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Denise McCluggage, Senior Editor Autoweek Magazine - February 21, 2011
THEN AND NOW By Denise McCluggage
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Let Ron Be Your Guide
RON ADAMS FOLLOWED A GIRL to Germany, not an uncommon practice for college students of a certain era. He doesn’t know what happened to the girl (beyond “she dumped me”), but he stayed in Munich for the next few years, learned the language, acquired a BMW M3 and let happenstance establish the base for what he was clearly set on this earth to do, because his early efforts at it are so good.
He produces guidebooks for car buffs so they’ll know not only good driving routes and worththe- stop coffee and lunch spots but also where to find all of the car museums, racetracks, driving schools, car shows and auctions in an area. He explains exactly how to arrange tours of factories, tuner shops and the more obscure museums, along with the famous ones. He finds and notes in detail the places many guidebooks acknowledge with a single sentence such as “There are also several automotive museums nearby.”
Furthermore, based on personal visits, he gives star ratings for the quality of each experience and estimates the time needed to get the most from the site. Readers can quickly calibrate their tastes with Ron’s and adjust their plans accordingly. Along with granting stars, he points out mustsees and little-knowns and clearly lays out the need-to-knows, such as hours, phone numbers, entry fees and driving directions with schematic maps.
Ron, a Colorado native, now lives in Phoenix with his wife, Tina (not from Munich), and two small children. A superior photographer, he writes clearly, with a been-there-done-that awareness of what travelers want and need to know, even if the travelers themselves aren’t sure.
A car guy, racing-school devotee and competitor (with success in Formula Mazda and the Ferrari Challenge Series), he knows what causes a heart with overhead valves to beat faster. He is also into motorcycles, model cars and the history of transportation. His search for museums— he asks local buffs and collectors, not chambers of commerce—reflects that.
OK, now the bad news. So far, Ron’s Via Corsa Car Lover’s Guides—glossy, four-color, handsome items—are available only for southern Germany and Arizona. But there’s good news, too. In the works are Northern California, then the rest of California and then Italy in two parts. Then Florida. “My friends in Germany have asked for that,” Ron says.
With the self-appointed wise predicting the death of the printed word, it is both heartening and touching to see wellproduced, hold-inyour- hand guidebooks featuring that quaint search engine entitled “Index” (and an informative “Appendix”). But the intractability of print has problems, especially in a guidebook. Shops close, businesses move, new museums open. For all of that updating, there is www.viacorsa.com. Don’t leave your Wi-Fi without checking. You can order the guides at Amazon.com or Motorbooks.com. Cover price is $19.95.
I cannot imagine any driver worthy of the designation taking off to Munich or Stuttgart without the Via Corsa Car Lover’s Guide to Southern Germany. Or going anywhere without checking to see whether Ron has gotten around to covering that area yet. (He works fast.)
I smile recalling a thumbnail lead-in to a description of a quirky little museum in Marxzell near Karlsruhe, Germany: “At least 30 cars in various condition. Most are whole cars.” I want to go there. -dmccluggage@autoweek.com
Copyrighted 2011. Crain Communications. 75186-LFT:AS
The 2011 International Book Awards
Sponsored by JPX Media Group, Los Angeles, California
Congratulations to all Winners & Finalists!
Travel Guides
Winner
The Complete Walt Disney World 2011 by Julie and Mike Neal
Coconut Press
978-0-970959621
Finalist
Via Corsa Car Lover's Guide to Southern Germany
by Ron Adams
Via Corsa, Ltd.
978-0-9825710-1-9
Finalist
The White House: An Historic Guide by The White House Historical Association
The White House Historical Association
978-1-931917-06-3
Eurotuner Magazine - April 15, 2011
Via Corsa Germany Guidebook - Tuner News
The 336-page book highlights museums, specialty tuners, race tracks and car manufacturers, including the BMW Welt in Munich and Audi in Ingolstadt.
April 15, 2011
17. Germany Guidebook
Via Corsa
MSRP: $19.95
Info: viacorsa.com
Before you make a trip to Germany, you’ll want to look at this book first. Via Corsa’s motoring themed Car Lover’s Guidebooks are the essential companion for gearheads planning a vacation. Previous publications include a guide to Arizona, with SoCal, NorCal and Italy in the pipeline. However, the latest release looks at Southern Germany. The 336-page book highlights museums, specialty tuners, race tracks and car manufacturers, including the BMW Welt in Munich and Audi in Ingolstadt. Not just a guide, it also features interviews with racing legends such as Hans-Joachim Stuck who recounts his favorite drive route through Germany. There are also interviews with legends Derek Bell and Wolfgang Kaufmann who lead readers around laps of the famous Hockenheim and Nrburgring tracks. Add in road sign explanations, plus driving laws, the Car Lover’s Guide to Southern Germany is a must-have for automotive visitors.
