Show Car Dreams

So a while back, I heard about a book put together by Bob Larivee Sr. that was running a price tag of around $250. I was shocked. I mean, who in their right mind would price a book that expensively? And who in the hell would buy it? Fleeting thoughts really… I forgot about Bob’s effort and went on with my meager little life.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago and you will find me on the side of a country road just outside of Dripping Springs, TX. A buddy of mine had a flat tire and I rolled out to give him a hand. Just as I was tightening the last lug, I heard the Beastie Boys spinning two turn tables and a microphone – my chosen ring tone for the week. I swiped my thumb across my iPhone and answered a call from Steve Coonan.

“Hey, Steve here… Have you heard about Bob Larivee’s show car book?”

Like I said, I had moved on with my life. “Nope,” I replied. “What’s up?”

“It’s a really well done piece that chronicles the history of the indoor car show. Comes in a fancy box. Well written. Great shots. I think you would dig it, but it’s pretty expensive. They start at $250 and go up from there…”

That’s when the light bulb went off in my head. “Oh yeah, the two-fiddy book!”

Anyway, Steve fell for Bob’s work and had decided to help him sell it. He was calling me to see if I had any interest in reviewing it. To be frank, if Steve asked me to taste test a dog turd on a hot and humid Texas day, I’d prolly go for it. So, here I am.

Yesterday, a big old box showed up on my front porch. I opened it up to find two different editions of “Show Car Dreams” within – The Limited Edition and The Master Edition. The Limited Edition is essentially the base model of the book. It’s a 300 page brick of show car goodness packaged in a beautiful wooden box. This sucker retails for $250.

The Master Edition is kind of like the Cadillac option. It’s actually two books and again, they are both packaged in a nicely finished wooden box. The first book is the same found in the Limited Edition package. The second book is filled with auxiliary chapters that cover a number of regional car shows such as: The Detroit Autorama, Grand National Roadster Show, Mid-America Shows for Kansas City and Omaha, Toronto Show which includes Eastern Canada, Louisville Show, Great Lakes Show (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis), and Chicago/Milwaukee. This bad boy goes for a clean $495.

But wait, we aren’t done quite yet. There is yet another “option package.” Mr. Larivee also created the Special Edition which is kind of like the Buick package. With it, you get the standard “Show Car Dreams” book along with a single auxiliary chapter (listed above) of your choice. This one runs $295.

It’s all a bit confusing really and at first I thought it might be Bob using some kind of Jedi mind trick in an effort to confuse the money out of my wallet. Eventually, I let the financial aspect of this whole project go and began to focus on the book.

“Show Car Dreams” is really one hell of an accomplishment. No other book that I know of covers the history of the indoor car show more completely and it does so in a unique fashion. As you read the stories from all of the personalities history has to offer, your eyes wonder away and begin to focus on the photographs. This sort of surreal dynamic connects you to a world that Bob Larivee and his pals actually lived in. The whole thing just feels very personal.

And, of course, Bob didn’t have many of these books printed. In fact, only 1500 of them left the press. I simply can’t imagine the total cost of the project – not just financially, but personally as well. The time spent gathering material, writing, editing, etc… Like I said, this book was one hell of an accomplishment. It’s just astronomical to think about. Bob Larivee Sr. is mostly known for his achievements as the founder of the ISCA, but I believe his legacy will go down with this piece of work. It’s that incredible.

Even so, my job here is to give you an honest and unbiased opinion on value. The question remains – is this book worth $250? The fact that this is such a hard question to answer is actually a testament to the book itself. Before I sat down with “Show Car Dreams,” I would have told you that there is no way in hell I would pay $250 it. After spending some time flipping the pages, reading the stories, and studying the photographs, I’m not so sure anymore.

I have a buddy that has done pretty well in life. He lives for custom cars and the shows that made them famous. It’s his passion in life. To him, this book is worth every damned penny of $250.

To get your copy, click here.

…………………..

I detest doing these video reviews, but really it’s the only way to give you guys any kind of measurable tangibility. So, I took one for the team.