Monthly newsletter published by McLellan's Automotive History 

Dedicated to literature collectors, restorers, museums, publishers,
manufacturers and investors who collect and preserve automotive literature
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Editor-in-Chief
Mona Nath
Technical Editor
Robert McLellan
Photo Editor
Anil Nath
:: LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
  LITERATURE INVESTMENTS
:: Personal Insights
:: Literature Life
:: Looking Both Ways
:: Golden Eras
:: Good Investment? - Yes!
:: Buying For Tomorrow
:: Good Investment?
:: Profitable Portfolio!
:: Unanticipated Investment
:: Tomorrow's Treasure
:: What Is It Worth?
  CONCEPTS & RUMORS
:: GM Concepts
:: The Future: 70 years ago
:: Annual Concepts
:: Concepts — 1930s
:: Fisher Body Craftsman
:: GM Probes The Future
:: Book review: John Jacobus' Inside the Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild
:: Winter Reading
:: Maserati: The Panini Collection
:: Bridgehampton Racing: From The Streets To The Bridge
:: Small Cars
:: Duntov's Secret - Corvette Gulf Oil Race Car
:: Sports Cars Then and Now
:: Press Kits - 1997 & Newer
:: They Started in MGs
:: The American Automotive Assembly Line
:: Peugeot in Review
:: Big Rigs Rolling
:: Damn Few Died In Bed
:: Auto Paint History and Chips
:: Bill Horton's 'Jezebelle'
:: Chevrolet Trucks
:: Coachbuilder's Renderings
:: British Quality
:: Book review: American Road Racing: 1948 - 1950, The Sport Revived
:: Something Different
:: Teaching Kids about the Hobby
:: Restorations Literature
:: Chrysler Corporation in the 1970s
:: Renault 1939 - 1971
:: Book review: American Road Racing - The 1930s
:: The War Years: 1940s
:: The Serious Collector
:: Mercury's Cool Cat
:: Build It Yourself
:: Tell your story
:: Memorabilia by Make
:: Citroen - Introducing Front Wheel Drive
:: The Memorable 1950s
:: Book: Caribbean Capers
:: Hidden Literature
:: 1965 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
:: Checker Motors
:: Porsche 911 Evolution
:: Technical Automotive Literature
:: Jaguar's Racing Heritage
:: Special Cars: 1975-1995
:: GMC Trucks
:: Vauxhall in England - GM Overseas - 1
:: Opel in Germany - GM Overseas - 2
:: Packard: Ask the Man Who Owns One
:: 1901 Ford Sweepstakes - The Race Car That Changed Everything
:: School Bus Literature
:: Concept Cars
:: Popular Pickups
:: Family Firebird
:: The Winners Book
:: American Postwar Dropouts
:: Japanese Literature of The 1960s
:: Favorite Press Kits
:: Selecting your literature
:: Cars for professionals
:: Collectible Automobile Literature
:: From Airplanes to Super Cars
:: The British Contribution
:: Press Kit
:: American Light Trucks in Literature
:: GM in the 1950s
:: Octavia and Felicia
:: English Ford
:: Maintaining the MGB in the 21th Century, Barrie Jones, 2009
:: Leader Card Racers - A Dynasty of Speed, Gordon Eliot White, 2009
:: Fun on Wheels
:: Prestige, Status & Works of Art, Selling The Luxury Car 1888 - 1942
:: Chassis 141: The Story of the First LeMans Bentley
:: German Luxury: Two Thoroughbreds & Their Lifestyle
:: Top 10 Collector Cars for 2010-2020
:: An Introduction to Collecting Car Brochures
:: Subcompact automobile: Ford Fiesta
:: Out-of-print-book: A Century of Automotive Style
:: My Auto Literature Collection
:: Automotive Magazines
:: Plymouth 1935-1936
:: History of the Corvette
:: Preservation of literature
:: Z. Taylor Vinson - An era ends
:: Hendrick Motorsports Museum
:: Happy 50th Birthday Corvair!
:: Diamond T
:: Rolls-Royce for India's royalty
:: Original Paint Chips
:: Pontiac Dream Cars of 1953, 1954 & 1955
:: Wallace Wyss - Artist Profile
:: America's Packard Museum
:: Ford's Road Leads To Mustang
:: My Super Beetle
:: Citroen SM (1970)
:: Unanticipated Investment
:: Quality Control
:: How To Decide Which Car You Should Restore
:: The End of the Affair
:: Printed brochures soon to be a memory?
:: Don't Forget Dealer Literature
:: Automotive Books
:: The Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild — An Illustrated History
:: GM Concepts
:: Change Creates Nostalgia
:: Racing (Part 1)
:: Collecting Automotive Literature
:: Investing in Literature
:: Pre-World War II Brochures
:: Showroom Postcards — 1930s through 1950s
:: Ferrari SP1. More Than Unique
:: Fiat
:: The Making of Shelby Cars in Detail
:: Unusual Postcards
:: German Press Kits
:: Everything Cadillac
