What are the best books for car fans in 2026?
The best automotive books today fall into three categories: visually striking coffee table books, story-driven car culture titles, and motorsport narratives. The strongest options combine high-quality design with authentic perspective—making them as display-worthy as they are readable.
Below, we’ve curated a mix of standout titles, including both new releases and proven favorites.
Top picks at a glance:
Best Overall: Life At Shutter Speed by Larry Chen
Best Motorsport Perspective: Your Mom Races Rally by Kelly Conroy
Best Automotive Travel Photobook: Vochos Unidos by Rodrigo Gaya Villar
Best New Magazine: Bayside Issue 01
1. Life At Shutter Speed — Best Overall
Best for: Automotive photography, modern car culture, premium collectors
A high-end coffee table book capturing the most iconic moments in modern automotive culture. Built for enthusiasts who want something visually striking and culturally relevant.
Free shipping on U.S. orders for a limited time.
Larry Chen: Life At Shutter Speed | The Definitive Photography Book
Life At Shutter Speed is the debut collection from Larry Chen, the preeminent automotive photographer of today’s generation. This 400-page keepsake celebrates 20 years of Chen’s work, featuring never-before-seen images and behind-the-scenes stories from his travels all over the world.
Life At Shutter Speed presents thousands of photos in vivid clarity and color, displayed in a stitch-bound hardcover measuring 14 × 11 inches for a stunning presentation. It spans the worlds of motorsport, rally and hillclimb racing, smoke-filled drifting and underground car culture that are synonymous with the author.
Inspired by his tireless mission to celebrate auto enthusiasts across the globe, as depicted in his YouTube series AutoFocus with Hoonigan and Capturing Car Culture with Hagerty, Life At Shutter Speed packs two decades of breathtaking thrills into a collector’s item that will elevate the bookshelf of any car nut. Click here to read a Q&A with Chen about the making of Life At Shutter Speed.
Available now wherever books are sold.
ISBN: 979-8-9916226-7-7
For information on our Return and Refund Policy, click here.
The Ultimate Drift Photography Coffee Table Book
Take a trip all the way back to the beginning. From his first visit to D1GP in 2005 to the meteoric rise of Formula Drift over 20 years, Life At Shutter Speed puts you on the track like no other photo book. Chen has been along for the ride for the entire growth of drifting in the United States, and pioneered the way the sport is photographed today. The book features hundreds of photos from overhead, inside the cockpit and inches from lighting up the tires. To read 5 automotive photography tips from the book, click here.
More key drifting photos:
Your favorite drivers like Vaughn Gittin Jr., Chris Forsberg and Adam LZ
Pioneers from Japan like Keiichi Tsuchiya, Daijiro Inada and Dai Yoshihara
Modern day champions James Deane, Chelsea DeNofa and Frederic Aasbo
And much more:
A masterclass in professional automotive photography, Life At Shutter Speed serves as both a time-traveling gallery of car culture and the triumphant portfolio of an entire career. A premium gift for car enthusiasts that is truly unique.
Press Coverage:
Interview with Life At Shutter Speed author Larry Chen, Smoking Tire Podcast
Interview with Life At Shutter Speed author Larry Chen, Maxim Magazine
The story behind the book featuring Larry Chen, Oh Shift YouTube Channel
"An immersive experience." - Foreword Reviews.
"Thrilling" and "jaw-dropping." - BookLife.
"Captures the excitement of racing in all its forms and in all parts of the world." - Kirkus Reviews.
Also featured in: Hagerty Drivers Club magazine, Los Angeles Times, Jay Leno’s Garage and more.
2. Vochos Unidos — Best Travel Photos
Best for: Museum-quality photography, international car culture, Volkswagen fans
Shot, designed and produced entirely in Mexico. Vochos Unidos highlights the iconic Volkswagen Beetle as you’ve never seen it, influenced by the passion, culture and ingenuity of the Mexican people.
Note: This item is in preorder. Shipping begins during the week of April 27th.
In this captivating bilingual photobook, one photographer spends five years exploring the streets of Mexico City and its surrounding mountain towns on the hunt for El Vocho — the Spanish term of endearment for the iconic Volkswagen Beetle. Vochos, and the vocheros who preserve them, become the pathway for Rodrigo Gaya Villar to rediscover his ancestral home country.
