MLU FORUM  

Go Back   MLU FORUM > 'B' ECHELON > The Sergeants' Mess

Notices

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 08-05-18, 19:14
Mike Cecil Mike Cecil is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Cody, Wyoming, USA
Posts: 2,365
Default Early Australian Automotive Design by Norm Darwin

A few weeks back, a rather handsome large format hard-back arrived in the mail, compliments of the author, Norm Darwin, who I had provided some assistance to while he was conducting research for his doctoral thesis. Norm is well known in Australian automotive history circles due to his many articles in 'Restored Cars' magazine, and his two early books, the histories of GMH and Ford in Australia. These days, Norm and his wife run their own publishing company: Hand Publishing.

This book, 300 x 250mm and 340 pages, is as you would expect, mainly about civilian car and truck design and construction, with only a few pages about wartime and per-war production of military vehicles and other munitions projects that the major automotive companies were involved in. I get the impression that the military aspects are not Norm's strength, and there are a few misinterpretations in the text. There is also an image taken from page 141 of the 'GMH War Record' which purports to show Australian Cruiser tanks on the production line, but actually shows a line of M4 series Shermans - something Norm unfortunately missed when he reproduced the image to illustrate the short Aust Cruiser tank section of the book.

Overall, I enjoyed browsing through the well-illustrated book, learning much about the evolution of Australian automotive design. For those of you interested in more than military vehicles, this book would be well worth obtaining. But it is 'Australia-centric' which may not be of great interest to those outside Australia, and the postage rates to overseas may also be a deterrent. But for all you 'Aussie locals', a book well worth reading.

Mike
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 09-05-18, 03:45
Mike Kelly's Avatar
Mike Kelly Mike Kelly is offline
Fan of Lord Nuffield
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Victoria Australia
Posts: 5,605
Default book

I have the red Holden book. For the money it is a good investment with a huge amount of information crammed into a relatively small book.

The downside is , chronologically, the book is all over the place. The chapters are poorly laid out. A great pity he didn't have book proof read and redone by a professional editor.

Having said that, he is still a pioneer in the field and good luck to him
__________________
1940 cab 11 C8
1940 Morris-Commercial PU
1941 Morris-Commercial CS8
1940 Chev. 15cwt GS Van ( Aust.)
1942-45 Jeep salad
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
The design Branch Records rob love WW2 Military History & Equipment 13 06-09-14 22:31
Fixing a common cab 12 design problem Keith Webb The Softskin Forum 17 21-06-11 14:46
Early gun tractors for Australian 3-inch 26 cwt AA? Leonid The Softskin Forum 16 17-12-10 00:52
2008 MLU Calendar design cliff The Sergeants' Mess 23 31-05-07 10:35
Pinnacle of automotive design Keith Webb The Softskin Forum 4 22-12-04 14:06


All times are GMT +2. The time now is 17:32.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © Maple Leaf Up, 2003-2016