|
Traditional Sprint Car FanSite |
See You At The Races!!! |
| A
Day At The Library by Norm Bogan |
|
|
|
While
attending the races as a fan, many times we strike up conversation with those
sitting near us and often friendships develop.
We go through a discovery adventure, learning about these new friends,
their special talents, occupations, racing backgrounds and sometimes a unique
trait that sets them apart from others. For
me, most of my best racing friends are folks who have shared the same grandstand
area. During this time, I have
befriended fans who have been attending races for nearly six decades and met
fans who have a vast pool of racing knowledge and some who served in various
capacities in racing. While
attending races regularly at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, I have gotten to
know many of the folks sitting around me, so each trip is not only a racing
experience, but a visit with old friends. Several
years ago, I struck up a conversation with a fellow named Carey Davis, who
through his business, Auto Body World, was providing sponsorship for a couple of
competitors. While I was relating
stories of my racing experiences, he encouraged me to consider writing them down
and putting them into a book. Well
as I was to learn, books are very significant to Carey, who over the years has
accumulated an automotive library of nearly 5000 volumes. For
almost a year, Carey has issued an invitation for me to visit his library and
recently, I spent an afternoon perusing a very impressive collection, which he
continues to upgrade. Carey was born and raised in Connersville, Indiana.
After high school, he went to work in the local Ford assembly plant and
spent ten years there, before becoming an insurance adjuster.
After moving to Arizona, his knowledge of the body shop business led to a
position with his current company, which eventually brought an opportunity to
become a partner. While
in Indiana, Carey drove stock cars for a couple of years at Liberty Speedway and
later was the track announcer, for a short time.
He has been fascinated by cars all his life and currently owns twelve.
Carey and his wife Judy purchased their current home a little over three
years ago. Prior to its
construction, they were able to specify some items and one of those was to
delete a bedroom and combine the space with a loft, which gave them a large room
size of approximately 28'x20'. This
became the library, with the installation of floor to ceiling oak bookshelves
and the conversion of the bedroom closet to a trophy case. An interesting note is that this library is the same size as
Carey and Judy's first home, a converted garage. Ascending
the stairway to the loft, you are greeted by a desk set up on a pedestal, with a
computer and accessories. To the
left, sets a 1952 quarter midget, nearly restored and to your side is a 50s era
Texaco Sky Chief gas pump. There is
a curio case full of model and toy cars, many of them, "micro cars", a
favorite of Carey's. The walls
behind all of these items are lined with books.
All
of the books are categorized, including about 600 marque books, covering nearly
every make and model of car, books covering foreign cars, kit cars, vintage
cars, sports cars, custom cars, muscle cars, car companies, tire companies, oil
companies, hot rods, engines, and Detroit.
He has every copy of the "Annual Automobile Review" from 1953
to present, including a very rare volume II, most of which were lost, when the
ship bringing them from Europe to America, sank enroute.
There is a large number of volumes on racing oriented material, which are
categorized by stock cars, drag racing, open wheel racing, off road racing, road
racing, rallye racing, land speed records, etc.
There are 100 books on the Indy 500 alone, 50 on Grand Prix racing and
twenty books on "How to Drive a Race Car". Among
the collection are the Henry Gregor Felsen books, "Hot Rod" and
"Street Rod", which he read as a youngster and peaked his interest in
automobiles and racing. One of his
prized books is "Wall Smacker" by Peter De Paolo.
He has a copy in mint condition, with an immaculate dust cover and the
autographs of nearly every Indy 500 winner, including Ray Harroun, the initial
500 champion. Items
of special significance in the library are forty-one books on Henry Ford and all
eight of the published biographies on A.J. Foyt.
Over 320 books are in the biography section covering drivers, owners,
officials and others. The library
is stocked with the entire collection of "Automobile Quarterly" and a
team journal from a year on the Formula I circuit.
There is a section on "Cars of the Stars" and Car Collections
such as Harrah's. In
the trophy case, is a display of the Fifty Greatest Cars in pewter from the
Danbury Mint, an old 40's style racing helmet in like new condition, which has
been autographed by some of the racing greats.
As earlier mentioned, Carey has a fondness for the micro cars, a couple
of the more famous are three wheelers, the Isetta from Italy and the
Messerschmitt from Germany, a post war product of the famed aircraft factory.
Carey has a section of books covering these micro cars and a large
collection of model and toy cars. There
are a number of books dealing with car design and styling and prominently on
display are a couple of clay models, one of a futuristic design, which resembles
the famous Cord and also a very sleek Indy car featuring an aircraft type canopy
over the driver. Both of these
models are from famed automotive designers. Carey
continues to build and upgrade his collection, scouting from garage sales to
private collections, seeking to improve his book value with a better condition
copy. A good dust cover adds more value and autographs by the
author or celebrities, mentioned in the book, also increase the value.
As his personal collection improves, older copies are for sale.
In some cases, he may have a number of copies of a particular book, which
are offered for sale. The gas pump
in his library was acquired in a trade for a set of books.
At the annual Pasadena Automotive Book Faire, he sold a number of books
to super car buff, Jay Leno. Carey's
secret desire would be to develop and promote a racetrack.
In the meantime, he's interested in buying and selling books.
If you have some treasures or would like to purchase some, contact
Carey's Car Books in Glendale, Arizona at (623) 561-6234. AUTHORS
NOTE: This story
was written in early 1997 and appeared in the now defunct Lead Lap News and
Review. Carey Davis is now the
President of Auto Body World and still attends as many races at Manzanita as his
schedule allows. His quest for more
books and automotive toys continues. Carey
is a very knowledgeable about racing and enjoys conversing with other fans.
If you want to buy or sell a book or just bench race, don’t hesitate to
speak with Carey. |
