Trains, Cars, Ships & Planes Books

Ask any man the first thing he would buy if he won the lottery and we guarantee you the answer would be - a supercar. It’s what every real man and every alpha woman aspires to - a blisteringly fast V8 engine, achingly high-tech design and style that snaps the necks of passers by as they watch ...

Classic American cars with classic American names - Chevy, Chrysler, Ford, Pontiac - are enormously popular in New Zealand and, each year, tens of thousands of fans flock to events such as the Whangamata Beach Hop, the Kumeu Classic Car and Hot Rod Show, Americarna in New Plymouth and the Dunedin Al...

One of the world's most famous business leaders (and a well-known avian fanatic) explores the pioneers of flight. In Reach for the Skies, Branson examines the history of aviation over the last two hundred years, putting the spotlight on trailblazers such as: * Tony Jannus, who made the first ...

Known to millions simply as 'Smithy', Sir Charles Kingsford Smith was one of Australia's true twentieth-century legends. In an era in which aviators were superstars, Smithy was among the greatest and, throughout his amazing career, his fame in Australia was matched only by that of Don Bradman. Among...

When Toyota decided to test-drive the new FJ Cruiser by driving the length of New Zealand off-road, Marc Ellis was the obvious choice to be the driver. In his latest book, Marc recounts the highlights of this journey - the hard case characters he meets along the way, the challenges he had to underta...

As this country developed from 1840 on, transport was the key to opening up areas for farming, forestry and manufacturing. The trains, ships, cars, planes, motorbikes and trucks that we used on to get places and make us more efficient were so relied upon that they have become part of our DNA. In t...

From the earliest beginnings of powered flight, aviation has played a vital role in the developement of New Zealand and its interactions with the rest of the world. This book tells that story in stunning photographs sourced from the world's best photographers and chosen to show our journey from the ...

Volume 4 in the bestselling World According to Clarkson series! Jeremy Clarkson had a dream. A world where the nonsensical made sense, the idiotic was abolished and the sheer bloody brilliant was embraced. In How Hard Can It Be? our hero embarks on a quest to set the world to rights. Again. En...

Jamie Whincup is the reigning Champion of V8 Supercars. At 27 years old he is already being compared to Peter Brock and will soon have overtaken Mark Skaife's record. This is Jamie's diary: a year, beginning with Bathurst 2009, when he aims for his third successive title and sets himself a challenge...

This book is the complete practical guide to repairing and renovating classic car bodywork for the amateur repairer. Illustrated throughout with step-by-step photo sequences, it describes how to undertake high-quality repairs at a fraction of the cost of that charged by an automotive bodyshop or res...

At Buffalo Bill's there was all manner of grilled and fried food, and this motorcycling connoisseur had a hard job choosing his burger. I decided to make the meal educational. Many will be wondering about the difference between buffalo and bison. Are they the same animal? The answer is a resounding ...

Pitting man and machine against the most challenging natural and manmade elements, "Top Gear Top Drives" takes six cars across six continents to bring you some of the most spectacular car journeys in the world. From a Smart in Russia to a Ferrari over the mountains of Ecuador, "To...

The witty tale of a real life mid-life crisis which took an ordinary Kiwi bloke around Australia on a motorbike, to fulfil his life-long Easy Rider inspired dreams of his long-lost youth. The result is a very dry look at the Big Dry Country told with self-deprecating wit by a first time author. A la...

With every scrap aloft, carrying more sail than many larger keel yachts, and the crew driving her as fast as possible on the edge of control, no other yacht captures the attention quite like an 18-footer in full flight. This is as true today as it was 100 years ago. From its origins in the 1890s as...

From flying cars to amphibious vehicles, solar-powered saloons to rockets on wheels, these are over 50 of the most wacky cars ever devised. Fancy a car that drives sideways- Try the Jeep Hurricane. Or maybe a car in which the windows change color according to your mood for a more serene and health-g...

Once it would have been considered blasphemous to prefer anything on wheels that wasn′t a Ford or a Holden. Now Japanese performance cars rule the hearts and wallets of thousands, who are seduced by their power, speed and style. Including legendary cars from the early 1970s, when Datsun SSS...

The mysterious Stig, "Top Gear"'s resident racing driver and one of the most popular members of the "TG" team, has finally got a book of his own. But you'll have to work hard to find him, as he's been cleverly concealed in a series of brilliantly drawn scenes. You might spot him ...

Good old Dad and his good old Dad's car. As solid and dependable as the man himself, if a little less balding, Dad's car was almost a member of the family, whisking you to exciting days out, or just to visit boring relatives in distant parts of the country to the chant of 'are we nearly there yet?' ...

This lavish new volume explores Britain's most celebrated standard and narrow-gauge railways, offering a comprehensive history of their construction, use and subsequent preservation. It also examines the nation's extensive railway heritage, outlining the development of Britain's railways from the co...