Along his travels, Gaya learns how the 60-year old German automobile reshaped Mexico's trajectory with easy, affordable transportation. Now it fuels a passionate community of vocheros who encapsulate its enduring spirit, and embrace its role in shaping contemporary Mexican identity.
Over 300 pages, Gaya's debut collection Vochos Unidos introduces the reader to vibrant people and locations that place the full Mexico experience on display. Through moments of triumph and heartbreak, laughter and despair, pride and humility, Vochos Unidos chases the Beetle across a culture and landscape as diverse as any in the world. We become attuned to the spirit of the Vocho, and the adopted homeland that celebrates it.
Designed and printed in Mexico.
ISBN: 979-8-9916226-9-1
3. Your Mom Races Rally — Best Motorsport
Best for: Women and mom enthusiasts, automotive memoir, racing community, Mother’s Day gifts
The inspirational true story of how one burnt-out mom rediscovered fun and joy through rally racing. Follow her journey from learning to drive stick to being embraced by a network of badass women competitors.
Your Mom Races Rally
Motherhood, Motorsports and the Revolution of Fun
A Rally Racing Memoir by Kelly Conroy
Hardcover Book · Motorsports Memoir
Discover the rally racing memoir that rewrites the way we view motherhood, women’s health and the constant need to be “good.”
Kelly Conroy stepped into rally school an exhausted mother of two. She left a racecar driver. Over the next two years, Conroy ditched society’s expectations as the modern mother consumed by sleep schedules and selflessness, and entered into a new era of rediscovering fun. The result is Your Mom Races Rally, a moving memoir about putting yourself first.
Conroy had never driven stick before, let alone competed in a mud-slinging motorsport that regularly sends cars careening into trees. Over the course of two years she prioritized her own joy and sanity, even at the expense of her family’s routine, meal plan and bank account. Conroy attended rally school, wriggled across oil-stained garage floors to upgrade her 40-year old BMW nicknamed “Nessie,” and made her way to the starting line. Along the way, she discovered a vast network of women racers, off-roaders and fellow badasses cheering her on at each step.
This is a story of reclaiming and rewriting your own life. It’s about setting an example for your children by living out your dreams — not someone else’s. For all the moms missing their previous selves, wondering where she went, this is your invitation to set her free again. Follow Kelly on Instagram at @yourmomracesrally.
ISBN: 979-8-9874245-3-7
Press Coverage for Your Mom Races Rally:
Kelly Conroy on the Under the Influence podcast with Jo Piazza (Apple Podcasts)
Kelly Conroy interviewed by Pretty Girl Motorsports
Kelly Conroy interview by the Racers & Riders Newsletter
Kelly Conroy feature article in Road & Track
Kelly Conroy on the Flatirons Syndicate Motorsport Podcast
Kelly Conroy on the Be Differential Podcast (Apple Podcasts)
Book Review: “The Best Book I Read in 2025” on Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys
Frequently cited as one of the best new racing books of 2026.
About this Book: 5 Surprising Facts about Your Mom Races Rally
4. Bayside Magazine — Best Modern Car Culture Periodical
Best for: Art and design, Japanese influence, sun-drenched features on JDM cars and road trips
Dripping with ‘90s nostalgia and imbued with a sense of fun, Bayside Magazine is a fresh perspective on the traditional car magazine. Highlighting events and locations for modern enthusiasts looking to celebrate their passion.
A car magazine that breaks all the rules. Bayside Magazine brings to life the creative vision of Bayside California, a collective of artists and designers who celebrate the joy of car culture mixed with beach lifestyle and ‘90s nostalgia. Dive into this immersive launch edition issue with captivating imagery, dynamic stories and wild styling. Inspired by 30-year old Japanese car magazines, infused with West Coast flavor, it’s like nothing the auto world has seen before.
Dive into profiles of owners and their cars who embody the Bayside ethos.
Explore the Skyline community of San Diego and what makes it special.
Two road trips through Hawaii that prove sporty cars fit right in.
Learn the team’s favorite local spots and why they call Southern California home.
