• Some truck books are of interest only to hardened
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enthusiasts. Worthy efforts, no doubt, and generally carrying vast amounts of carefully researched technical information, but better suited to the technical library than the coffee table.
Then there are the bright 'n' breezy picture books aimed at the Christmas stockings of vehicle-mad 10-year-olds.
And occasionally — very occasionally — someone manages to combine the two successfully. Peterbilt, the class of the industry is as American as the trucks it pays tribute to. Author Henry Ramussen devotes only a 25-page introduction and two pages of tables to a formal one-make history, and manages to put across a lot of information fairly painlessly.
Most of the photographs in this section are intriguing black and white period shots.
For the rest of the 128 pages Ramussen revels in the sheer charisma of the butch, bonneted trucks.
Exquisite colour photos of vintage restorations, custom trucks and working tractors are interspersed with brief essays; some reading like the script of an American road movie ... he heads out for the Peterbilt, washed now and ready for action. But first a smoke. A Camel classic, sitting in the cab with the door open, looking up at the night sky, thinking. . .
Pretentious? Well, yes, but even a cynical chronicler such as Accipiter Venerablis can be swept up by a book of this calibre.
The author has had years of experience writing about, photographing and designing books on classic cars and trucks, and it shows. Like those high-budget road movies, he captures a mood, entrances with visual imagery and delivers the goods. 0 Peterbilt, the class of the industry, by Harry Ramussen, is published by Motorbooks International, USA. Softbound 254x230mm, costs 212.95, ISBN 0-87938-363-1. Available through specialist bookshops, or contact the importers, Motor Racing Publications, Unit 6, The Pilton Estate, 46 Pitlake, Croydon CRO 3RY, phone 01-681 3363.