Book Review: Porsche Outlaws: Stuttgart Hot Rods by Michael Alan Ross

Porsche Outlaws: Stuttgart Hot Rods by Michael Alan Ross

Motorbooks, an imprint of The Quarto Group 

ISBN: 978-0-7603-8263-9

eISBN: 978-0-7603-8264-6

For the latest Sports Car Compendium Book review, we are tackling Porsche Outlaws: Stuttgart Hot Rods by Michael Alan Ross. As automotive enthusiasts and consumers we’re hard pressed to find any automotive books that do not include Porsche. The German manufacturer is a behemoth with global influence and recognition. However, Michael Alan Ross found a wonderful segment that needs a collective spotlight - the Porsche aftermarket tuners and builders. 

Porsche Outlaws is a collection of notable (not exhaustive, that would be nearly impossible) tuners and builders in one beautiful book.

There is a lovely abridged and enjoyable history of Ferry Porsche and his work included. Ross makes a great case that Porsche in its origins was an “outlaw” and hot rod builder. If you weren’t a fan of Porsche before, you’ll be hard pressed to not crack a smile going through this book.

The Tactile Experience:

Starting with the outside, the dust cover has a mix of gloss and matte finish, which overall is soft and smooth to the touch. The hardcover book itself, with the cover, weighs just over 3lbs and measures 10 x 11 5/8 inches. Under the dust cover - a few unexpected images on the book itself. Each page has a considerable heft in weight and print quality is excellent.

The Layout/Design: A sans serif font is used throughout the book; It’s a clean design and layout. It’s heavily photographic as one would expect, but it does have a substantial amount of text and writing. Total pages are 192. This is more than just a coffee table photo book - although it’s quite at home being a display piece in any automotive enthusiasts library.

The photography is excellent! Ross’ eye captures the unique characteristics and details. He doesn’t get carried away on macro-style images, and you can always tell you are looking at a Porsche. 

Secondary images and captions match up well. If the write up mentioned a nuanced detail, more often than not, a close up image is included.

Content:

Modified Porsches fans, will buy this book and love it. The foreword by former racer and brand ambassador, Hurley Haywood is a launching point that there are all kinds of Porsche fans and the Outlaw movement in recent years is showing great appreciation for the brand that brings them all together: Porsche. 

Explore the variety in Porsche-tuning and appreciation is impressive. There are many big names and impressive garages/companies included. Thankfully, there are smaller and more “up and coming” by comparison shops as well. They receive just as much if not more  attention from Ross and that kind of focus is appreciated. Not only does it shed a light, it helps foster and cultivate more enthusiasm for newcomers and brand aficionados.

Conclusion:

As a result, this book isn’t just for Porschaphiles. Any enthusiast who enjoys hot rods, automotive history and garage stories will find great value here. The price for admission to this book is scant in comparison to many photo books available. You can purchase Porsche Outlaws for $55 USD. And it would make an excellent Christmas gift for yourself or any automotive fan you shop for.