Book Spotlight: ‘Steve Magnante’s 1001 Mustang Facts’ Feeds Your Pony Car Trivia Craving
Some vehicles are merely the sum of their parts, while others take on an image and legacy that surpasses the nuts and bots holding them together. Undeniably, the Ford Mustang is the latter. In its 50+ year history, the pony car has solidified its place in American automotive culture.
In those decades of existence, the Mustang has developed a unique reputation—and with it, many interesting facts. Over a thousand of those bits of trivia have been collected by Hot Rod magazine veteran and trivia buff Steve Magnante in his new book.
Steve Magnante’s 1001 Mustang Facts
By Steve Magnante
Product Details: Softcover, 336 pages, 6″ × 9″
Price: $24.95
Publication Date: March 2016
ISBN: 9781613252727
Publisher: CarTech Inc.
Website: www.cartechbooks.com
Steve Magnante’s 1001 Mustang Facts: Summary and Review
The multitudinous amount of Ford Mustang facts are divided into eight chapters, each covering a different era of the Mustang—such as “Of Foxes and Five-Point-Ohs (1979-1993).” Each chapter includes five subsections for organization: “Legend and Lore,” “Body and Interior,” “Engine and Driveline,” “Suspension and Brakes,” and “Number Crunching and Press Commentary.”
Each fact is identified with a big, bold number; a paragraph is dedicated to describing each fact, rather than reducing them to bulleted lists of phrases. Because of this, and the overarching way the book is written, it can be read fluidly from one fact to the next without it feeling choppy or disjointed. Magnante does an excellent job of developing each fact and transitioning between them.
Some of the facts are reiterated/reused in different context throughout the book, but it rarely feels like simply “page-stuffing.”
Not everyone is a Mustang fan, sadly, but the title does accurately pitch up-front what the contents will be. The “Legend and Lore” sections are particularly intriguing, especially for those who wouldn’t be interested in sitting down and reading a book of cold, hard technical jargon. There’s bound to be a fact or two that every reader could take away from a couple minutes of skimming.
The publication itself is high-quality, from the sturdy binding to the glossy pages. There are even over 100 small black-and-white supplemental photographs disinterested throughout the text. You certainly get your money’s worth.
Steve Magnante’s 1001 Mustang Facts is a dense pile of mechanical and historic facts about the Ford Mustang. This book isn’t meant to be a beginner’s basic introduction to the car for beginners and it anticipates the reader having a pre-requisite understanding of industry terminology and the Mustang itself. Still, this tome honoring the pony car will be an enlightening read for Mustang fans—and would make an excellent Father’s Day gift.
Steve Magnante’s 1001 Mustang Facts is available through the publisher’s website, Amazon, and other retailers.
Product provided for review by publisher.
Aaron is unashamed to be a native Clevelander and the proud driver of a Hyundai Veloster Turbo (which recently replaced his 1995 Saturn SC-2). He gleefully utilizes his background in theater, literature, and communication to dramatically recite his own articles to nearby youth. Mr. Widmar happily resides in Dayton, Ohio with his magnificent wife, Vicki, but is often on the road with her exploring new destinations. Aaron has high aspirations for his writing career but often gets distracted pondering the profound nature of the human condition and forgets what he was writing… See more articles by Aaron.