Hemmings - April, 2011
Feature Article from Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car
April, 2011 - Words and Photography by Mark J. McCourt
Via Corsa: Car Lover's Guide to Southern Germany
By Ron Adams
Quayside Publishing Group
800-458-0454
www.qbookshop.com
$19.95
****
Who among those of us with petrol in our veins has not fantasized about a trip to Europe to tour the automakers' museums and factories and to drive on their beautiful high-speed roads? Author Ron Adams has given us the gold ticket to do just that in his new Via Corsa travel guidebook, Car Lover's Guide to Southern Germany. In 366 illustrated color pages (including detailed maps), this title covers automotive History, Manufacturers, Museums, Tuners & Aftermarket, Race Tracks, Driving Schools, Hot Spots and Road Trips. Exclusive interviews with prominent racers as well as never-before-seen photos in the BMW factory and at scale model builders Herpa Models are icing on the cake.
Phoenix Business Journal - March 31, 2011
Ron Adams got Jay Leno’s attention with his second book, “Via Corsa Car Lover’s Guide to Southern Germany.”
His company Via Corsa Ltd. published its first book, “Car Lovers Guide to Arizona,” last year and books on Northern and Southern California and northern Italy are in the works.
Interviewing Adams for a segment on his Jay Leno’s Garage website, the comedian thought back to a trip to Germany, speeding down the Autobahn at 170 miles per hour in a Chevrolet Corvette. “I just drove past cool interesting stuff,” he said. “I was kicking myself after reading this, cause I went right by there.”
Similar to the Arizona book, the Germany guide covers museums, rates factory tours for Audi, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, maps out racetracks such as the Nuburgring, chronicles favorite drives around Bavaria and talks with race car legends such as Susie Stoddart.
Adams came up with the idea being frustrated searching bookstores for interesting car and guidebooks. A self-described car guy, he has race Road America, Phoenix International Raceway and Salzburgring and has traveled to six of the seven continents, living for awhile in Munich. Researching and writing the books have been more fun than work, he said.
Read more: Auto author catches Leno's eye with Germany guidebook | Phoenix Business Journal
Cathy Luebke - www.bizjournals.com.
Garage Style Magazine - Winter, 2010
Car Lover's Guide to Arizona
By Ron Adams
Via Corsa
The weather is cooling down, the Scottsdale auction season is approaching and most have no clue what a fabulous driving state Arizona can be. Ron Adams aims to change all that with his paperback book highlighting Car Shows and Hot Spots, Road Trips, Car Club Drives, Proving Ground Locations, Race Tracks and Driving Schools and Museums amoung other nuggets of great information for any road tripper going to Arizona. Full color images, well thought out maps and directions, and crystal clear text combined with higher-quality paper stock make this book an excellent addition to any driver's compendium of books - not only is it fantastic for planning an Arizona excursion, but it makes for great bedtime reading too.
Car Lover Gift Guide - February 11, 2011
Ron Adams was recently interviewed by Jay Leno of Jay Leno’s Garage. The Car Lover’s Guide to Southern Germany was written by Ron Adams, and published by Via Corsa in 2010. In this informative guide you will learn where to explore Southern Germany’s rich automotive history and discover the culture and personalities that define it today. Exclusive interviews, with Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell, Susie Stoddart, Savine Schmitz, and Wolfgang Kaufmann. The Car Lover’s Guide to Southern Germany includes over two dozen automobile museums, specialty car tuners, the legendary Nurburgring and Hockenheimring race tracks, and the car manufacturers that made Munich, Stuttgart, and Ingolstadt famous.
This is the ultimate travel guide for any car enthusiast visiting Germany and who want to see the many wonderful sights a true car enthusiast would die to see! Jay Leno’s review, ” If you are going to Europe, you have to see this! The Car Lover’s Guide to Southern Germany can be purchase via our online book store at www.carlovergiftguide.com.
SpeedReaders.info - February, 2011
Via Corsa Car Lover’s Guide
by Ronald Adams
For the traveler with automotive interests, the specificity of the Via Corsa books far surpass the generic tourist guides. The first two releases in this new series of special-interest guidebooks cover Arizona and Southern Germany. Having lived in both of these places, this reviewer can say with conviction that they are thorough enough to surprise even the locals with their level of detail. Two examples: the existence of the Franklin Museum in Tucson, AZ is as much a mystery to most of that town’s inhabitants as the birthplace of Gottlieb Daimler is to the good people of tiny Schorndorf, Germany. These books not only list them but offer opening hours, photos and descriptions of their holdings, and even driving directions. Before you dismiss the idea of a printed travel guide as outdated consider that electronic updates are available on the Via Corsa website.
