History's Greatest Automotive Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed
James Dean's Killer Porsche, NASCAR's Fastest Monke
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.26
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Roger Wayne
About this listen
Explore the origins of some of the automotive world’s most intriguing stories, mysteries, myths, rumors, and legends.
Fantastic stories have swirled around the automobile since the first car appeared over 100 years ago. History’s Greatest Automotive Mysteries, Myths, and Rumors Revealed compiles a juicy selection covering subjects from racing to automakers, crime to pop culture, and historical to modern day.
Did you know that after James Dean’s death behind the wheel of his Porsche 550 Spyder, parts of the car were sold off, and said parts then cursed their new owners? Or did they?
Did you know Bonnie and Clyde stole Ford V-8s almost exclusively as getaway cars because they were the fastest cars of their day? Or that Clyde Barrow wrote Henry Ford a “thank-you” note for building the cars that made escaping his bank heists so successful?
NASCAR has been the source of countless myths and legends. Did you know, for example, that a monkey by the name of Jocko Flocko once won a Grand National race? (Hall of Fame driver Tim Flock helped.) Or that one of the most famous stock cars in NASCAR lore—a Chevelle built by legendary rules-bender Smokey Yunick—never actually turned a lap on a racetrack?
Did you ever hear the one about the 1964 Impala that flew into a cliff—at 350 miles per hour—in the Arizona desert, thereby winning the inaugural Darwin Award? How about the Ford Pinto that flew like a bird? Or the 68-horsepower Hyundai Excel that maxed out at 115 miles per hour while speeding Rodney King to a rendezvous that would eventually lead to the L.A. Riots?
What was the first car to break the sound barrier? Who won the first Indy 500? What kind of car was dancer Isadora Duncan in when she was killed? What car performed the most spectacular stunt in the James Bond movie oeuvre?
In all of these cases, the answers may not be what you think.
These are just a few of the automotive world’s crazy stories, mysteries, myths, and legends.
Listen and be amazed!
©2022 Matt Stone and Preston Lerner (P)2022 MotorbooksListeners also enjoyed...
-
Killing Jesus
- A History
- By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of people have thrilled to best-selling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, works of nonfiction that have changed the way we view history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly 2,000 years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God.
-
-
The Jesus story in context
- By Kimberly on 10-01-13
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
-
Engines of Change
- A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars
- By: Paul Ingrassia
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America was made manifest by its cars. From the assembly lines of Henry Ford to the open roads of Route 66 and Jack Kerouac, America's history is a vehicular history-an idea brought brilliantly to life in this major work by the acclaimed author of Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster.
-
-
Cars, Computers, and "Engines of Change"
- By Joshua Kim on 06-17-12
By: Paul Ingrassia
-
The History of Ferrari
- Volume 2, Book 1
- By: J.P. Evans
- Narrated by: Damien Fletcher
- Length: 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Do you love cars? Do you love interesting stories about start-ups? Do you love crazy stories about founders and their ups and downs? This book, and the books in this series, are for you.
-
-
The Rise of Ferrari
- By Anonymous User on 10-21-23
By: J.P. Evans
-
American Trivia
- By: Paul Dennard
- Narrated by: Ivan Busenius
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even if you think your trivia knowledge is already pretty good, do you really think you could beat the best? Test your skills and earn a reputation as the ultimate American trivia quiz master! Discover something fun and exciting that will prove your superior knowledge and provide a great game to keep everyone entertained–you’ll become the best host around!
-
-
All you need to relax and have fun with family!
- By Seritta Hill on 09-03-23
By: Paul Dennard
-
Surviving to Drive
- A Year Inside Formula 1: An F1 Book
- By: Guenther Steiner
- Narrated by: Guenther Steiner
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Surviving to Drive, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner brings listeners inside his Formula 1 team for the entirety of the 2022 season, giving an unobstructed view of what really takes place behind the scenes. Through this unique lens, Steiner guides listeners on the thrilling rollercoaster of life at the heart of high-stakes motor racing.
