiac or a Studebaker from far away, but I couldn’t tell you what year it was made or what model it was.

One of my favorite facts was that the California Highway Patrol apparently employed a fleet of Z/28 Camaros for law enforcement duty. How freaking cool is that? Around here, the standard cop car is a Crown Victoria (and there goes the extent of my car knowledge) – but seeing a cop driving around in that? That would be awesome.

Many of the facts focused on differences in the construction of the car, from the seats to the engines to the gas tanks, particularly why many of the parts were changed or switched out. Apparently power window switches weren’t added to Camaros until 1973 – I don’t envy grandparents having to explain to their grandchildren about hand-crank windows! But aside from the random fun fact (and with 1,001 of them, there were several that I enjoyed more than others), there was no real logical progression to the list. The author discussed Dennis Hopper posing in front of a 2004 GTO on one page and on the next, the aluminum cast molds on Pontiacs made to shed car weight for racing. I did learn quite a bit about cars in general, although I will likely never remember most of them. It piqued my interest and I did quite a bit of searching for meaning in jargon or to find out more about a particular car or fact, so reading the book was a project, but a fun one. I wish there were more pictures of the actual cars, not only of people in front of the cars. Overall I enjoyed the book as a fun (but research-intensive) read. While it did not entirely satisfy my thirst for car knowledge, it did give me direction for what I would like to eventually research. ( )