:: Plymouth Nostalgia
:: Loving Mercedes-Benz Quality
:: Dealer Posters
:: Mercury's Glory Years
:: Racing & Show Programs
:: Buyer's Guide To Brochures
:: 356 Porsche Literature FAKES!
:: Ford Trucks
:: Books And Magazines
:: The Best Increase in Value the Most
:: The Making of a Ford Collection
:: Austins
:: Cars and Literature of the 1970s
:: First Impressions
:: Electric Vehicles
:: Goodbye Viper
:: Land Rover
:: Collectibles vs. Recession
:: See a Classic Car Show, Take a Nostalgia Trip
:: Times Are Changing...
:: Lamborghini's
:: Collectible Tractors
:: From Boxy to Fins
:: How I Met John Conlon
:: One Historian Mourns the Passing of the Black and White Glossy
:: Thanks Dad!
:: My Story
:: Review: Two Press booklets on the Rolls Phantom Drophead coupe
:: Collecting for Fun and Relaxation
:: Rolls-Royce and Bentley
:: Packing for Shipping
:: Dodge Trucks
:: The Family Station Wagon
:: Collecting 'Down Under'
:: Owner's Manuals
:: Press Kit Review
:: "Buy Me a Ferrari"
:: Your Literature
:: MG in America
:: Dealer Stamps
:: Commercial Vehicles
:: Ask the Man Who Owns One
:: Enhance Your Collection
:: The Early Books
:: Triumph
:: Coachbuilder's Literature
:: Wolseley
:: International Opportunities
:: The Innovative Hudson
:: Chevrolet Literature
:: Buses/Engines/Fire Trucks/Tractors/Trains...
:: The Schödel Collection
:: Beyond the Mustang II
:: Kaiser-Frazer
:: Sunbeam & Sunbeam-Talbot
:: The Dawn of the Auto
:: Taxi Cabs, Police Cars & Emergency Vehicles
:: U.S. Postwar Econocars
:: Jaguar in the 1950s
:: Inquiring Minds
:: Exotic Dropouts
:: Rare Maserati Find
:: The Beautiful Brute
:: Dune Buggy/ATV Escapes
:: Remembering Oldsmobile
:: Original Paint Chips
:: Vintage Bentleys
:: Trucks of the 1930s and 1940s
:: BMW
:: Collecting Memories
:: Auto Books - 50 Years
:: Imperial is Back
:: Mitchel DeFrancis: Automobilia Enthusiast
:: Lincoln As Art
:: The Golden Age of Press Kits
:: Iron Curtain Literature
:: Toyota Sports
:: Planning an Advertising Campaign
:: Happy Halloween
:: Styled — For — Tomorrow
:: Automotive Archeology
:: Paint, Upholstery, Data & More
:: 14 Steps: From Our Shop To Your Maildrop
:: Cadillac Memories
:: British Luxury
:: My IHC Fever
:: A Collector's Story - Fifty Years and Counting
:: 1907 "Washington Times" Race
:: Postwar Studebaker
:: The Popularity of AMC / Nash / Rambler
:: Mazda Miata Memories
:: 2020 'Think Tank' Results
:: Letteratura Di Automobile
:: Magazines Are Literature
:: Camaro Fever
:: Grandad's Cars
:: Star Cars — Year 2020
:: Australian Auto Literature
:: Jeep History
:: Porsche on Parade
:: David Greeney: Automobilia Collector
:: Building Dreams
:: Flathead V-8 Fords
:: The Japanese Invasion
:: Touring India
:: Auto Shows
:: The Buick Flashback
:: Meeting Tarun Thakral
:: The Mysterious Dale
:: Ford Overseas
:: Swedish Brothers
:: Pre-War Orphans
:: Pinto or Corvette?
:: Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild
:: Rick Lenz - 10 Years Later
:: Best of Buick
:: Comments on Packing
:: Diamond T
:: 1959+
:: AC In The News — AAA
:: Getting Home Alive!
:: Motorizing The Army
:: Posters & Transparencies as Automotive Art
:: Contemporary Automotive Photographs
:: Convertible Fever
:: French Auto Literature
:: MoPaR
:: Automobile Quarterly Collections
:: History of the Ambulance
:: Oddities
:: The Traveling Salesman
:: Ultra Luxury
:: Finnish Brochures
:: Postcard Paradise
:: Limited Editions
:: German Thoroughbreds
:: Auto Galleria LUCE
:: Fisher Guild Reunion
:: Them VS. Us
:: The Corvair Legend
:: RR - World's Best Car
:: Recreational Vehicles
:: Datsun Z Literature
:: Ford Flower Power
:: News You Can Use
:: Connoisseurs' Choice
:: Automotive Books
:: Pate's Hidden Treasure
:: Every Boy's Dream
:: Jeep Literature As Art
:: My Beloved Hillman
:: Adios Cuba
:: Reprint News
:: British Sports Cars
:: International Customers
:: Corvette: A Legend
:: Automotology
:: Literature In Norway
:: Salvage Literature
:: Volkswagen As Art
:: Brass Era Literature
:: Society: Auto Historians
:: Pontiac Art: Insights
:: Truck Literature?
:: Quality Control
:: Bentley
:: The Exotics
:: Kit Cars & Replica Cars
:: Pontiacs as Art
:: High Speed Pursuits
:: Robert's Tips
:: Honest Reprint Lit
:: Literature on Lincoln
:: Dealer Stamps
:: Original or Fake?
:: The Rolls-Royce
:: Counterfeit Literature
:: World of Auto Literature
:: Z. Taylor Vinson
:: Junichiro Hiramatsu
:: Ed Whitt
 
