Elcar and Pratt Automobiles: The Complete History - Tapa blanda

"excellent...hundreds of photos, good organization, excitement and adventure--this book has it all"--SpeedReaders; "superb"--SAH Journal; "a detailed and admirable history...a splendid volume"--ARBA; "many details about all aspects of Elcar's products...car enthusiasts everywhere will enjoy...public libraries should purchase"--Public Library Quarterly; "in-depth study...on a one to five star basis, this is indisputedly a five"--Antique Automobile; "thorough...detailed history...timely...an enjoyable read"--Old Cars Weekly; "Locke has left no stone unturned. Automotive history is indebted to Locke for ferreting out so much information in his search"--The Horseless Carriage Gazette; "excellent"--Cruise IN; "highly recommended"--Classic Car Mart; "a great deal of...obscure information of interest to collectors"--SciTech Book News; "excellent...superb"--Classic Car Club of America Bulletin.

A surprisingly little-known marque today, Elcar once ranked among the finest vehicles on American roads. Built to exacting standards in Elkhart, Indiana, an Elcar could compete head-to-head on the basis of performance, quality, or price with the products of much larger manufacturers. Ultimately done in by weak distribution and the ravages of the Depression, Elcar today stands as an example of an ambitious company that transformed itself, successfully if temporarily, from a maker of buggies and harnesses into a respected car manufacturer in the early days of the automotive age. This remarkably exhaustive history, researched over several decades from all available sources, including interviews with former Elcar employees, details every Elcar model and the Pratt vehicles that preceded them, as well as the personalities behind the cars. Extensive appendices provide a complete model history, with specifications; a full corporate chronology; an illustrated accounting of all Elcars and Pratts known to survive whole or in part today; a roster of company employees; a descriptive list of all ads and brochures ever produced by the company; and a wealth of other data that can be found nowhere else. Lavishly illustrated and surpassingly thorough, this book is a well of information on a significant but forgotten line of automobiles.