Car books - where a chassis number follows an ISBN number
01/15/2011
There are countless books about cars. But most of them are about brands such as Ferrari, Bugatti or Maserati. Then there are those that take a close look at a model series such as the Jaguar XK 120, the SL series from Mercedes or the Porsche 917. Among this enormous amount of literature, however, two books in particular have caught my eye so far, books whose main protagonist is just one single car, a chassis number corresponds to an ISBN number!
Who on earth has the courage to write a book about just "their own favorite" and who are the readers?
One book has the title "Am liebsten M.G." (ISBN no. 3-9520833-7-2) and is an autobiography about the MG K3 (014) by Max Zingg from St. Gallen. The other book is called "matto rosso" (ISBN no. 978-3-033-01979-9) and shows the life of the Morgan 037 - ANM 561 (type Flatrad 4/4 sport) by Hannes Obermayr from Meggen.
While Max Zingg has meticulously researched everything about the 33 MG K3s built and explains his ex-K3 (no. 3014) and every kilometer driven on 102 pages, Hannes Obermayr has written a story in which the Morgan 037 - ANM 561 reveals its own life in first-person form on 98 pages.
While every race, every change of ownership and every repair of the MG is described, the Morgan itself tells which owner was nice to it, in which garage it felt really comfortable and which ailments it developed in old age. The Morgan book is only illustrated with a few ink drawings by the author himself, while the MG is richly and well illustrated, plus many sales advertisements, sales contracts or other car documents for this valuable and extremely rare specimen.
"Am liebsten MG" is a book that should be on the shelf of every pre-war and supercharged car enthusiast, but for MG fans it is an absolute must. "matto rosso" transforms the reader into a car himself and lets him indulge in his own dreams and fantasies, making it a highly enjoyable read.
Preferably M.G.
- Vehicle: MG K3 Chassis #3014
- Author: Max Zingg
- Publisher: Typotron (order here)
- ISBN: 978-3-952-08337-6
- Publication date: 1998
Matto Rosso
- Vehicle: Morgan 037 Chassis #ANM561
- Author: Hannes Obermayr
- Publisher: ?
- ISBN: 978-3-033-01979-9
- Publication date: 1998
Recommended by our Zwischengas readers
We were made aware of the following books thanks to our Zwischengas readers and would not like to let them go unnoticed:
History of the Bugatti T32 with chassis number 4059
- Vehicle type: Bugatti Type 32 Tank Chassis #4059
- Author: Diego Ratti
- Publisher: www.lulu.com (order here )
- Publication date: 2008
- ISBN number: 978-1-4092-2487-7
Bugatti Type 35C No. 4928, The Story of a Grand Prix Racing Car
- Vehicle type: Bugatti Type 35C Chassis #4928
- Author: Lennart W. Haajanen
- Publisher: BOD International AB (order here)
- Publication date: 2008
- ISBN Number: 978-91-633-2160-3
The Original Ford GT 101
- Vehicle type: Ford GT40 Chassis #101
- Author: Ed Heuvink
- Publisher: McKlein (order here)
- Publication date: 2016
- ISBN Number: 978-3927458826
Porsche 917-021 - The Fabulous Story (German version)
- Vehicle: Porsche 917 Chassis #021
- Authors: Jacques Breuer, Raymond Collignon
- Distributed by McKlein (order here)
- Publication date: 2015
Porsche 904 GTS - Great Cars of Great Collections Vol. 3
- Vehicle: Porsche 904 GTS Chassis #092
- Author: Yoshiho Matsuda
- Photos: Komei Hanaoka
- Publisher: Matsuda Collection Publishing Ltd
- Publication date: 1982
Mercedes 300 SL - Great Cars of Great Collections Vol. 2
- Vehicle: Mercedes 300 SL Chassis #5500581
- Author: Yoshiho Matsuda
- Publisher: Matsuda Collection Publishing Ltd
- Publication date: 1981
Jaguar SS 100 - Great Cars of Great Collections Vol. 1
- Vehicle: Jaguar SS 100 Chassis #49022
- Author: Yoshiho Matsuda
- Publisher: Matsuda Collection Publishing Ltd
- Publication date: 1981
Lambert's Aston
- Author: Walter Herter
- Publisher: Self-published, Singapore, 3rd edition 1992 (1st edition 1987)
- Order book: unfortunately we do not know where you could still buy this book today
- Publication date: 1987
- Full title: Lambert's Aston - The history of a sports car or Certain cars are better born than others
The Maserati C8 Chassis-No. 3015 - Its history
- Vehicle: Maserati C8 Chassis #3015
- Author: Bernhard Brägger
- Publisher: Buchhandlung Schmidgasse (order here)
- Limited edition of 1000 pcs.
