Frank Barrett - Guest Columnist - Books

Frank Barrett has collected books since 1951 and in 1978 began selling Porsche titles and out-of-print books.  For 25 years he was editor/publisher of The Star, magazine of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America, and on the board of The Colorado Grand.  He’s written two books: The Illustrated Mercedes-Benz Buyer’s Guide and Shelby Cars in Detail, and edited 30+ others.  
Living in Boulder, Colorado, he serves on the board of Auto-Archives and drives a Porsche, an Alfa Romeo, a Mercedes-Benz, and a Citroen 2CV.  To help Frank reduce the size of his library, go to ToadHallMotorbooks.com
Some of Frank's Articles:  Book Column
Daytona Cobra Coupes: by Peter Brock, Dave Friedman, and George Stauffer Foreword by Carroll Shelby, Introduction by Bob Bondurant Published 1995, hardbound, 532 pages. Issue #7 Sept/Oct 2019

Rarity counts.  Whether you collect cars or books, the scarce ones are often the most valuable, the hardest to obtain.  Here, both book and subject fall into that same category.  A mere six Coupes were built, and they change hands only every Guardsman (or Viking) Blue moon, and for astronomical sums.  Likewise, their history book, Daytona Cobra Coupes, remains hard to find and to afford.  People hang onto good cars – and good books.
Porsche, Excellence Was Expected, 4th Edition (2019). Issue #8 Nov/Dec 2019

​Rarely if ever will you read a review written by someone who freely admits to not having read the entire book, but this is the case here. Let me explain–I had only a brief time to write this review, and I’d read the three previous editions. So, a little book history:
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Back in “the old daze”, in the mid-1970s, automotive historian Karl Ludvigsen wrote a huge and then-complete history of Porsche: the people, the cars, and the company. Porsche, Excellence Was Expected (PEWE, for short) was first published in 1976 by L. Scott Bailey’s Automobile Quarterly. Priced at a then-astronomical $59.95 (or a then-outrageous $79.95 for the leather-bound version), it quickly and justifiably succeeded, setting the standard for marque histories. Porsche enthusiasts devoured every word.