What got you started collecting automotive literature? I began with sales brochures as a child - even before I could read. Obviously it was the colorful pictures of cars that caught my attention. But once in grade school, I concentrated on learning about cars through books and magazines. My interests expanded from what I saw on the road to antiques, classics, racing, customs, hot rods, trucks and motorcycles and continued on to airplanes, trains and ships. Picking up a free car brochure at a dealership was just an added bonus.

If you are reading this, the odds are you also went through a car phase in your youth. Now you are older and want to bring a lot of those early memories back to life, or dig back into history and see what cars and events you missed out on. Most of us have specific interests, but are curious about what lurks around the corner and behind unopened doors.

Thousands of automotive enthusiasts go directly to "Automobile Quarterly" issues. Beginning in 1962, there are now 46 volumes (184 issues) covering an international selection of topics and makes going back over 100 years, but not leaving out the present and delving into the future. A high quality hardbound publication that will give you a lifetime of enjoyment. Using the indexes you can collect the issues that you enjoy or, if you have a complete collection, select topics as they strike your mood. A great way to enjoy a cold winter evening.

Nothing is more impressive than contemporary coverage by the person road testing a car or someone in the pits at an auto race. Actually doing it, or being there, brings to life what you are reading. Firsthand knowledge and experience is less biased. Seeing is believing and the author is more captivating than someone who reviews and compiles articles into a book. True, books tend to bring all the information together, but sometimes one person's experiences can be more exciting.

That was the way it was just after World War II when the world of new cars from Detroit, sports cars from Europe, Indy oval racing and European Grand Prix racing opened up a whole new world to the automotive enthusiast. Articles in "Motor Trend", "Road & Track" and "Speed Age" of the late 1940s and 1950s were riveting reading. Makes I was unaware of - Ferrari, Aston Martin, Maserati. Race car drivers with unfamiliar names - Fangio, Moss, Shelby. Unknown race tracks - Sebring, LeMans, Silverstone. Listening to the firsthand knowledge of writers - Ken Purdy, Tom McCahill, Denis Jenkinson. Magazines are cheap thrills and should not be overlooked.