AN AUTOBOOKS GIFT GUIDE
Looking for an automotive gift? Consider supporting your local automotive bookstore. In the LA area, that means Autobooks-Aerobooks in Burbank—and it’s a gem.
By Doug Stokes & Roy Nakano
Tue, Dec 16, 2025 05:00 AM PST
Featured image above: Jake Grafman and Jay Leno browsing through the Autobooks-Aerobooks store in Burbank during LA Car Day 2007 (Tommy Grafman photograph).
NEW! This year we’ve got the help of the great people over at AutoBooks* in LA-adjacent Burbank.
Instead of going publisher by publisher and coming up with a list of great gift books we’re suggesting that our LACar readers open up www.autobooks-areobooks.com and scroll though the “New Arrivals” for a look at some of the latest of the close to 6,000 titles that they have in stock and ready to ship.
Better yet, if you’re anywhere in the Los Angeles area, an excursion over to this classic motoring institution is always great fun.
Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to cruise the aisles and find yourself finding books that speak directly to automotive (and motorcycles, and airplanes as well!) interests from Formula 1 to classic Ferraris and Shelby Cobras, and from the dawn of the “horseless carriage” to the latest electric and hydrogen-powered cars.
You’ll also find intriguing books about the people who designed, built, and drove, that amazing range of automobiles, they’re all there at Autobooks as well … great biographies about the greats of the business. And there’s a 40 foot long magazine rack with a huge selection of interesting titles to take home too.
An LA institution, one that LA auto enthusiasts love and support … Happy Holidays!
Hello? AutoBooks?
You need to note that they’re always busy at Autobooks, but they’re never too busy to pick up the phone and answer a question or two to help with suggestions about selections. (818) 815-0707 (please check website for special Holiday hours)
Porto’s is Next Door
If you go by the bookstore in person, you might want to make a stop just west of AutoBooks on Magnolia … at the legendary Porto’s Bakery.
They’re always busy as well, and for good reason, Porto’s produces an array of always amazing baked goods. Cakes, Pies, Cookies, classic Empenadas, and a bevvy of beautiful crusty Breads that make any day that they’re on the table special.
And lastly, a very special thank you to the great people at Autobooks-Aerobooks. We appreciate you being our 2025 Holiday Gift Guide! – Doug Stokes
*Their full official name is Autobooks-Aerobooks and the “Aerobooks” part of that long-time moniker is there because this beloved Burbank bookstore also features hundreds upon hundreds of books on the subject of flight. They have long shelves filled with books about the wild blue yonder: Military, Commercial, General, Aerospace and more. Great books about aircraft make great Christmas gifts too.
Autobooks-Aerobooks is located at:
2900 W. Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91505
(818) 845-0707
Recommended Books to Seek Out
Cruising J-Town
Just released in August and available at Autobooks, Oliver Wang’s book on the Japanese American car culture in Los Angeles has been selected as a California Lifestyle finalist of the Golden Poppy Award. Be sure to read Susie Ling’s glowing LACar review.
Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler's Best
Winner of the Motor Press Guild Best Book of the Year Award & Dean Batchelor Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism for 2021, author Neal Bascomb’s Faster tells the story of three unlikely heroes—a driver banned from the best European teams because of his Jewish heritage, the owner of a faltering automaker company, and the adventurous daughter of an American multimillionaire—banded together to challenge Hitler’s dominance at the Grand Prix.
Formula One: The Champions – 75 Years of Legendary F1 Drivers
A beautifully illustrated guide to the 34 drivers who piloted Formula One racers to world championships.
“Many Formula One fans are going to be meeting a wonderful group or historic drivers, says reviewer Doug Stokes. “They are very likely to be greatly surprised (as well as entertained and educated) with what author Maurice Hamilton has to relate about each of the members of this cadre of true champions.”