-
-
Great Audiobook to pass the time
- By Danny L on 11-01-24
By: Guenther Steiner
-
The Carroll Shelby Story
- By: Carroll Shelby
- Narrated by: Chris Abernathy
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carroll Shelby wasn’t born to run. He was born to race - some of the fastest cars ever to tear up a speedway. The exciting new feature film Ford v Ferrari - starring Matt Damon as Shelby and Christian Bale as fellow racer Ken Miles - immortalizes the small-town Texas boy who won the notorious Le Mans 24-hour endurance challenge and changed the face of auto racing with the legendary Shelby Cobra. But there’s much more to his high-velocity, history-making story.
-
-
Interesting but not what I expected
- By Pablo Puente Jr on 01-01-20
By: Carroll Shelby
-
Killing Jesus
- A History
- By: Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
- Narrated by: Bill O'Reilly
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Millions of people have thrilled to best-selling authors Bill O'Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln, works of nonfiction that have changed the way we view history. Now the anchor of The O'Reilly Factor details the events leading up to the murder of the most influential man in history: Jesus of Nazareth. Nearly 2,000 years after this beloved and controversial young revolutionary was brutally killed by Roman soldiers, more than 2.2 billion human beings attempt to follow his teachings and believe he is God.
-
-
The Jesus story in context
- By Kimberly on 10-01-13
By: Bill O'Reilly, and others
-
Engines of Change
- A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars
- By: Paul Ingrassia
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America was made manifest by its cars. From the assembly lines of Henry Ford to the open roads of Route 66 and Jack Kerouac, America's history is a vehicular history-an idea brought brilliantly to life in this major work by the acclaimed author of Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster.
-
-
Cars, Computers, and "Engines of Change"
- By Joshua Kim on 06-17-12
By: Paul Ingrassia
-
The History of Ferrari
- Volume 2, Book 1
- By: J.P. Evans
- Narrated by: Damien Fletcher
- Length: 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Do you love cars? Do you love interesting stories about start-ups? Do you love crazy stories about founders and their ups and downs? This book, and the books in this series, are for you.
-
-
The Rise of Ferrari
- By Anonymous User on 10-21-23
By: J.P. Evans
-
American Trivia
- By: Paul Dennard
- Narrated by: Ivan Busenius
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even if you think your trivia knowledge is already pretty good, do you really think you could beat the best? Test your skills and earn a reputation as the ultimate American trivia quiz master! Discover something fun and exciting that will prove your superior knowledge and provide a great game to keep everyone entertained–you’ll become the best host around!
-
-
All you need to relax and have fun with family!
- By Seritta Hill on 09-03-23
By: Paul Dennard
-
Surviving to Drive
- A Year Inside Formula 1: An F1 Book
- By: Guenther Steiner
- Narrated by: Guenther Steiner
- Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Surviving to Drive, Haas team principal Guenther Steiner brings listeners inside his Formula 1 team for the entirety of the 2022 season, giving an unobstructed view of what really takes place behind the scenes. Through this unique lens, Steiner guides listeners on the thrilling rollercoaster of life at the heart of high-stakes motor racing.
-
-
Great Audiobook to pass the time
- By Danny L on 11-01-24
By: Guenther Steiner
-
The Carroll Shelby Story
- By: Carroll Shelby
- Narrated by: Chris Abernathy
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Carroll Shelby wasn’t born to run. He was born to race - some of the fastest cars ever to tear up a speedway. The exciting new feature film Ford v Ferrari - starring Matt Damon as Shelby and Christian Bale as fellow racer Ken Miles - immortalizes the small-town Texas boy who won the notorious Le Mans 24-hour endurance challenge and changed the face of auto racing with the legendary Shelby Cobra. But there’s much more to his high-velocity, history-making story.