Inspired by what’s happening on the ground, Bayside Magazine documents the style of today’s modern enthusiasts and explores how they choose to share their fun with others. Enjoy gorgeous spreads of unbelievable roads and scenic backgrounds, as well as hangout spots you have to see. This is the Bayside corner of car culture, and where its most passionate supporters are taking it.
To learn more about Bayside California, visit their Instagram page here.
Publication Name: Bayside Magazine
Issue Number: 01
Genre: Automotive Culture
5. Artifacts: Porsche Motorsport — Ultimate Collector
Best for: The super-collector, Porsche owners, racing fanatics
ERG Media produced a stunner with this coffee table book that comes in a protective case with its own seatbelt. Across all 550 pages, history and attention to detail are paramount in this bible for Porsche motorsport.
6. Drive Different — Best Restomod Book
Best for: Custom car fans, designers and builders, mixing past with present
An automotive coffee table book that tells real stories. The publisher Gestalten presents a visually beautiful hardcover that introduces readers to the wild, wonderful and wacky world of updating old cars with new parts.
7. Landings in America — Best Aviation Book
Best for: Travel memoirs, general aviation and airplanes, American adventure
While not a car book exactly, Landings in America is authored by the great automotive journalist Peter Egan, recounting a cross-country trip with his wife in a small Piper Cub. It’s a warm, friendly read full of fond memories.
8. Porsche Outlaws — Best Hot Rod Book
Best for: Custom car fans, designers and builders, mixing past with present
No brand has undergone a culture transformation like Porsche in the past 20 years. Purists and restomod enthusiasts with enjoy this photo journey through the Frankenstein creations that begat a new generation of 911 fans.
9. Formula 1: The Impossible Collection — Best Expensive Art Book
Best for: High net-worth individuals, corporate boardrooms, current and former F1 drivers
The publisher Assouline never spares any expense. This book, a 20-pound behemoth infused with scents of rubber, is a perfect example. It pays tribute to the world’s most expensive sport with a fitting photobook.
10. Mercedes-AMG — Best Brand Book
Best for: Mercedes fans, history buffs, German car aficionados
Friend of Carrara Media and veteran journalist Matt DeLorenzo invites us into the world of Mercedes-AMG, the former tuning company that’s now become a performance automaker in its own right.
Honorable Mentions
A few Carrara Media titles that were published previously, but still make great books today:
Waiting for the Sun to Come Down by automotive photographer Kevin McCauley is a mesmerizing study of light and shadow. Presented in hardcover with a jacket, this automotive coffee table book highlights hundreds of stunning cars spanning the course of a decade.
McCauley captures some of the world’s most seductive vehicles as you’ve never seen them before. His work includes dramatic staged photographs, alluring time-lapse progressions and magical smartphone images. Laid onto high-quality paper that makes color leap off the page, this array of muscle cars, vintage classics and once-in-a-lifetime exotic supercars is a must-have book for car enthusiasts of any age.
A renowned expert in the field of automotive photography, McCauley has been recognized by GQ, Esquire and the London Evening Standard as an innovator and technical specialist. Click here to read a Q&A with McCauley about the making of Waiting for the Sun to Come Down and the inspiration behind it.
Available now through CarraraBooks.com or wherever books are sold.
ISBN: 979-8-9874245-9-9
For information on our Return and Refund Policy, click here.
NOW A NO. 1 BEST SELLER!
This is the tale of the world’s most coveted car. Nissan produced three versions of the hallowed Skyline GT-R sports car, the ‘Holy Trinity’ Skylines that became a cultural phenomenon. The problem was, they were illegal in the U.S.
This is the story of the people who wanted it anyway. It’s the story of the people who evaded authorities and tangled with regulators. It’s a story about video games and anime, The Fast and the Furious, and the dark origins of U.S.-Japan relations.
In the follow-up to his critically acclaimed debuted Slow Car Fast in 2019, author Ryan ZumMallen parses through this complicated world to go inside the GT-R community — both in the U.S. and Japan. Informed by his experiences behind the wheel, and deep in courthouse basements, Cult of GT-R moves as briskly as the street racers who pushed the Skyline to its limit… and beyond.
