The Gambler 500 began as little more than a way to kill a weekend. Over beers in a local tavern, founder Tate Morgan and a couple of friends laid out the guidelines for an off-road navigational challenge. The catch? Each challenger's car had to have a purchase price of no more than $500. Soon enough, word started to spread, and the guys began to receive inquiries about participation from people all over the country. By 2022, the "OG Gambler" held every summer in Central Oregon was attracting thousands of participants from all over North America. Regional events sprang up in every corner of the U.S. Along the way, Gamblers have removed over one million pounds of garbage from America's public lands. More than anything, however, the aggressively tolerant alternative to traditional car culture has become a sort of surrogate family to all manner of people. Builders, rugged explorers, and more than a few lunatics all have carved out a place for themselves in the Gambler community. Collected within these pages are just a few of their stories.

Organized drag racing began in Northern California in 1949 thanks to World War II veterans with a "need for speed." Towns like Redding, Lodi, Fresno, Bakersfield, and Fremont would host their own drag events featuring homebuilt jalopies. Anyone with a driver's license and a paid entry fee could participate, and as the cars got more sophisticated and faster, more and more spectators came to watch the local "speed demons." By the 1960s, a metamorphosis began with the introduction of the slingshot-style dragsters. For the next 12 years, the slingshot dragster was the king of the quarter mile, and it made stars of Gary Ormsby, Frank Bradley, Dennis Baca, and James Warren. Meanwhile, in 1965, a funny new race car challenged "The King" as it gained popularity in Northern California. Leading this funny car charge was a Pennsylvania transplant named Russell James Liberman. However, the golden years of Northern California drag racing came to an end in the mid-1970s. Today, only 5 out of 17 drag strips are still open. Photographer Steve Reyes journeyed into the world of Northern California drag racing in 1963 as a 15-year-old kid. Upon seeing an advertisement from the Oakland Tribune that read, "Come see the nitro powered 200mph slingshot dragsters," Reyes and his father made the 23-mile trek to the Fremont drag strip. With the noise of high-powered engines filling the air, Reyes was hooked and made it his duty to capture this one-of-a-kind world on film.

There have been few cars that ignited the public's interest as much as the Ford Mustang.

Introduced at the opening of the New York World's Fair in April 1964, the Mustang was based on mechanicals from the earlier Ford Falcon compact car; it quickly established a new motorcar category which was widely copied by domestic and overseas competitors--the "pony car.'? From the outset, the Mustang represented inspired product planning and design, followed by brilliantly executed marketing. Ford's Mustang team effort used every tool in the vehicle-marketing toolbox: clever teases long before the new product went on sale, unprecedented publicity, simple but effective advertising, the stage at the World's Fair, movie placement, distribution of toy plastic models, and even a replica pedal car for the young drivers of the future. With a measure of luck, it became a classic case of releasing the right product at the right time, and Ford sold one million units in less than two years. Even today, the Mustang is held high as a symbol of American design, engineering, and the freewheeling American spirit.

The General Motors Corporation opened over a century ago with humble beginnings to grow into the company that became the global business powerhouse it is today.

Established in 1908 by William C. Durant, General Motors was the end-product of combining the Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Oakland companies. From the 1920s onwards, GM grew from a company that accounted for about 10% of new auto sales in the U.S. to becoming the largest producer of cars and trucks in the world. By the 1960s, due to a series of federal safety regulations and competetive challenges, General Motors' business would never be the same. Though they've suffered their fair share of setbacks, GM is still one of the biggest motor companies in the world, even today. General Motors: A Photographic History explores the growth of the company in a series of 200+ black-and-white images, from the first assembly line to post-WWII recovery, and takes the reader on an intriguing visual tour of a tremendously important piece of the industrialization of the U.S.

Chicago's Motor Row earned a spot in the National Register of Historic Places by pioneering a new way to market an invention that was remaking America--the automobile.

From approximately 1905 to 1936, well over 100 makes of car were offered by dealers in the 28-acre district. Motor Row started when Henry Ford, the best known name in automobile manufacturing, opened one of his first dealerships outside Detroit on South Michigan Avenue near the homes of Chicago's most affluent citizens. Others followed with sales and service buildings designed by the nation's foremost architects, often side by side, inviting buyers to check out the models on display behind plate glass windows. Shoppers flocked to the automotive smorgasbord. Although the auto dealers have left, most of these architectural jewels remain.

John F. Hogan is a veteran broadcast journalist and corporate executive. He was a reporter and editor for WGN Radio and Television in Chicago and director of communications for one of the nation's largest electric utilities. John S. Maxson, a lifelong antique car enthusiast, retired as president of the advocacy organization for businesses on Chicago's North Michigan Avenue. Jay Leno, who contributed the foreword, was host of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Jay Leno Show from 1992 until 2014. One of the country's most respected authorities on automobiles old and new, he currently hosts Jay Leno's Garage.

Among more than two hundred auto companies that tried their luck in the Motor City, just three remain: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. But many of those lost to history have colorful stories worth telling.

J.J. Cole forgot to put brakes in his new auto, so he had to drive it in circles until it ran out of gas. Brothers John and Horace Dodge often trashed saloons during wild evenings but used their wealth to pay for the damage the next day. David D. Buick went from being the founder of his own leading auto company to working the information desk at the Detroit Board of Trade. Author Alan Naldrett explores these and more tales of automakers who ultimately failed but shaped the industry and designs today.