-
-
Interesting but not what I expected
- By Pablo Puente Jr on 01-01-20
By: Carroll Shelby
-
Paddle Your Own Canoe
- One Man's Fundamentals for Delicious Living
- By: Nick Offerman
- Narrated by: Nick Offerman
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Growing a perfect moustache, grilling red meat, wooing a woman - who better to deliver this tutelage than the always charming, always manly Nick Offerman, best known as Parks and Recreation's Ron Swanson? Combining his trademark comic voice and very real expertise in woodworking - he runs his own woodshop - Paddle Your Own Canoe features tales from Offerman's childhood in small-town Minooka, Illinois, to his theater days in Chicago, beginnings as a carpenter/actor and the hilarious and magnificent seduction of his now-wife Megan Mullally.
-
-
On the need to acknowledge the role luck plays
- By OpenMindedNotCredulous on 11-17-13
By: Nick Offerman
-
The Second World War: A Complete History
- By: Martin Gilbert
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 43 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill, offers a complete history of World War II. It began with the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. By the time it came to an end on V-Day - August 14, 1945 - it had involved every major power, and had become global in its reach. In the final accounting, it would turn out to be - in both human terms and material resources - the costliest war in history, taking the lives of forty-six million people.
-
-
A Catalog of Atrocities, Ignores the Japanese
- By Doc G on 02-28-19
By: Martin Gilbert
-
The Car
- The Rise and Fall of the Machine That Made the Modern World
- By: Bryan Appleyard
- Narrated by: Jim Seybert
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book celebrates the immense drama and beauty of the car, of the genius embodied in the Ford Model T, of the glory of the brilliant-red Mercedes Benz S-Class made by workers for Nelson Mandela on his release from prison, of Kanye West's "chopped" Maybach, of the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, and even of that harbinger of the end—the Tesla Model S and its creator Elon Musk. As the age of the car as we know it comes to an end, Bryan Appleyard's brilliantly insightful book tells the story of the rise and fall of the incredible machine that made the modern world what it is today.
-
-
Enaging
- By andrew bengtson on 08-22-23
By: Bryan Appleyard
-
The Perfectionists
- How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement - precision - in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future.
-
-
Somewhat less than perfect
- By enya keshet on 06-19-18
By: Simon Winchester
-
How to Build a Car
- By: Adrian Newey
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world's foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britain's greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir. How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrian's unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which he's been involved.
-
-
Snooze fest
- By moo on 02-09-20
By: Adrian Newey
-
Spaceport Earth
- The Reinvention of Spaceflight
- By: Joe Pappalardo
- Narrated by: Kevin Kenerly
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Aerospace journalist Joe Pappalardo has witnessed space rocket launches around the world, from the jungle of French Guiana to the coastline of California. In his comprehensive work Spaceport Earth, Pappalardo describes the rise of private companies in the United States and how they are reshaping the way the world is using space for industry and science. Spaceport Earth is a travelogue through modern space history as it is being made.
-
-
A Brilliant Future for Humanity
- By Ian Arias on 08-03-21
By: Joe Pappalardo
-
Joey Dunlop
- The Definitive Biography
- By: Stuart Barker
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joey Dunlop's story is one of towering triumphs and desperate tragedies in almost equal measure. Born poor—dirt poor—with no running water, no electricity, he was the definition of the everyman hero, earning the title 'King of the Roads' in what must be considered one of the world's most extreme sports—motorcycle road racing. And as well as being voted Northern Ireland's greatest ever sportsman, he remains the most loved and most successful road racer of all time.
-
-
An absolute pleasure to listen to.
- By Amazon Customer on 11-30-23
By: Stuart Barker
-
Driving Like Crazy
- Thirty Years of Vehicular Hell-bending Celebrating America the Way It’s Supposed to Be--With an Oil Well in Every Backyard, a Cadillac Escalade in Every Carport, and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Mowing Our Lawn
- By: P. J. O'Rourke
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this newly collected anthology of spiels-on-wheels, O'Rourke celebrates cars and berates car haters, and chronicles America's relationship with automobiles from love for a powerful chariot of freedom to tolerance of an oversized household appliance with an extra-long extension cord.
