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Distributed for Dalton Watson Fine Books

Raymond Henri Dietrich

Automotive Architect of the Classic Era & Beyond

A handsomely illustrated biography of a classic automotive designer.
 
This comprehensive and entertaining biography of famous classic car designer Raymond H. Dietrich—known as “the automotive architect of the classic era”—is an accurate record of his life and times based upon records and interviews unavailable to others. Featuring more than four hundred photographs and documents, many never previously published, this well-researched societal history traces the eight decades of the designer's life, revealing little-known aspects of his career and his triumphs over tragedy. Historians and automobile enthusiasts alike will appreciate how this handsomely illustrated book skillfully transports the reader from one era to another in the life of an extraordinary man who left such an impressive legacy of classic car design. It has already been described as a "tour de force," "amazing and indispensable," and "captivating" by the likes of SAH Director-Editor Ruben Verdes and Editor-Director, Classic Cars Seen, Michelle AH Cousineau.

640 pages | 278 color plates, 335 halftones | 11 1/2 x 10 | © 2023

Biography and Letters

Gender and Sexuality

History: History of Technology

Sport and Recreation


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Reviews

"[A] brilliant biography on the American designer and coachbuilder Ray Dietrich. . ."

Derivaz & Ives

"This book is in many ways phenomenal. It will prove to be the authoritative biography of Raymond H. Dietrich. . . . Dalton Watson Fine Books has done a spectacular job in producing this eight-pound opus. . . . Marbled endpapers add a touch of by-gone elegance one rarely sees today."
 

Mark Dwyer, Speedreaders

Table of Contents

Foreword to Original Version
Foreword to Current Version
Author’s Notes & Acknowledgements
Preface: “The Story Behind the Story”
Introduction
Chapter 1: A Brooklyn Boyhood
Chapter 2: Bright Beginnings with Brewster & Company
Chapter 3: Le Baron, Carrossiers, Architects for the Automotive Industry
Chapter 4: The Edsel Ford Era
Chapter 5: Dietrich, Inc., Trendsetter for the Automotive Industry
Chapter 6: The Dietrich Hallmark
Chapter 7: The Packard-Murray-Dietrich Axis
Chapter 8: The Chrysler Connection
Chapter 9: Stepping on the Shoulders of Giants
Chapter 10: War and Peace with Checker Manufacturing Corporation
Chapter 11: The Tucker Story, An Insider’s Perspective
Chapter 12: Raymond H. Dietrich, Inc., a Custom Concern
Chapter 13: The Autumn Years: Being Morris Markin’s “Michelangelo”
Chapter 14: A Possible Dream: The Dietrich Energy System and Car of the Future
Chapter 15: Cavalcade of Dietrich Design Work
Index to Cavalcade Illustrations
Cavalcade Credits by Source
Bibliography
Index

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