New Book ‘Mascots in Motion’ Highlights Automotive Design

Shunpiker Productions in Williamston, south of Lansing, has released a new art book that celebrates the details of automotive design as represented by mascots, hood ornaments, and other elements of trim.

The collection represents “a worthy sub-category of automotive art,” according to photographer and author Steve Purdy.

“Mascots in Motion, Images and Stories of Automotive Aesthetics,” is a coffee-table-style art book featuring Purdy’s photography annotated with short stories that put the images into context.

The Michigan-based author, photographer, producer, historian, and promoter of automotive fine art, has been shooting these images for more than 40 years.

The full-color, coffee-table book offers 314 pages, 320 images, and about 50,000 words. It includes a French jacket cover, embossed hard cover, a silk ribbon bookmark, and an aesthetic ambiance — by the art book specialists at M.J. Jacobs of Grand Rapids, which only produces high-end books.

“What sets this book apart from others on the topic is that the images are all shot in the wild, that is, without staging or artificial light,” says Purdy. “All are images that caught my eye at so many venues: from the local Saturday cruise-in in East Dubuque, Ill. to the elegant Audrain Concours d’Elegance on the lawn of The Breakers in Newport, R.I.; at found places like J.C. Lane’s salvage yard in middle Tennessee or the berm of a junk yard in northern Michigan; or, along the back roads we explore all the time. All provide fodder for this book.”

Having written about automobile history, culture, and aesthetics for many years, Purdy found in researching the book unexpected stories, and different versions of stories he thought he knew, like that of the northern England club called the Ancient Order of Froth Blowers, or the stories of Eleanor Thornton, the ambitious, beautiful, ethereal young lady who posed for the famous Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy mascot, and was the muse of famous automobilist of the earliest days, Lord Montagu of Beaulieu.

The book retails for $90, along with $8 for shipping.

For more information, visit shunpikerproductions.com .

The post New Book ‘Mascots in Motion’ Highlights Automotive Design appeared first on DBusiness Magazine .