-
-
Classic O'Rourke
- By Ray on 07-03-11
By: P. J. O'Rourke
-
The Limit
- Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit
- By: Michael Cannell
- Narrated by: Fred Stella
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Phil Hill, a lowly California mechanic who, defying all expectations, became the first American to win the Grand Prix championship. In the tradition of Seabiscuit and The Right Stuff, Cannell’s high-octane narrative evokes the lives of the daredevils who tempted fate each Sunday by driving well over 150 mph without benefit of seat belts or roll bars.
-
-
Great Intro to F1 History
- By Aser Tolentino on 01-19-13
By: Michael Cannell
-
A Brief History of Motion
- From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next
- By: Tom Standage
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom Standage's fleet-footed and surprising global histories have delighted fans and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Now, he returns with a provocative account of an overlooked form of technology - personal transportation - and explores how it has shaped societies and cultures over millennia. Beginning around 3,500 BCE with the wheel - a device that didn't catch on until a couple thousand years after its invention - Standage zips through the eras of horsepower, trains, and bicycles, revealing how each successive mode of transit embedded itself in the world we live in.
-
-
Great listen
- By CKerb on 11-09-21
By: Tom Standage
-
Don't Make Me Pull Over!
- By: Richard Ratay
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the days before cheap air travel, families didn’t so much take vacations as survive them. Between home and destination lay thousands of miles and dozens of annoyances, and with his family Richard Ratay experienced all of them - from being crowded into the backseat with noogie-happy older brothers, to picking out a souvenir only to find that a better one might have been had at the next attraction, to dealing with a dad who didn’t believe in bathroom breaks.
-
-
Loved it! Super for Oldsters!
- By Sharlotte on 07-08-18
By: Richard Ratay
-
James May's 20th Century
- By: James May, Phil Dolling
- Narrated by: James May
- Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How much should you pay for a return trip to the moon? How are Winnie the Pooh and the artificial heart related? Did teenagers exist before 1950? If not, who invented them? James May's 20th Century answers all these questions and more.
-
-
brilliant.
- By Chris Thompson on 04-08-19
By: James May, and others
Critic reviews
“Maybe you grew up liking the Ripleys’ Believe it Or Not panels that ran in your local paper’s comic section. If so, the format and content of this interesting exercise in debunking the past may genuinely catch your interest… it’s an entertaining read.” (Hemmings Motor News)
"... an interesting read...they weave entertaining stories of vehicular crime, racing, moviemaking and various mishaps and mayhem." (The New York Times)
"A good deal of the fun here is in following the authors’ steps as they sought to prove or disprove the various tales." (Auto Restorer)
Related to this topic
-
Faster
- How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler's Best
- By: Neal Bascomb
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Nazi Germany launched its campaign of racial terror and pushed the world toward war, three misfits banded together to challenge Hitler’s dominance at the apex of motorsport: the Grand Prix. Their quest for redemption culminated in a remarkable race that is still talked about in racing circles to this day - but which, soon after it ended, Hitler attempted to completely erase from history.
-
-
Almost perfect, but lousy sound cuts and splicing
- By F. on 06-08-20
By: Neal Bascomb
-
Drive!
- Henry Ford, George Selden, and the Race to Invent the Auto Age
- By: Lawrence Goldstone
- Narrated by: Christopher Price
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the acclaimed author of Birdmen comes a revelatory new history of the birth of the automobile - an illuminating and entertaining true tale of invention, competition, and the visionaries, hustlers, and swindlers who came together to transform the world. With a narrative as propulsive as its subject, Drive! plunges us headlong into a time unlike any in history, when manic innovation and consumerist zeal coalesced to forever change the way people got from one place to another.
-
-
Ford Detractor.
- By Eric Johnston on 08-15-22
-
Engines of Change
- A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars
- By: Paul Ingrassia
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America was made manifest by its cars. From the assembly lines of Henry Ford to the open roads of Route 66 and Jack Kerouac, America's history is a vehicular history-an idea brought brilliantly to life in this major work by the acclaimed author of Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster.