"Cult of GT-R is more than a book about a supercar, it's a lens on the Japanese culture that spawned this performance icon." — Matt DeLorenzo, former editor of Road & Track and Autoweek.
Click here to read a Q&A with Cult of GT-R author Ryan K. ZumMallen.
ISBN: 979-8-9874245-1-3
For information on our Return and Refund Policy, click here.
Available now, We Deserve This by the automotive journalist and photographer Victoria Scott explores the intersection of femininity, fashion, automotive culture and trans joy. As a car enthusiast and a trans woman, Scott recognizes the power of personal style in one’s car — and one’s wardrobe. She searched for works that focused on this convergence of fashion and trans life, but after coming up empty-handed, she simply decided to create one herself.
Through 21 shoots in four states over the course of two years, Scott documents a broad swath of transfeminine life in 2020s America, featuring a wide variety of femmes, cars, locates and styles. Part style inspiration, part love letter to car culture, part roadmap to creating a joyfully unique self-image, We Deserve This is a rare work that auto enthusiasts, fashionistas and trans women can all enjoy together.
Orders are shipping now.
ISBN: 979-8-9874245-8-2
For information on our Return and Refund Policy, click here.
Slow Car Fast: The Millennial Mantra Changing Car Culture for Good explores the changing tides of car culture and re-examines the meaning of being a “car guy” in 2020. Veteran automotive journalist Ryan ZumMallen parses this world through the drivers, tuners and designers that live and breathe it against the fertile backdrop of Southern California.
ISBN: 978-0-578-54970-5
For information on our Return and Refund Policy, click here.
Red Mist is book two of three. Want the full set? Click here to order The Prototype Trilogy.
Red Mist by longtime Road & Track editor Sam Mitani is a pulse-pounding thriller that intertwines the worlds of motorsport and high-stakes espionage. The novel follows Maximilian Koga, a former U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander and DEA agent, who is drawn back into a life of danger and deception after surviving a harrowing attack by a drug cartel in Mexico. Koga, a man haunted by his past, is relentless in his pursuit of justice and revenge, particularly against an elusive terrorist leader with frightening intentions.
Fueled by his obsession with cars and speed, a passion inherited from his late father, Koga is recruited by a prestigious automotive magazine with a secret agenda. Alongside a team of skilled operatives, including the enigmatic Stockton Clay and a cunning special agent named Beth Hu, the tormented Koga navigates a world where seductive vehicles and deadly conspiracies collide. For those who crave an intense blend of action and covert ops, seasoned with heart-pounding automotive excitement, Red Mist invites you to strap in for the ride of your life.
ISBN: 979-8-9916226-1-5
Preorders shipping December 2nd. For information on our Return and Refund Policy, click here.
Keys to the Empire is book three of three. Want the full set? Click here to order The Prototype Trilogy.
The third and final book in The Prototype Trilogy from former Road & Track editor Sam Mitani, Keys to the Empire is a high-octane international thriller that weaves a web of espionage, crime and family drama. At its heart is Dalton Lang, the "Phantom Assassin," a former Chinese hitman turned double agent who navigates a treacherous landscape filled with deadly enemies and hidden motives.
Lang is drawn into the hunt to recover precious artifacts rumored to hold immense power, when his loved ones are threatened. His daughter, Elizabeth, and her romantic involvement with counterintelligence expert Max Koga, further complicates a mystery that draws in factions from the CIA, the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese Ministry of State Security - among others.
Follow Lang from the bustling streets of L.A.'s Chinatown to the serene settings of an abandoned winery as he teams up with former allies, confronts old enemies and faces new threats marked by intense combat, tactical maneuvers, and a constant struggle to stay one step ahead. This gripping tale blends action, espionage, and personal drama with a protagonist who is as skilled with a gun as he is tormented by inner demons. Published by Carrara Media.
ISBN: 979-8-9916226-2-2
For information on our Return and Refund Policy, click here.
Are car books good gifts?
Yes, automotive books make excellent gifts, especially premium coffee table books or limited editions for collectors and enthusiasts.
Where can I buy automotive books?
Automotive books can be purchased online, at bookstores, or directly from specialty publishers offering premium editions and signed copies. Shop all Carrara Media titles here.