We have put a few links around the place, Stanley Moss very kindly referred to it in his blog, and an article has gone up on Lucire: the new Autocade Yearbook is out for 2025.
I decided to call it Autocade Year of Cars as that was more distinctive than just Yearbook (which, for some reason, I never saw as part of the title, hence its consistent lack of italicization with me). Having received feedback from last year’s customers, we’ve honed things more.
The first effort was establishing the look and feel, and during 2024, I compiled ideas as they came to me. In the end, only a few were used, as in many cases, one story led to another, both relevant to the era we live in. You’ll see that when I discuss the contents below.
As I say in the blurb: Year of Cars ‘captures the Zeitgeist of the global automotive landscape, guiding you through this world’s rapid changes, examining significant models, relevant history, design, marketing, and trends for the year ahead. Inside, you’ll find thoughtful commentary, beautiful imagery, and detailed research.’
This year, again based on feedback, we’ve gone for a hardcover book with dust jacket, which explains some of the promos you’ll see on our sites.
I probably don’t need to put this in quotation marks since I wrote it; however: ‘We cover market trends such as the new push for aerodynamics and Chinese luxury: surely this is the time for them, coming up with brands more quickly than you could once have said Acura, Infiniti, Lexus three decades ago. We have spotlights on the Ford Capri, Renault 4 E-Tech, Lamborghini Temerario, and the Dodge Charger. We pay tribute to the late Marcello Gandini and offer a guide to his production designs. And just who are today’s designer names?
‘You’ve searched for the Opel Astra J more than any other model on our website (Ford Taunus 80 in last year’s Yearbook excepting), so we take a closer look. Since economic times are tough, we glance at some historical recession specials.’
And if you thought some of last year’s graphics looked difficult to put together, check out the one in the header of this blog entry.
That took about five evenings to get right, and you do think of models that you want to include in there after you think it’s completed. The Chinese luxury brand guide also took days to compile, even though some of it (maybe 50 per cent) was already on the website, since we had to source extra high-res images. Robin Capper helped me on one of the stories, and I want to acknowledge that publicly. Thanks, Robin!
Sadly, we won’t do a US run of Year of Cars 2025. It was less popular there last year, and our US supplier hiked the price substantially during the first half of 2024. They recently reduced what we could get for the higher price. There was also some hearsay about the company doing the shipping which gave me pause, too. If they start imposing tariffs, printers are going to find it tough, given that a lot of their paper is imported.
We do have interesting plans in 2025 for Autocade and we’re keeping our fingers crossed.
You can buy your copy of Autocade Year of Cars 2025 at our online shop at libriz.co. I hope you enjoy it!
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