- German ISBN 978-3-905210-50-7
- English ISBN 978-3-905210-51-4
- Publication date: 2012
Maserati 3011: the story of a racing car
- Vehicle: Maserati 8CM (1934) Chassis #3011
- Author: Denis Jenkinson
- Publisher: Aries Press (order here)
- ISBN: 978-0951178508
- Publication date: 1987
Rebel Rebel: Breadvan - the Most Recognizable Ferrari in the World
- Vehicle: Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta, Chassis #2819GT
- Author: Marc Sonnery (in collaboration with Keith Bluemel)
- Publisher: Parker House Publishing (order here)
- ISBN: 978-0981727073
- Publication date: 2009
A Morgan called red
- Vehicle: Morgan Three-Wheeler
- Author: Larry Ayres
- Publisher: TPR Inc.(order here)
- ISBN: 978-0929758206
- Publication date: 2004
Magnette-ized: The Pedigree of MG K3015-2 from 1934 to 2007
- Vehicle: MG K3 Chassis #K3015-2
- Author: Leonard Goff
- Publisher: Leonard Goff (order here)
- Publication date: 2007
Jaguar Lightweight E-Type the autobiography of 4 WPD
- Vehicle: Jaguar E-Type Chassis #4WPD
- Author: Philip Porter
- Publisher: Porter Press (order here)
- ISBN: 978-1907085178
- Publication date: 2014
Porsche 917 - The Autobiography of 917-023
- Vehicle: Porsche 917 Chassis #023
- Author: Ian Wagstaff
- Publisher: Porter Press (order here)
- ISBN: 978-1907085215
- Publication date: 2015
Jaguar D-type - The Autobiography of XKD 504
- Vehicle: Jaguar D-Type Chassis #XKD 504
- Author: Philip Porter & Chas Parker
- Publisher: Porter Press (order here)
- ISBN: 978-1907085253
- Publication date: 2015
Ferrari 250 GT Short Wheelbase - The Autobiography of 2119 GT
- Vehicle: Ferrari 250 GT Short Wheelbase, Chassis #2119 GT
- Author: Doug Nye
- Publisher: Porter Press (order here)
- ISBN: 978-1907085239
- Publication date: 2015
Maserati 250F - The Autobiography of 2528
- Vehicle: Maserati 250F Chassis #2528
- Author: Ian Wagstaff
- Publisher: Porter Press (order here)
- ISBN: 978-1907085383
- Publication date: 2016
ERA R4D - The Autobiography of R4D
- Vehicle: ERA R4D
- Author: Mac Hulbert
- Publisher: Porter Press (order here)
- ISBN: 978-1907085406
- Publication date: 2016
Ferrari 250 GTO - The Autobiography of 4153 GT
- Vehicle: Ferrari 250 GTO , Chassis #4153 GT
- Author: Keith Bluemel
- Publisher: Porter Press (order here)
- ISBN: 978-1907085277
- Publication date: August 2017
GT40 - the autobiography of 1075
- Vehicle: Ford GT40 Chassis #1075
- Author: Ray Hutton
- Publisher: Porter Press (to be published end of 2017)
- ISBN: not yet known
- Publication date: end of 2017
ISO Bizzarrini: The Remarkable History of A3/C 0222
- Vehicle: ISO A3/C Grifo, Chassis #0222
- Author: Richard Heseltine
- Publisher: Porter Press (order here)
- ISBN: 978-1907085543
- Publication date: 2016
Jaguar XK 120 - The remarkable history of JWK 651
- Vehicle: Jaguar XK 120 Chassis #JWK 651
- Authors: Chas Parker & Philip Porter
- Publisher: Porter Press (order here)
- ISBN: 978-1907085567
- Publication date: August 2017
Ferrari 250 GT Sperimentale 'No. 2643'
- Vehicle: Ferrari 250 GT Sperimentale Chassis #2643
- Author: Stirling Moss
- Publisher: Mille Miglia Editrice
- Publication date: 1990
Do you know of any other books of this type?
We would be very interested to know if any other books have been written about just one chassis number and are also commercially available! If so, please contact us and tell us the title!
