'Rare Cars' by A. J. Baime is a super book at a super-book price
A. J. Baime has written eight books, one of them being “Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans.” You probably saw the movie version, “Ford vs. Ferrari.” Following two books on U.S. presidents and one on a civil rights activist, he’s back behind the figurative wheel with “Rare Cars,” published last month by Assouline. This time it’s all about appreciation, “Rare Cars” a coffee table tome taking large-format photographic looks at more than 40 cars built from 1941 to the modern day. The uniting thread is in the title, such that the 99 examples of the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham by Pininfarina represent the most replicated car in the book. But along with the Porsche 550 Spyder, which numbered 90 units, the two are outliers; the next-most-common car is the Spyker C8 Laviolette at just 55 units.
Side note, we mentioned that Eldorado recently when discussing the return of the Cadillac’s Flying Goddess for the Celestiq. Sculptor William Schnell created the Flying Goddess hood ornament in the 1920s to represent “the very spirit of unsurpassed swiftness and power, coupled with grace and perfect balance,” and she adorned Cadillac’s V8, V12, and V16 cars. She remained a fixture until 1956, her final appearance on that Pininfarina-bodied 1959 Eldorado Brougham, although the Italians restyled her so profoundly she could be mistaken for a bird or abstract art.
Rare Cars’ 203 illustrations over 304 pages lines up many of the usual suspects: An 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C, 1936 Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic, and 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV/J. There are extreme rarities like the 1954 Oldsmobile F-88 (one made), Porsche 917 Art Car (two made), and DeLorean’s gold-plated DMC-12 (three made). There are surprises like the 1971 Chevrolet Corvette ZR2 and W Motors Lykan HyperSport. And modern gear like the 2005 Maybach Exelero, 2019 Hispano Suiza Carmen Boulougne, and 2022 Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta — a $17M car, only three made, one of which crashed during a supercar rally in Zagreb, Croatia, the same year it left Horacio’s workshop.
This book is part of Assouline’s Ultimate Collection, a branding familiar from supercar maker McLaren (no relation) and the wider car world. It comes in a metal clamshell case lined with hand-stitched Italian leather, the book’s hardcover affixed with a metal and rubber plaque that’s been “lightly scented with an exclusively made rubber-infused essence.” The collection, described as “an homage to the art of luxury bookmaking. Hand-bound using traditional techniques, with color plates hand-tipped on art-quality paper, each limited-edition tome of this series bears the unique imprint of the artisan,” means you should expect a super book priced like a super-book: Rare Cars and its case weigh 20 pounds, the MSRP is $2,500. At least Assouline doesn’t charge destination on every purchase, “select orders” said to come with complimentary shipping.
