Wheels of History

From the Model T and DB5 to the VW Beetle and the Hummer

Time-travel through the Automobile Age with a collection that puts you in the driver’s seat. 20th Century Classic Cars offers a lush visual history of the automobile, decade by decade, via 400-plus print advertisements from the Jim Heimann Collection.

Using imagery culled from a century of auto advertising, this book traces the evolution of the auto from horseless carriage to rocket on wheels—and beyond. With an introduction and chapter text by former New York Times automotive writer Phil Patton, as well as an illustrated timeline, this volume highlights the technological innovations, major manufacturers and dealers, historical events, and influence of popular culture on car design.
The author
Phil Patton writes about car design for The New York Times and is a contributing editor to I.D. magazine. He was a consultant for Curves of Steel: Streamlined Automobile Design at the Phoenix Art Museum and Different Roads: Automobiles for the Next Century at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The editor
Jim Heimann is the Executive Editor for TASCHEN America. A cultural anthropologist, historian, and an avid collector, he has authored numerous titles on architecture, pop culture, and the history of Los Angeles and Hollywood, including TASCHEN’s Surfing, Los Angeles. Portrait of a City, California Crazy, and the All-American Ads series.

Hardcover, 15.1 x 19.5 cm, 592 pages