I picked this up at the local bookstore and couldn’t put it down. A short read at only 56 pages; paperback, 5"x 9", $14.95, but worth every nickle.
Coachbuilding; The Hand-Crafted Car Body, Jonathan Wood, Shire Library, 2008
Starting with horse-drawn chariots, cabriolets, broughams, coupés, and the like, through wood and fabric covered bodies, to the last of the bespoken hand-crafted, wood-framed, metal-skinned automobiles by Austin, Morris, Park Ward, Lyons, Rolls-Royce, &c. A great source of “locomotive” history, builders, and terminology.
This account examines the history of coachbuilding, beginning with the coachbuilders who for generations had built horse-drawn wooden carriages, and then explaining how they turned their craft to building the bodywork of the first motorised cars. Using photographs of the different stages of coachbuilding, the author describes the materials, equipment and key techniques involved. Today the profession of coachbuilding is almost a lost art, yet as the restoration of vintage cars seeks to keep the trade alive, this book reflects back on the heyday of the coachbuilt motor car and the skilled workers that made it their craft.
IBSN-13:978 0 7478 0688 2
Shire Library No. 476
http://www.shirebooks.co.uk/store/Coachbuilding_9780747806882