Finding himself idle in a bookstore one day the author inquired about car travel books—and discovered none, or at least none that appealed to him, existed. This he found sufficiently disappointing to take it upon himself to write and self-publish some. Having lived in Germany and the US (in fact Arizona these days) he started the project by writing about what he knew. Future editions will include Northern California, Southern California, and Northern Italy. Adams is also a car racer at the club level, collects automobilia, and worked in the diecast model industry for over 15 years. Ergo, his own interests in cars and car-related “stuff” give him a good handle on what like-minded enthusiasts would want to know, even to the extent of including other transportation-relevant venues such as Arizona’s acres of mothballed aircraft and Titan Missile Museum (the latter, incidentally, not called out in the index) or Germany’s Sinsheim Technical Museum, the only place in the world to have two supersonic airliners—a Concorde and a Tupolev—bolted to the roof.
The basic approach these books take is to introduce a geographic area in terms of general history and attractions (cf. wineries, landmarks) and specifics such as climate and traffic laws, and then offer close-up looks at specific topics/activities and road trips. Each main section has its own color tab. The Arizona book, for instance, covers the slew of January auto auctions (along with an interview of Barrett-Jackson CEO Craig Jackson), and car museums, car shows, race tracks (including track layouts), driving schools, the Copperstate 1000 rally, and an inside look at the Ford Motor Company proving grounds. All this is sprinkled with snippets of local car culture such as that part of Route 66 that passes through the state or the favorite drives of Phoenix residents Alice Cooper (musician) and Arie Luyendyk (race driver) or the longest-running weekly car gathering in the US.
The Germany book was done in collaboration with Munich-born and -based Oliver Littman, an Art Center College of Design grad with a multitude of automotive interests. This book is rather more extensive in its treatment of general history and local color, including such background as a snapshot of the history of the Autobahn or Messrs. Daimler and Benz. It then describes more than two dozen museums, famous tuning and aftermarket houses (Lorinser, MTM, Ruf to name a few), major race tracks, driving schools, factory tours (Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche) and manufacturers’ museums. Special features present the final assembly of BMW’s 5 Series at their Dingolfing plant and the production of an 1/87 scale model car at the Herpa factory. Interviews with several professional drivers (Hans-Joachim Stuck, Derek Bell, Susie Stoddart, Sabine Schmitz, and Wolfgang Kaufmann who takes the reader on a virtual lap on the Hockenheim- and Nürburgrings) provide entertaining insights, and micro detail such as a calendar of events, Autobahn driving etiquette, road signs, and license plate nomenclature etc. will make you feel comfortable forging your own way.
The road trips give directions, driving time, scenic stops and attractions along the way as well as hotels and even restaurants. The maps provided will give you a basic sense for the lay of the land; detail maps for the various venues (museums, car shows etc.) show their relation to major roads or highways and even show parking lots. In addition the Appendix includes such niceties as a glossary of German words and phrases, many of which car-specific (insurance, car parts, directions etc.).
For the armchair traveler the writing is lively enough to make a good read all on its own! On the editorial and proofreading end there is a certain looseness but for a self-published, and first, effort these books are a remarkably sophisticated accomplishment! There are LOTS of photos (mostly the author’s); they are obviously small because the whole point of these books is portability—they are sized so as to fit into a glove box and, if you don’t mind bulging pockets, even a sports coat.
The books are indexed, intelligently designed, and the overall attention to detail and clarity of presentation detail are impressive. And, in case you’re wondering, “Via Corsa” is a made-up word!
Copyright 2010, Sabu Advani (speedreaders.info)
MMR/ Racemaker Press - January 2011
Via Corsa Car Lover's Guide to Southern Germany
by Ronald Adams
There are only two certainties of travel for pleasure. The first is that within a week of arriving home, someone you previously cared for will tell you about all the great things you drove right by.
The second is that although your companion may have bought and read the typical tourist guidebook, you had it in your pocket most of the time and skimmed it for restaurants, at best. Frankly, unless it was a book by Via Corsa, it probably had very little car enthusiast content anyway.
Via Corsa have produced two travel books for car lovers, this is the second. The first dealt with Arizona. Ron Adams and Oliver Littman have produced an entertaining guide to the history, driving schools, factories, race tracks, car-oriented restaurants, and just plain fun driving roads of Southern Germany. I learned something interesting on every page.
Unlike most guidebooks that bracket an area and then inundate you with information about it, this book brackets a car-related subject and then inundates you with information about it. It works because it lets you focus on the things you enjoy, and you can skip the rest. If you don’t care for factory tours, move on to museums or great driving roads or tuner shops.
A most charming element is the series of interviews with prominent drivers that are spread throughout the book, Hans Stuck and Derek Bell being the most prominent. On the other hand, if the book has a weakness, it is the images. Adequate at best, they don’t measure up to the remainder of the content. They do, however, supply an excellent reason to visit the spots you would enjoy and take your own pictures.
If you and your travel companion are both car lovers, you are set. If not, this book will tell you precisely what you missed. Pity.
