Books on cars and motorcycles

Neon Rides, Cars and Culture of the ’80s and ’90s
Authors: gestalten & Petersen Automotive Museum

Neon Rides is a striking coffee table book that re-explores the 80s and 90s as a golden age of automotive culture, where daring, excess, and imagination were central. Cars from this period were long underestimated but finally receive the recognition they deserve as cultural icons of a changing world.

With their sharp wedge shapes, turbocharged ambitions, and distinctive design, these vehicles reflect an era at the intersection of analog rawness and digital promise. From eccentric outsiders to cult classics, the cars in Neon Rides tell the story of technological progress, changing identities, and a new vision of speed, status, and style.

In collaboration with the world-renowned Petersen Automotive Museum, this photo book combines rich archival material with sharp cultural analysis. Images and text show how car design was closely intertwined with fashion, media, pop culture, and societal shifts. The result is a visually powerful and thematically layered book for enthusiasts of cars, design, retro aesthetics, and cultural history.

What to expect

• A carefully curated selection of iconic, quirky, and era-defining cars from the 80s and 90s
• Visual storytelling with archival photography, ephemera, and pop culture references from the "Rad Era"
• Cultural context that connects car design with fashion, technology, media, and identity
• An inspiring coffee table book for car enthusiasts, collectors, and design fans
• A tribute to a long undervalued but influential era

About the authors

gestalten is an internationally renowned publisher from Berlin, specializing in high-quality books on architecture, design, lifestyle, and contemporary culture. Gestalten's publications are known for their strong visual identity and in-depth content.

The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is one of the world's leading museums in automotive history and culture. With an impressive collection and groundbreaking exhibitions, the museum explores the car as an object of innovation, design, and cultural significance, influencing the global conversation about mobility, past, and future.

The Stylish Life Surfing
Author: teNeues

The Stylish Life Surfing is a stylish coffee table book that captures the rich history and unique atmosphere of surf culture. This high-quality photo book functions as a visual time capsule, filled with nostalgic images, faded colors, and authentic retro vibes – from the 50s to today.

Through carefully selected vintage photography, this book takes you on a journey through iconic surf moments, sun-bleached surfboards, classic VW vans, and pristine coastlines. Not only the sport itself is central, but also the accompanying lifestyle, fashion, and graphic design that characterize each surf era. The visible film grain and analog aesthetic give the book a timeless appeal and enhance the feeling of freedom and adventure.

The Stylish Life Surfing is an ode to the roots of surfing and to a lifestyle centered around connection with nature, creativity, and an unlimited sense of freedom. An inspiring coffee table book for lovers of surfing, design, vintage photography, and coastal living.

What to expect:

• Rare vintage surf images from the 50s to the present
• Authentic photography with retro colors, film grain, and an analog look
• Iconic surf scenes, fashion, and lifestyle from different decades
• A luxury coffee table book that brings together nostalgia, wanderlust, and surf culture

About the author – teNeues

teNeues is an internationally renowned publisher, known for its exclusive coffee table books in the fields of photography, design, fashion, travel, and lifestyle. With a keen eye for quality, imagery, and storytelling, teNeues transforms iconic themes into timeless publications.

In The Stylish Life Surfing, teNeues combines its expertise in image editing and luxury book production to create a tribute to surf culture in all its facets. The result is a visually powerful and collectible book that brings generations of surf history to life.