Hot Rod Mavericks
“Mavericks...I counted over sixty of them here. Introduced and well-annotated in Tony Thacker’s new colorful and cogent Motorbooks roundup of the people who made the term Hot Rodding not only synonymous with speed and performance, but with their colorful lives as well.”
Adds Stokes, “A pretty healthy majority of which happened right here in and around our patch…in LACar country.”
Malloy
Doug Stokes reviewed Tom Malloy’s late-in-life challenge with classic racing cars, becoming a bona fide racing driver, and sponsoring and winning races around the world.
Says Stokes, “This is a big, beautiful, heavy, horizontal format, hardbound, coffee table book that really catches the eye with a whole passel of wonderful photography of classic vintage race cars being put through their paces in fine style by a guy who didn’t start racing until he was in his early fifties.”
Mercedes-AMG: Race-Breed Performance
Matt DeLorenzo’s new book leans into the fun zone between refinement and rebellion in Mercedes-AMG: Race-Breed Performance.
Says Glenn Oyoung, “You finish wanting more. More engines. More stories. More of the crazy projects that built the legend. A sequel is in order. For longtime AMG fans, this is an easy yes.”
RIDE: The Most Iconic Cars of the Silver Screen
RIDE has details about 34 favorite car films not commonly known, like a San Francisco map of Steve McQueen’s car chase in Bullitt.
“This book goes full-bore, first-rate Tinsel Town… with both the page edges and many of the book’s pages bathed and/or highlighted with glowing argent silver…That’s to say this one is a pretty damn stunning presentation,” says reviewer Doug Stokes.
A heavyweight coffee book steal at $65.
The Complete Book of Corvette
Says reviewer Doug Stokes about The Complete Book of Corvette, “If ever a book about the amazing, enduring, always-improving Chevrolet Corvette has had ALL the goods on the marque, this one, polished and tuned by Corvetteologist deluxe Mike Mueller is fully-equipped and fully deserving of the sobriquet.”
The Complete Book of Volkswagen GTI
GTI owners are among the most opinionated automotive enthusiasts, particularly about which generation of GTI is most worthy and which are not.
Author Russell Hayes manages to tell it all without alienating any generation. The Coplete Book of GTI is the ultimate reference guide for any GTI fan.
For other book reviews going back several years before 2025, be sure to check out LACar’s Reviews site. – Roy Nakano
See Also
Autobooks-Aerobooks’ New Arrivals
Motorbooks Celebrates 60 Years, by Doug Stokes
About The Authors
Doug has a long and wide-ranging history in the motoring business. He served five years as the Executive Director of the International Kart Federation, and was the PR guy for the Mickey Thompson's Off-Road Championship Gran Prix. He worked racing PR for both Honda and Suzuki and was a senior PR person on the first Los Angeles (Vintage) Grand Prix. He was also the first PR Manager for Perris Auto Speedway, and spent over 20 years as the VP of Communications at Irwindale Speedway. Stokes is the recipient of the American Autowriters and Broadcaster’s 2005 Chapman Award for Excellence in Public Relations and was honored in 2015 by the Motor Press Guild with their Dean Batchelor Lifetime Achievement Award. 2025 saw Stokes voted into the Go Kart Hall of Fame. “… I’ve also been reviewing automobiles and books for over 20 years, and really enjoy my LACar assignments.” he added.
Together with
Roy Nakano gave birth to LACar in the late '90s, having previously delivered LA Audio File back in the '80s. Aside from the occasional review, Roy likes to stray off the beaten automotive path: "Six Degrees of Reparations" reflected on the regretful ethical paths taken by car companies throughout history. "Traveling Through the Past and Present of the Green Book" looked at businesses that took a stand against racism and the man that wrote the book on where to find them. "Best Cars to Drive in Rush Hour Traffic" was an LACar guide published in the pre-GPS era. "In Search of the First Datsun 510 Tuner" looked at one of the milestones in the origin of import tuners. And "Us vs Them" examines the instances when rivalry among automotive enthusiasts crossed the line to violence and even death.