Either way, it is an entertaining read.
Pb (www.motorsportsmarketingresources.com)
Jay Leno - Jay Leno's Garage - January 26, 2011
Jay Leno interview with Ron Adams is posted on jaylenosgarage.com. Here are a few of Jay's comments -
"A number of years ago I got to drive a Corvette on the Autobahn and it was the thrill of a lifetime being able to go 170 mph and blowing off Mercedes and BMWs that are limited to 155 mph, but I saw a few things and I got back here and recently I got this book The Car Lover's Guide to Southern Germany by Ron Adams and I realized AHHH If I had had this, I just drove past cool interesting stuff..I was kicking myself after reading this cause I went right by there. I was right near there! So Ron, tell us about this book. How did it come about? It is a GREAT idea!"
"If you are going to Europe, you have to see this (The Car Lover's Guide to Southern Germany)!"
Eurotuner Magazine - May 2010, page 20
Take a guided tour with the expanding list of Car Lover's Guide Books from Via Corsa.These nifty novels offer insider tips of everything car-related in geographical destinations like Arizona, Northern- and Southern California, Germany, Italy and much more. Insider info packed within pages includes local driving schools, museums, race tracks, car shows, manufacturer locations, auctions and even the most entertaining local roads. If you're looking for a vacation with an automotive theme, look no further than Via Corsa's collection.
Adam Thaler at the examiner.com
I admit, as a car enthusiast I have not found too many books that have held my interest in the automotive world. Sure, I love the photos and detailed specifications about all of the fantastic cars, but there are few automotive books that I have actually read from cover to cover. Until now.
Ron Adams’ Car Lover’s Guide to Arizona is a guide book to everything automotive that Arizona has to offer. Covering everything from the automotive history of Arizona to the locations of the recurring car shows for some the best car clubs in the state this book has it all. Want to know more about high performance driving schools? There is a chapter dedicated to that. Ever wonder what really goes on at the proving grounds of automotive manufacturers? There is a chapter on that too, including photos.
Unknown by many, Arizona has several automotive museums and now they can all be found within one book. Also, there is a complete list of all of the auto auctions with details on the dates and locations.
Filled with tons of fantastic color photos this book would be a perfect gift for any car enthusiast. Additionally, the book will fit perfectly in almost any car’s glove box. Why might that be important? Because the last couple of chapters list some of the favorite road trips of Alice Cooper, Arie Luyendyk and some of the local car clubs. Maps and detailed directions provide you with all the information you need to get out of the valley and experience some of the great roads that Arizona has to offer.
Ron Adams has 3 more books on the way expected to hit shelves during 2010. One for Southern Germany, Northern California and Southern California.
Cathy Luebke at the Phoenix Business Journal
Paradise Valley resident Ron Adams gets my vote for best new car travel car book.
His company Via Corsa Ltd. just published its first book, “Car Lovers Guide to Arizona” and four more are headed to the printing press covering some of the world’s driving hot spots. Think 150 miles per hour on the Autobahn and a tour of Ferrari and Lamborghini museums.
These books are unlike the many volumes simply outlining interesting travel routes. Adams mines the niche of things car lovers love to do. As he says: “If you love cars, and most of us do, haven’t you wondered why no one has ever published a comprehensive book about what to do with your car once you back it out of the driveway?”
In Arizona that might include museums, Route 66 and other historical sites, classic car auctions, race tracks, high-performance driving schools, favorite car club drives, and car maker’s proving grounds. In all, Adams says the research and writing on the Arizona book took more than six months.
For example, did you know you could see NASCAR star Jeff Gordon’s first race car at the Mel Martin Museum in Phoenix, which is open by appointment only and a hot spot for celebrating birthdays and anniversaries.
And you can find out about the state’s six auto proving grounds, where automakers test their latest and greatest innovations. Ford’s test facility in Whittman even boasts a cold chamber. Check them out and you might see Arizona’s famous spy photographer Brenda Priddy snapping a super-secret model of the future.
Or maybe you’re interested in interviews with local celebs such as rocker Alice Cooper, who shares thoughts on his favorite drive, Oak Creek Canyon: “You start in the middle of the desert and end up in Oak Creek Canyon. It’s like something that doesn’t belong in Arizona.”
Due out in June is a guide to Southern Germany covering everything from driving in Munich to the legendary Nurbugring race track. Adams promises some great auto celeb interviews for that one. Also coming up this year are books covering Northern and Southern California.
In the works for 2011 is the “Car Lovers Guide to Northern Italy,” home to Ferrari and Lamborghini.
No stranger to either the auto circuit or worldwide travel, Adams says, “The project has been sitting around in my heard for years and years.”
He has raced the likes of Road America, Phoenix International Raceway and Salzburgring and has traveled to six of the seven continents, living for awhile in Munich.