'8 May, 1995. My alarm clock goes off at 6am. I get up and walk outside to survey the sky. Will we be going topdressing today? At 7am I leave with my first load, 900 kg. I land back four or five minutes later when the Fletcher is reloaded. Climbing away from the base of the airstrip in a northerly d...

Unafraid of a challenge, Lois Pryce began the kind of adventure most of us could only ever dream of. She put on her sparkly crash helmet, armed herself with maps and a baffling array of visas, and got on her bike. Destination: Cape Town - and the small matter of tackling the Sahara, war-torn Angola ...

Sit back and enjoy the ride while Graham Hutchins takes you on a journey of discovery around New Zealand. In the style of Michael Palin, Hutchins describes a dozen unique train journeys, accompanied by many superb photographs of New Zealand's incomparable scenery. For tourists, the book will be a pe...

Help! They're All Out to Get Me! is a book created to make the new and even the not-so-new motorcyclist a better motorcyclist. Between these covers, you will find tips and tricks that make surviving the everyday world a much easier proposition for the everyday rider. Inside, you'll find everything y...

The Paris-Dakar Rally is without question the most arduous and notorious off-road motorsports event on the planet. Since its inception in 1979, it has attracted more than 3,000 adventurers from all walks of life. The men and women who have taken up the "Dakar challenge" have at least one t...

A remarkable portfolio of NEW ZEALAND photographs - the majority taken over 50 years ago. For half a century electric trams carried generations from their homes to school, to university, to sports, to work, to the theatre, to weddings and funerals - they were the link between home and the outside wo...

This is a revamped, rejuvenated and expanded edition of Clarkson's classic collection of car journalism.

From the Austin Allegro to the Renault Safrane, and from the MGB to the Volkswagen Beetle, this book brings together 50 of the worst cars ever to grace the roads of Britain. The book features everything from the aesthetically pathetic to the mechanically misguided and includes tales of the most biza...

The Henschel Hs123 was a single-seat biplane dive bomber and close-support attack aircraft flown by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War and the early years of World War II. Used also by Spain and China, it was the first combat aircraft flown by the famous combat ace Adolph Galland. Th...

On April 14, 1912, the Titanic, a passenger liner traveling from Southhampton, England, to New York City, Struck an iceberg. Its sinking brought the ship--mythological in name and size--into one-hundred years of infamy. Of the 2,240 people aboard the ship, 1,517 perished. While many accounts focus ...

There is an element of fanaticism in bicycle culture rarely seen among the varied forms of locomotion. A love affair of sorts develops between rider and bike, with all the constituent parts: obsession, devotion and longing. In extreme cases, hospitalization is required - among the more restrained, b...

Covers Land Rover Series III Truck, Utility, half-ton, 4X4, vehicles with 12 & 24 volt electrical equipment.

This book is about the history of the Ford Mustang. Readers will learn about the initial success of the Mustang, its racing heritage, and the introduction of Carroll Shelby to the Mustang family. The book also discusses the modern Mustangs, from the Saleen to the new Shelby Cobra concept. Project We...

Just in time for the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic, this graphic deluxe edition compiles firsthand accounts, testimonies, and letters by notable Titanic survivors, including Archibald Gracie, Lawrence Beesley, Elizabeth W. Shutes, and the "unsinkable" Molly Brown. Full of historically acc...

The Hovercraft story

The definitive history of 335-Series Cleveland Small Block Ford V8 Engines produced in the USA, Canada and Australia between 1970-1982. Years of meticulous and dedicated research have allowed Des Hammill to collate extensive and accurate information to produce this fully comprehensive, unique techni...

This exciting book is an essential guide to more than 30 of the world's best journeys for the adventure motorcyclist. The coverage for each route includes a first-hand account from someone who has made the trip together with comprehensive information on what to expect in terms of riding conditions, ...

This is the story of what one person can achieve with vision and an inexhaustible determination to succeed against all odds. When Barry Brickell became New Zealand's first full-time craft potter he combined his passion for railways with his engineering skills to build a short line for bringing clay ...

The Essential Buyer's Guide carefully charts the 205 GTI models that an enthusiast just has to drive and own, from the pioneering 1.6 GTI, though its development to the 1.9 GTI. The CTI cabriolet is also covered. Weak points, rust traps, and potential mechanical defects are laid out for the reader, ...

A celebration of the building, maintaining and operating the North Island Main Trunk railway from the days of steam through the diesel electric and electric locomotives. Not forgotten are the country stations, refreshment rooms, goods yards and passenger trains. A great book for all interested in ra...

"Zinn & the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance" is the world's best-selling book on mountain bike maintenance and repair. This smartly organized and clearly illustrated guide--now in two colors for easier reference--can make a bike mechanic out of anyone. Lennard Zinn's expert advice m...