A big, beautiful car book with a different slant. Eminent British automotive writer Georgano partners with an outstanding car photographer from his own country, Nicky Wright, to produce a testament to the dictum "the automobile is art." Their focus is on individual car stylists who adhered to the philosophy that the automobile "has to sell on its appearance as much as on its mechanical qualities." The men profiled here were not (and are not) specialty designers of custom cars but employees of big car companies who devoted themselves to beautifying cars sold to a mass market.

RETRO RIDE traces the evolution of the automobile and the simultaneous marketing messages that helped it flower across five decades. Beautifully illustrated with original advertisements, RETRO RIDE celebrates not only the beauty and diversity of the American automobile but also the heyday of American print advertising.

In another superb collaboration, Stein and Furman showcase one hundred years of American automotive innovation via Discovery Channel founder John S. Hendricks s unequaled collection.

Designers include: Harley Earl, Bob Gregorie, Bill Mitchell, Irv Rybicki, Ramond Loewy, and others.

This much needed book is the first to provide a comprehensive history of the profession and aesthetics of American automobile design. The author reveals how the appearance of the automobile was shaped by the social conflicts arising from America's mass production system. He connects the social struggles of American society with the organizational struggles of designers to create symbol-laden substitutes for the American dream. Theoretically sophisticated, lucid and compelling, Auto-Opium will appeal to all interested in the American obsession with the car.