Book Review: Sick Fish

Paul Tan — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 08:53:35 +0000

Scott Killeen, an award-winning automotive photographer and publisher has set up Build Book USA, a company which chronicles the build process of award-winning custom cars. First seen on Discovery Channel, Joe Rogan’s (the Fear Factor show host) “Sick Fish” Plymouth Barracuda is a fantastic retro-custom car build from the ground up, litreally!

Chip Foose, the famous designer lent a hand to design Sick Fish, but was too tied up with work, so he farmed out the build to Rad Rides, a custom shop in Illinois, USA run by Troy Trepanier. The book details in fantastic detail through full colour photography by Killeen, the entire build process of Sick Fish, right from looking for a car, to inspecting, buying, stripping, fabricating, painting and putting the finishing touches on.

The entire Plymouth Barracuda bodyshell was stripped, and custom parts fabricated to improve the bodyshell. A custom-built Hemi engine was built for the car. The interior was fitted with Dynamat Extreme and a high end audio system, Recaro seats, custom upholstery, Autometer gauges, etc. You can also learn a few customiser’s tricks (Too many to detail here so go buy the book!).

It’s a very inspirational softcover book containing over 800 full colour photographs in about 180 pages, that can serve as a reference and guide for all those of us out there who dream of building up a special ‘Hot Rod’ or ‘Custom’ car project. It’s also a guide in how to do things tastefully and creatively. All parts & tool suppliers are listed throughout the book complete with contact details, to help aspiring custom builders.

RATING: 5/5
CONTRIBUTOR: BEN CORLEY (Seven Builder)

BUY THE BOOK: BUILD BOOK: From Concept to Reality (Build Book: From Concept to Reality, Volume 1)

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 14 Feb 12 08:22:09 +0000.

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MotoGP Technology: The Official Book (Hardcover)

Paul Tan — Thu, 03 May 2007 09:33:19 +0000

MotoGP has evolved over the years to become the F1 of the 2 wheeler world. Since it began in 2002, the world has seen the very highest levels of 4-stroke motorcycles. Over 180 pages of content. Niel Spalding has done beautiful work preparing this book, which is filled to the brim with photographs, and covers in-depth aspects of MotoGP Technology, showing the reader how the top MotoGP factory teams compete at the very highest level of 2 wheeler motorsport.

Spalding writes about the main teams, including new entrant WCM, giving information on the engines and frames used. My only gripe is that MotoGP Technology: The Official Book doesn’t really go in-depth into the engineering side of things, but there are other books for that.

MotoGP Technology: The Official Book covers the start of the 990cc, 4-strokes to 2006, the last year of the 990cc formula. Much of the book covers developments, team-by-team, and further sections cover components. The ‘teams’ sections provide an in-depth look at each team’s machine development & progress over the years, while the components sections cover specific parts of the bike, like frames, valve technologies, suspension, etc. After reading MotoGP Technology, you will understand how engine rotation affects handling during acceleration/deceleration, and how engine firing pulses, “Big Bang” for example, affect ‘rideability’ and traction.

Arguably, the author tries to cover a LOT of information such little space, so die-hard fans may have some issues with the book, as things move on there could be more info released which may warrant a 2nd Edition. Nevertheless, Niel Spalding covers the 990cc MotoGP Formula well and MotoGP Technology: The Official Book makes a good buy for all but the most jaded motoring fan!

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Contributor: Ben Corley