Automotive Custom Interiors (Idea Book)
1. What did you discover in researching this book that readers will be excited to learn?I was delighted to discover over and over again it doesn’t take a lot of money to create a completely custom, unique interior that really reflects your personality.2. What differentiates this book from any other book on this subject?It’s much like a kitchen and bathroom idea book, but — amazing as it may be — this is thefirst-everidea book to focus on custom automotive interiors! While other car interior books focus on how-to information, this book is all aboutinspiration. And it’s deliciously in-depth.3. What is the thing that the readers will find most interesting about the book?The styles shown run the gamut from up-to-the-minute high-tech to radically retro and rat rod. Plus,Automotive Custom Interiorsincludes a huge variety of vehicles, from chopped Mercs and Deuce coupes to muscle cars, late-models, ’50s cars, lowriders and sport compacts — and from extremely low-buck home-builts to cars crafted by such famous builders as Chip Foose, Troy Trepanier and POSIES. It also features incredible automaker concept cars and trucks.Even if people have seen a few of these vehicles before, odds are they’ve never seen photos that zero in on the floor coverings, the headliners and the trunks, not to mention cool details, like the gas and brake pedals and door handles and window cranks. Most other publications don’t cover the interior in this kind of detail — nor do they show dozens of images grouped together for compare-and-contrast fun.4. Tell me about the photography in the book.It’s filled with more than 650 color images that are sure to amuse and inspire. The first chapter provides an overview, with a wide variety of custom looks. After that, chapters focus on specific aspects of an interior, including seats and upholstery, dashboards and gauges, door panels, consoles, hardware, floor coverings and headliners, trunks and cargo areas, and audio and high-tech accessories.Where else are you going to find more than 50 photos of consoles, 60-plus photos of door panels, 20 detail shots of shift knobs alone and more than 70 different ways to lay out a vehicle’s gauges?!5. What is your personal involvement with the subject?I fell in love with my first car when I was 3 years old. And I’ve been a writer and editor for automotive magazines and websites for 21 years now, covering the full range of the hobby. I became the first female editor of a hands-on, how-to car magazine (High Performance Pontiac) back in 1988. I have since been the editor of custom publishing magazines for Primedia, includingThe Barrett-Jackson ExperienceandOverhaulin’: The Magazine.And I was the editorial director forCollectorCarNet.comand SEMA’s consumer website,EnjoyTheDrive.com. I also served as SEMA’s Product Information Specialist for three years. So I know more than a little bit about cars and their parts.And while I have a serious appreciation for restored vehicles, my true passion is for customized cars and trucks. I love seeing how people express their creativity and their personality through their vehicles. They become rolling works of automotive art!6. What is your favorite part of the book?The sheer variety. It’s mind-blowing!7. Is there anything else you would like to add about the subject or the book?What became clear as I culled through thousands of images to create this book is that the difference between an average car and an attention-getter is often in the details. Even something simple, like coordinating the stitching on the seats, console and door panels, can make a dramatic difference. The top designers and automakers also choose a styling theme for their vehicles. It can be something simple, like the repetition of a certain shape, or it can be something more complex, such as an homage to the Art Deco era or to vintage aircraft. These top builders then they use that styling theme to unify the vehicle’s interior — and also often its exterior — design.