James Garner's Motoring Life: Grand Prix the movie, Baja, The Rockford Files, and More by Matt Stone

James Garner's Motoring Life: Grand Prix the movie, Baja, The Rockford Files, and More Reviews

• 
  Karen

  This was a fascinating book!
  Any car enthusiast or fan of James Garner should add this book to their collection. It is filled with wonderful photos of James Garner with fellow actors and with the many cars he has owned or has driven in his movies, TV shows and during his racing years. It was interesting to find out that Steve McQueen was actually his neighbor! I especially liked the chapters about his movie Grand Prix and his days filming The Rockford Files. It was interesting to find out that he owned his own car racing team and did off-road racing too. Matt Stone has compiled a wonderful, all-inclusive, informative book about James Garner's "car life" many of us never knew he had. This book has piqued my interest about an actor I have always admired in the many movies I have seen him in; my favorite ones being The Thrill Of It All and Support Your Local Sheriff. I was thrilled to have won this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's Program.
• 
  Jose

  James Garner's Motoring Life:Grand Prix the Movie,Baja,The Rockford Files and More.By Matt Stone is A Must for any Motorsport Fan.Everything you wanted to know which has not been published before Regarding James Garner and His Accomplishments in Motorsports that he was involved in.His Movie Grand Prix(1966),His Tv Show The Rockford Files with His Cherokee Productions. My Favorite of Course Being His Corvettes from A.I.R.(American International Racing,James Garner's American International Racing AIR)and His Lola-T70 Chevy,Although The and Corvettes Were Brief for the A I R team's foray in Endurance Racing were unsatisfactorily brief It is what first got me interested in Garner Recently and wanting to know more,I am not a Huge Garner Fan except for the Movie Grand Prix which is a Masterpiece of sight and sound and A Casual Fan of Rockford Files Show thanks to The Pontiac Firebird which is covered in this great book.I could not put this book and was in awe of the various vehicles Covered,Ford F-100 Pickup for Baja,Ford Bronco,The Beautiful Oldsmobile 4-4-2 Bodied/Badged Cutlass and Oldsmobile Baja Car Yes a Oldsmobile Ran at Baja! The Various Pace Cars Garner drove at Indy three times and his close Involvement with at one Point Ford Motors then AMC/American Motors through his Team having AMC Cars Being Fitted for Baja unbelievably two of which were Four Wheel Drive,the other 8 Two Wheel Drive.The Jeeps(Later on Late 70s)The Connection with GM,General Motors,Specifically Through Pontiac and GMC and Oldsmobile as well as Once Driving a Buick Pace car.There is too much to put here that the book covers in full along with Period Pictures and Color Pictures,Beautiful Photography throughout as well it being well-written and put together.A Must to any Motorsport Library.
• 
  Terrance Zepke

  I received a review copy in early August, less than two weeks after James Garner’s death. He was 86 years old. I don’t know much about James Garner, except that my dad loved him. I didn’t see the original Rockford Files because I was too young when the show originally aired. But I have seen the show in syndication and most of the made-for-tv Rockford movies. Love ‘em! So what did I learn from this book?
  
  I learned that Garner had a passion for cars his whole life but his involvement in the racing world began with his role in the movie, Grand Prix. After that, he had the bug, as they say. He got into off-road racing, endurance racing, and international racing. He became a racing team owner, establishing American International Racing.
  
  I also learned that he was one of the nicest and most honorable men most folks have ever known. He was also a patriot. His team colors were red, white and blue and he made sure “American” was in the title of his racing company and appeared in big letters on his race cars. He was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports hall of Fall (Reno, Nevada) in 1978.
  
  I really enjoyed the chapter about Rockford Files. In case you don’t know this show, it was a big hit and defined James Garner’s career. It premiered in September 1974 and ran until July 1980–but has never been off the air thanks to syndication. It was one of several 1970s crime dramas, including Kojak and Hawaii Five-O. James Garner played Jim Rockford, a private detective who lived in a homey trailer located in the parking lot of the Sand Castle Restaurant. Oh, and did I mention that his view was Malibu Beach? One of the trademarks of the show was the classic 1974 Pontiac Firebird Espirit he drove, which became like a character in the show.
  
  I learned that Garner owned the production company, Cherokee Productions, that produced his show for NBC/Universal. Pontiac supplied three Firebirds every season: one for beauty (no driving); one for action scenes where the car is driven and may get dinged up; and one as a back-up. His father, Rocky, drove a truck furnished by GMC. Both vehicles became popular as a result of being featured on this show.
  
  There is all kinds of great Rockford trivia on pages 129-130 of this book, as well as lots of great images.
  
  I really enjoyed learning about this “other” side of James Garner. He was so much more than a Hollywood actor and celebrity. I recommend this book to car enthusiasts and for all Rockford fans.
• 
  Regina

  This book was a very pleasant surprise. it was much more than i thought it was. It portrays James as a father, an actor, a love of cars, a man! the pictures are great, they are pictures taken doing what he loved with the people he loved and the cars he adored. The many quotes really brought James to the forefront as a person not just an idol. Great book
• 
  J.D.

  Decent read. Some errors that could've been easily solved with 30 seconds on Google. Some points were reiterated multiple times.
  
  Book could've been improved by an extra 50 pages or so of additional detail and photos.
• 
  Machelle

  Awesome book. Fun to look at the pictures and learn new things about such an incredible actor.