Book Review: Build Book – From Concept to Reality
You’re walking around a show and when you see a car cruise in that makes you stop in your tracks. You’re stunned and instantly curious. You’re hear it and feel it as it drives by. Time for a closer look. Cars that make you feel that way have alot to see, but it’s all skin deep. What’d he do for the rear axle setup? Are those custom engine mounts? Unless the builder took great pics and brought them, it’s tough to fully appreciate what it took to bring that car to the show. That’s where Build Book comes in.
BuildBookUSA.com has published 5 books covering 5 cars built by some of the top builders in country. I met Scott and BJ Killeen (long time auto journalists) at the Grand National Roadster Show and they were kind enough to let me preview the complete series of books. You gotta check these out!
The first book, and my favorite, is about Joe Rogan’s “Sick Fish” 70 Barracuda. Built by the legendary Troy Trepanier & Rad Rides by Troy, this book oozes coolness page by page. What do you want to know about the build?
Where’d they find the car? Check, got it…
Who did the concept and what’d it look like? Chip Foose did it and it was pretty wild compared to the final car.
How’d they start the build? Troy first sets “the look” by tucking in a set of 19’s and 22’s. From the book, “Trepanier doesn’t wonder if a certain size tire will fit. A master builder decides on a wheel and tire combination and devises a plan to make the tires fit.”
Page by pages, I kept thinking… I want to do that on my car. I always wondered what’s the best way to do that. All those questions are answered in the book.
All of the pictures are full color and there’s hundreds inside. These are books you’ll keep forever and refer back to frequently. For the $15 asking price, it’s a steal.
Here’s a quick look at the other 4 Build Books:
#2: Ken Fenical the owner of Posies highly modified 1935 Ford called “Aeroliner Sport”
#3: 1961 Ford Starliner built by ProRides
#4: 1957 Chevy by the late Boyd Coddington Hot Rod Shop called the “Chubster”
#5: 1967 Mustang called “Reactor” built by the Ringbrothers
Each of these books is extremely well done. I whole heartedly recommend all of them. Go to BuildbookUSA.com to order. (photos taken from BuildbookUSA.com and are property of Team Killeen. All rights reserved.)
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An incredible series of books! While a magazine feature might give you an overview of the finished car, with an occasional in-progress teaser shot, these books really answer a ton of questions…. the stuff that makes you yell “how’d they do THAT??!” when you see the car.
I had read the volume on the Aeroliner from Posies, and was just amazed at the level they took every part of the car to… there were things I hadn’t seen on the car, and details that the average builder may have over-looked that kept me going back and studying.
The photography alone in this series is worth the price, and the behind-the-scenes insight is just more value thrown on top. Well worth it, in my opinion. Very insightful, entertaining and interesting. I’ll definitely collect the series.
The “Build Book” series is truly insightful. Not my first choice of cars to feature, but that’s not the point. These books offer insight as to what went on during the build. These publications are genius and definitely something to hang onto.
As readers of anything “hot rod”, I think all of us try to eek out any “how’d he do it” tidbits we can from most of the published stories we see. That is the mission statement of these books, again, GENIUS.