OUR NEW BOOK: A Timeless Racing Story
We're honored to bring The Stainless Steel Carrot to eBook format for the first time.
A weekly newsletter by Ryan K. ZumMallen | @zoomy575m
HAPPY RACE DAY, especially to the incomparable Jeff Zwart for this drone footage on a snowy Utah track in his Porsche 914:
SNOW CAR FAST! (Get it?)
SO LISTEN, this is a big week for us. Huge, even. We’re releasing our biggest project yet and could really use your help getting the word out. Can you take a second and send this newsletter to someone you know? It means the world to me. Thank you.
Here’s this week’s top article:
Why Carrara Media and The Stainless Steel Carrot Make the Perfect Pair
ON MONDAY, we broke the biggest news in the short history of Carrara Media so far: The company I founded with hopes and dreams will publish the eBook version of the 1973 classic motorsports book The Stainless Steel Carrot. Truly a dream come true.
Preorders are open now, with copies to be delivered on Monday, April 5. You can find media coverage on RoadAndTrack.com plus Jalopnik.com with a few more fun projects in the works. We are totally not done yet.
Part of the reason is the sheer brilliance of the book itself, which not only illustrates an important period in racing history but also paints a human portrait of the people involved.
And part of it is the willingness of Sylvia Wilkinson, the author of Carrot, to try new things. She loved the idea of an eBook, loved the idea of reaching a new generation, and I loved the idea of keeping this incredible story alive for years to come.
She allowed us to redesign the cover you see above, designed by the incredible Aaron Sanchez. She also agreed to list the eBook at the most affordable price The Stainless Steel Carrot has ever offered at just $9.99 — print versions of Carrot routinely command $100-300 or more online because copies are so limited.
So together, we’re working to bring this story to you in fun, new ways. In addition to the eBook itself, we’re also offering custom-designed bookmarks that will be signed by both Wilkinson and — star of Carrot — John Morton. Each eBook order comes with commemorative postcards to celebrate 50 years since Morton’s 1971 national championship, and you can order a set of three different designs for just $5 too.
It’s a lot! But it’s an opportunity to combine new and old to keep racing history alive and thriving. I’m confident you’ll love The Stainless Steel Carrot and all the ways we’re celebrating its legacy. Thank you to Wilkinson, Morton and our dear mutual friend Dean Case for their support and tireless work in making this a reality.
Long live Carrot.
Culture
Dope stuff from this week:
Yes, Singer built the most ultimate — and most expensive — off-road “Safari” 911 recently. But this insane Safari project looks just as epic.
Oh and speaking of Safari 911s, builder TJ Russell posted videos from his new suspension test that would have been unthinkable very recently. So rad.
On Your Radar
I AM VERY EXCITED for the upcoming Vans! meet hosted by the collective AutoConduct, scheduled for next weekend. L.A. people — don’t miss it.
Ask A Millennial! Bradley Brownell, 33
THE HARD TRUTH is that possibly no one has played a bigger role in the changing nature of car culture than Bradley Brownell, an automotive journalist at Jalopnik and one of the founders of Radwood. Yes, that Radwood. Brad also wrote Jalopnik’s piece about our Stainless Steel Carrot launch this week — and we’re thrilled to chat with him this week about trends new and old, plus the launch of his newest project, the Rad For Sale auction site. Here is an edited version of our conversation.
It’s fulfilling. There has always been an enthusiasm for ‘80s and ‘90s cars, you know? People have been ready for this movement, we just made a place for all of them to come together. It’s so great to hear stuff from show attendees when they tell us that their cars were shunned from other shows or car groups or whatever.
EV hot rodding and home building and modding has already been a pretty significant cottage industry. With folks like EV West and Bisimoto building incredible electric conversions, there’s plenty of room for fun builds. Automotive enthusiasm has many facets and not all of them are driving hard or going fast. I’m slamming my Leaf on airbags, so that’s one way people can have fun with them, right?
I really hope that as car platforms become more modular, we’ll see the return of interesting choices. I want to see affordable sporty cars like Celicas and maybe a few convertibles.
We haven’t officially launched Rad For Sale as of this discussion, but the level of cars we have for sale and the hundreds of cars already stacked up waiting to be put on the site have me extremely excited.
It’s awesome that we spent a lot of time in lockdown working on this and have it ready to launch right as things are starting to look optimistic again. Hopefully we’ll be doing in-person shows again by June or July!
And Finally…
COULDN’T BE MORE THRILLED for Emelia Hartford, the YouTuber and influencer featured in Slow Car Fast who has spent the past year-plus building a monster C8 Corvette. Recently she set a new record for a C8 in the quarter-mile. Love to see good things happen to good people.
Drive hard and be safe. Black Lives Matter.
Want your event included? Shoot me a note with subject line “Race Day” at ryan@carrarabooks.com.
Don’t forget to follow Carrara Media on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and visit our store to order your copy of Slow Car Fast in paperback or eBook.