-
-
Cars, Computers, and "Engines of Change"
- By Joshua Kim on 06-17-12
By: Paul Ingrassia
-
The Top Gear Story
- By: Martin Roach
- Narrated by: Jerome Pride
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the full story of the unstoppable rise of Clarkson, Hammond, May and The Stig – and how they have transformed an ordinary programme about cars into one of the most famous and best-loved TV programmes of the 21st century. Reaching a peak in the 1990s thanks to presenter Jeremy Clarkson, the original series then faced the axe in 2001 – but Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman successfully pitched a new format to BBC bosses and Top Gear returned to become the irreverent, funny and often controversial show we now know and love.
-
-
I wish I had bought something else
- By Thomas on 03-12-12
By: Martin Roach
-
Go Like Hell
- Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans
- By: A. J. Baime
- Narrated by: Jones Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the early 1960s, Ford Motor Company, built to bring automobile transportation to the masses, was falling behind. Baby boomers were taking to the roads in droves, looking for speed not safety, style not comfort, and Ford didn’t offer what these young drivers wanted. Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari lorded over the European racing scene, crafting beautiful, fast sports cars that epitomized style.
-
-
Goldern age of racing
- By Dan R. on 01-26-15
By: A. J. Baime
-
Fins
- Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit
- By: William Knoedelseder
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook chronicles the birth and rise to greatness of the American auto industry through the life of Harley Earl, an eccentric six-foot-five, stuttering visionary who dropped out of college and went on to invent the profession of automobile styling, thereby revolutionized the way cars were made, marketed, and even imagined. Harleys Earl’s story qualifies as a bona fide American family saga. It began in the Michigan pine forest in the years after the Civil War, traveled across the Great Plains on the wheels of a covered wagon, and eventually settled in Hollywood, California.
-
-
Great report of amazing history but could do without the WOKE lean..
- By joshua Shaw on 07-02-22
-
Faster
- How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler's Best
- By: Neal Bascomb
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Nazi Germany launched its campaign of racial terror and pushed the world toward war, three misfits banded together to challenge Hitler’s dominance at the apex of motorsport: the Grand Prix. Their quest for redemption culminated in a remarkable race that is still talked about in racing circles to this day - but which, soon after it ended, Hitler attempted to completely erase from history.
-
-
Almost perfect, but lousy sound cuts and splicing
- By F. on 06-08-20
By: Neal Bascomb
-
Drive!
- Henry Ford, George Selden, and the Race to Invent the Auto Age
- By: Lawrence Goldstone
- Narrated by: Christopher Price
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the acclaimed author of Birdmen comes a revelatory new history of the birth of the automobile - an illuminating and entertaining true tale of invention, competition, and the visionaries, hustlers, and swindlers who came together to transform the world. With a narrative as propulsive as its subject, Drive! plunges us headlong into a time unlike any in history, when manic innovation and consumerist zeal coalesced to forever change the way people got from one place to another.
-
-
Ford Detractor.
- By Eric Johnston on 08-15-22
-
Engines of Change
- A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars
- By: Paul Ingrassia
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 11 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
America was made manifest by its cars. From the assembly lines of Henry Ford to the open roads of Route 66 and Jack Kerouac, America's history is a vehicular history-an idea brought brilliantly to life in this major work by the acclaimed author of Crash Course: The American Automobile Industry's Road from Glory to Disaster.
-
-
Cars, Computers, and "Engines of Change"
- By Joshua Kim on 06-17-12
By: Paul Ingrassia
-
The Top Gear Story
- By: Martin Roach
- Narrated by: Jerome Pride
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the full story of the unstoppable rise of Clarkson, Hammond, May and The Stig – and how they have transformed an ordinary programme about cars into one of the most famous and best-loved TV programmes of the 21st century. Reaching a peak in the 1990s thanks to presenter Jeremy Clarkson, the original series then faced the axe in 2001 – but Clarkson and producer Andy Wilman successfully pitched a new format to BBC bosses and Top Gear returned to become the irreverent, funny and often controversial show we now know and love.
