HomeCar CultureBook Review: Adventures in Ferrari Land

Book Review: Adventures in Ferrari Land

The two volume set explores the passion of a Ferrari collector

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“Just remember, as I write this, I’m ninety-five years old and no longer have any of my files, so there might be a few errors. I do have a photographic memory, but I may run out of film!” – Prologue from “Adventures in Ferrari Land”

The book’s author, Ed Niles, doesn’t give himself enough credit. His two-volume “Adventures in Ferrari Land” is a thorough and heartfelt tribute to one man’s love of Ferrari and the pursuit of the next project car. He definitely has a great memory and his book shows that. 

Adventures in Ferrari Land
Photo courtesy of Octane Press

Niles bought his first Ferrari while on vacation in Italy in 1959 and the cherry red 250 Europa would start his opus of collecting, restoring and selling Ferraris. This two volume, 372-page coffee-table work encompasses a lifetime of Ferrari passion with personal anecdotes, extensive documentation, and a overall feeling of love for collecting cars.

Volume 1 is autobiographical. It documents the cars and people Niles has met along the way. Niles’ warmth and passion are evident, he made a lot of friends along the way as he explored his passion for Ferraris. 

Volume 2 is a collection of Niles’ writings about Ferraris, including his column that was published in the FCA Southwest Region’s Sempre Ferrari magazine. 

Ferrari devotees and collector car fans will enjoy Adventures in Ferrari Land. It’s a sentimental history of Ferrari from a fan and collector’s perspective, while also providing a history lesson for Maranello. 

“I think that a word or two about my motivation might be appropriate. Yes, I always tried to make a profit on each car,” Niles said. “I usually succeeded, but not always. I took a loss on a few. Even when I made a profit, if I counted my labor bringing a car up to saleable standards, I would have been working for about two cents per hour.”

Reviewed

Adventures in Ferrari Land

By Edwin K. Niles

Octane Press, 2022

ISBN-13: 9781642340839

Hardcover, 372 pages

$150.00 

David P. Castro
David P. Castro
The Santa Rosa, California native is an experienced automotive and motorsports writer with a passion for American muscle cars. He is a credentialed automotive, NASCAR, and IndyCar reporter that graduated from the University of Nevada. A devoted F1 and NASCAR fan, he currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife, son, Siberian Husky, Mini Cooper, and 1977 Chevrolet C10.

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