Abandoned junk to some, the rusty old steel shells of vehicles are treasures to others, holding memories of a bygone era, or the promise of a pristinely restored, radically customized automobile. Automotive photographer Will Shiers has captured these dreams on film for over ten years, and this volume collects his images between two covers for the first time. Here are the beautiful husks Shiers has found in the United States fields and barns, shops, and salvage yards across States. Divided into five categories—General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Independents, and Special Vehicles—these wrecks and relics from 1910 to the 1970s come equipped with all the relevant information: history, model, location. The most comprehensive and beautifully photographed collection of abandoned cars ever published, this volume preserves for all time the exquisite skeletons of American automotive might.

Hop in the car with Ryan Brutt, the "automotive archaeologist" and roam the United States in search of forgotten automotive gems. You won't believe the finds!

Buckle Up and Get Your Kicks on Route 66​! Originally paved in the 1920s, the 2,451 miles of Route 66 have been a staple of the American Road Trip and have become an iconic thread running through the life, history, and culture of America. Spanning a total of eight states and stretching from Chicago all the way to the Pacific Ocean, Route 66 was appropriately named the "Mother Road" by John Steinbeck. An icon of American Folklore, Route 66 details slew of old gas stations, restaurants, diners, rest stops, and other attractions. Each must-see vestige is peppered with the history of the area. Route 66: Ghost Towns and Roadside Relics takes the reader along the whole length pf the most iconic stretch of road in the world. The book brings the essence of the Mother Road to life as it swings by nostalgic towns, faded motels, vintage gas stations, dilapidated signs, and famous landmarks on the route. So buckle up and Get Your Kicks on Route 66!

Although vernacular architecture scholarship has expanded beyond its core fascination with common buildings and places, its attention remains fixed on the social function of building. Consistent with this expansion of interests, Constructing Image, Identity, and Place includes essays on a wide variety of American building types and landscapes drawn from a broad geographic and chronological spectrum. Subjects range from examinations of the houses, hotels and churches of America's colonial and Republican elite to analyses of the humble cottages of Southern sharecroppers and mill workers, Mississippi juke joints, and the ephemeral rustic arbors and bowers erected by Civil War soldiers. Other contributors examine or reexamine the form of early synagogues in Georgia, colonial construction technologies in the Chesapeake, the appropriation and use of storefront windows by San Francisco suffragists, and the evolution of the modern factory tour. Other decidedly twentieth-century topics include the impact of the automobile on American building forms and landscapes, including parkways, drive-in movie theaters, and shopping malls. Drawn from the Vernacular Architecture Forum conferences of 1998 and 1999, these seventeen essays represent the broad range of topics and methodologies current in the field today. The volume will introduce newcomers to the breadth and depth of vernacular architecture while also bringing established scholars up to date on the field's continued growth and maturation. The Editors: Alison K. Hoagland is associate professor of history and historic preservation at Michigan Technological University. Kenneth A. Breisch is director of Programs in Historic Preservation at the University of Southern California. He is author of Henry Hobson Richardson and the Small Public Library in America. The Contributors: Shannon Bell, Robert W. Blythe, Timothy Davis, Stephanie Dyer, Willie Graham, Kathleen LaFrank, William Littmann, Carl Lounsbury, Al Luckenbach, Sherri M. Marsh, Maurie McInnis, Steven H. Moffson, Jason D. Moser, Jennifer Nardone, Martin C. Perdue, Mark Reinberger, Andrew K. Sandoval-Strausz, Jessica Sewell, Donna Ware, and Camille Wells.

In the second volume of the acclaimed "Gas, Food, Lodging" trilogy, authors John Jakle, Keith Sculle, and Jefferson Rogers take an informative, entertaining, and comprehensive look at the history of the motel. From the introduction of roadside tent camps and motor cabins in the 1910s to the wonderfully kitschy motels of the 1950s that line older roads and today's comfortable but anonymous chains that lure drivers off the interstate, Americans and their cars have found places to stay on their travels. Motels were more than just places to sleep, however. They were the places where many Americans saw their first color television, used their first coffee maker, and walked on their first shag carpet. Illustrated with more than 230 photographs, postcards, maps, and drawings, The Motel in America details the development of the motel as a commercial enterprise, its imaginative architectural expressions, and its evolution within the place-product-packaging concept along America's highways. As an integral part of America's landscape and culture, the motel finally receives the in-depth attention it deserves.

The Lincoln Highway was the first continuous road to connect the coasts, allowing newly motorized Americans to cross the country by car. This book allows readers to travel across 100 years of the highway, from New York City to San Francisco, with stops at historic landmarks, bridges, taverns, movie palaces, diners, gas stations, ice cream stands, tourist cabins, and roadside attractions. Color maps and stories of the highway take readers through 14 states, with excerpts from memoirs and old postcards giving a feel for what early motoring was like--the good, the bad, and the muddy. The book is organized by state, with narrative information on what the original Lincoln Highway crossed through. There are historical tidbits and nostalgic details, along with information on what remains. This book is a useful treasure for travel planning and armchair reading.