-
-
I wish I had bought something else
- By Thomas on 03-12-12
By: Martin Roach
-
Go Like Hell
- Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans
- By: A. J. Baime
- Narrated by: Jones Allen
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the early 1960s, Ford Motor Company, built to bring automobile transportation to the masses, was falling behind. Baby boomers were taking to the roads in droves, looking for speed not safety, style not comfort, and Ford didn’t offer what these young drivers wanted. Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari lorded over the European racing scene, crafting beautiful, fast sports cars that epitomized style.
-
-
Goldern age of racing
- By Dan R. on 01-26-15
By: A. J. Baime
-
Fins
- Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit
- By: William Knoedelseder
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This audiobook chronicles the birth and rise to greatness of the American auto industry through the life of Harley Earl, an eccentric six-foot-five, stuttering visionary who dropped out of college and went on to invent the profession of automobile styling, thereby revolutionized the way cars were made, marketed, and even imagined. Harleys Earl’s story qualifies as a bona fide American family saga. It began in the Michigan pine forest in the years after the Civil War, traveled across the Great Plains on the wheels of a covered wagon, and eventually settled in Hollywood, California.
-
-
Great report of amazing history but could do without the WOKE lean..
- By joshua Shaw on 07-02-22
-
Land Rover
- The Story of the Car That Conquered the World
- By: Ben Fogle
- Narrated by: Rupert Farley
- Length: 10 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As quintessentially British as a plate of fish and chips or a British bulldog, the boxy, utilitarian Land Rover Defender has become an iconic part of what it is to be British. It is said that for more than half the world's population, the first car they ever saw was a Land Rover Defender. It mirrors many of our national traits, stiff upper-lipped and slightly eccentric.
-
-
Amazing! Great sub-stories
- By Daniel Caballero on 04-30-24
By: Ben Fogle
-
Ingenious
- A True Story of Invention, Automotive Daring, and the Race to Revive America
- By: Jason Fagone
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2007, the X Prize Foundation announced that it would give $10 million to anyone who could build a safe, mass-producible car that could travel one hundred miles on the energy equivalent of a gallon of gas. The challenge attracted more than one hundred teams from all over the world, including dozens of amateurs. Many designed their cars entirely from scratch, rejecting decades of thinking about what a car should look like.
-
-
Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels.
- By Shamu from New York on 12-07-13
By: Jason Fagone
-
Car Wars
- The Rise, the Fall, and the Resurgence of the Electric Car
- By: John Fialka
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The resurgence of the electric car in modern life is a tale of adventurers, men and women who bucked the complete dominance of the fossil-fueled car to seek something cleaner, simpler and cheaper. Award-winning former Wall Street Journal reporter John Fialka documents the early days of the electric car, from the MIT/Caltech race between prototypes in the summer of 1968 to the 1987 victory of the Sunraycer in the world's first race featuring solar-powered cars.
By: John Fialka
-
Merlin
- The Power Behind the Spitfire, Mosquito and Lancaster: The Story of the Engine That Won the Battle of Britain and WWII
- By: Graham Hoyland
- Narrated by: Chris Courtenay, Philip Pope
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The most iconic planes of WWII, the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, DeHavilland Mosquito and the Avro Lancaster, were all powered by one engine, the Rolls-Royce Merlin. The story of the Merlin is one of British ingenuity at its height, of artistry and problem-solving that resulted in a war-winning design.