 
 
June 2011 Issue
 
ARTICLE
The Serious Collector
By Robert McLellan
 

Tom Solley was one of the most serious auto literature collectors that I have ever known. Taylor Vinson was another. And so was Rick Lenz. Tom's and Taylor's collections are now preserved in museums. I purchased the Rick Lenz collection. All three have passed away and all three approached literature-collecting differently. They all had such a passion for collecting literature that they devoted their lives to acquiring all those elusive brochures that would set their collection off as the best. All three succeeded.

Learn more about these collectors:
Prestige, Status and Works of Art, Selling The Luxury Car 1888 - 1942
Zachary Taylor Vinson
Rick Lenz - 10 Years Later

What set them apart from most collectors was that when the best items became available, they acquired them without a second thought. They knew that although the best would probably cost a lot, these pieces of literature would be the most valuable. And as time passed, these would increase the most in value. Therefore, such items would be easy to sell for a profit and there would always be a buyer. That is why car collectors buy the best of the classic cars, muscle cars and sports cars. There is always a buyer willing to pay more than they did when such cars are put up for auction. The right cars will be surrounded by buyers who will fight to become the new owners. The same goes for art, coins, wine, etc. The best is the best investment.

Could you (or your heirs) be able to sell your present collection for a good price? You collect what makes you happy and that is what is important. But make it the best it can be. If you like 60s Fords or 50s Chryslers, you ought to consider their heritage or the performance models if you have overlooked those items. They will make your collection more interesting and more valuable. Maybe something completely different than what you are familiar with is exactly what you need to energize your enthusiasm in collecting literature. Early Corvette is rare and desirable and also interesting.

Here are some ideas that may stimulate your interest.

 
Click on thumbnail for description
 

Alfa Romeo - 1956

American Mercedes - 1906

Auburn - 1936
     

Austin Healey - 1954

Bentley - 1951

Buick - 1915
     

Buick - 1940

Cadillac - 1938

Cadillac - 1951
     

Chevrolet - 1935

Chevrolet - 1954

Chevrolet - 1954
     

Chevrolet - 1955

Chrysler - 1937

Chrysler - 1941
     

Chrysler - 1957

Cord - 1936

DeSoto - 1960
     

Dodge - 1936

Dodge - 1941

Ferrari - 1953
     

Ferrari - 1958

Ferrari - 2004

Ford - 1933
     

Ford - 1935

Ford - 1939

Ford - 1955
     

Jaguar - 1956/57

Lagonda - 1954

Lincoln - 1937
     

Lincoln - 1939

Lincoln - 1941

Locomobile - 1904
     

Maserati - 1970

Mercedes-Benz - 1952

Mercury - 1949
     

Oldsmobile - 1933

Oldsmobile - 1937

Plymouth - 1933
     

Pontiac - 1936

Rolls-Royce - 1928

Rolls-Royce - 1929/30
     

Rolls-Royce - 1949

Rolls-Royce - 1959

Stearns-Knight - 1927
     

Studebaker - 1935

Triumph - 1954

Willys - 1940
     


LITERATURE INVESTMENTS
Personal Insights
Literature Life
Looking Both Ways
Golden Eras
Good Investment? - Yes!
Buying For Tomorrow
Good Investment?
Profitable Portfolio!
Unanticipated Investment
Tomorrow's Treasure
What Is It Worth?
 
 
 
The Automotive Chronicles, June 2011
 
 
 
 
 
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