-
-
Mostly a history of Rolls Royce
- By Rafael on 09-07-21
By: Graham Hoyland
-
Autonomy
- The Quest to Build the Driverless Car—and How It Will Reshape Our World
- By: Lawrence D. Burns, Christopher Shulgan
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Autonomy, former GM executive and current advisor to the Google Self-Driving Car project Lawrence Burns offers a sweeping history of the race to make the driverless car a reality. In the past decade, Silicon Valley companies like Google, Tesla and Uber have positioned themselves to revolutionize the way we move around by developing driverless vehicles while traditional auto companies like General Motors, Ford, and Daimler have been fighting back by partnering by with new tech start-ups.
-
-
Easy listen, non-technical perspective
- By James S. on 09-14-18
By: Lawrence D. Burns, and others
-
The Limit
- Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit
- By: Michael Cannell
- Narrated by: Fred Stella
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Phil Hill, a lowly California mechanic who, defying all expectations, became the first American to win the Grand Prix championship. In the tradition of Seabiscuit and The Right Stuff, Cannell’s high-octane narrative evokes the lives of the daredevils who tempted fate each Sunday by driving well over 150 mph without benefit of seat belts or roll bars.
-
-
Great Intro to F1 History
- By Aser Tolentino on 01-19-13
By: Michael Cannell
-
How to Build a Car
- By: Adrian Newey
- Narrated by: Richard Trinder
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The world's foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britain's greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir. How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrian's unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which he's been involved.
-
-
Snooze fest
- By moo on 02-09-20
By: Adrian Newey
-
A Brief History of Motion
- From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next
- By: Tom Standage
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Tom Standage's fleet-footed and surprising global histories have delighted fans and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Now, he returns with a provocative account of an overlooked form of technology - personal transportation - and explores how it has shaped societies and cultures over millennia. Beginning around 3,500 BCE with the wheel - a device that didn't catch on until a couple thousand years after its invention - Standage zips through the eras of horsepower, trains, and bicycles, revealing how each successive mode of transit embedded itself in the world we live in.
-
-
Great listen
- By CKerb on 11-09-21
By: Tom Standage
-
Disney's Land
- Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World
- By: Richard Snow
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 12 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is a spectacular story of error and innovation, a wild ride from a vision to the realization of an iconic cultural landscape. It reflects the park’s uniqueness, but just as strongly that of the man who built it with a watchmaker’s precision, an artist’s conviction, and the desperate, high-hearted recklessness of a riverboat gambler.
-
-
Okay, but better books on the subject
- By J.D. on 12-07-19
By: Richard Snow
-
The Perfectionists
- How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
- By: Simon Winchester
- Narrated by: Simon Winchester
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling author traces the development of technology from the Industrial Age to the Digital Age to explore the single component crucial to advancement - precision - in a superb history that is both an homage and a warning for our future.
-
-
Somewhat less than perfect
- By enya keshet on 06-19-18
By: Simon Winchester
-
The Flight 981 Disaster
- Tragedy, Treachery, and the Pursuit of Truth
- By: Samme Chittum
- Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
- Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On June 12, 1972, a powerful explosion rocked American Airlines Flight 96 a mere five minutes after its takeoff from Detroit. The explosion ripped a gaping hole in the bottom of the aircraft and jammed the hydraulic controls. Miraculously, despite the damage and ensuing chaos, the pilots were able to land the plane safely. Less than two years later, on March 3, 1974, a sudden, forceful blowout tore through Turk Hava Yollari (THY) Flight 981 from Paris to London. THY Flight 981 was not as lucky as Flight 96: it crashed in a forest in France.
-
-
Fill fill fill...
- By Rodney on 02-15-22
By: Samme Chittum
-
The World's Fastest Man
- The Extraordinary Life of Cyclist Major Taylor, America's First Black Sports Hero
- By: Michael Kranish
- Narrated by: David Sadzin
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the tradition of The Boys in the Boat and Seabiscuit, a fascinating portrait of a groundbreaking but forgotten figure - the remarkable Major Taylor, the Black man who broke racial barriers by becoming the world’s fastest and most famous bicyclist at the height of the Jim Crow era.
-
-
before there was Jesse Owens and Jackie Robinson
- By Leo on 07-29-19
By: Michael Kranish