T R A N S C R I P T    O F    R E V I E W
LineChaser, June 2006
By Scott Oho

The Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild, by John L Jacobus is published by McFarland. As it is best known, in its basic form, the Fisher Body Craftsman's Guilds was a competition for teenage boys to build model dream cars of their own design, have them judged, with the best winning college scholarships. It was sponsored by GM's Fisher Body division and several great car designers got their start by entering their models in this competition.

The competition was held, in one form or another, from 1930 to 1968 - from building model coaches in the early days to the dream cars from the late '30s forward. Over the years I've read several articles on the Craftsman's Guild and have seen several photos of the cars. It looked pretty neat and I wanted to learn more. Then in December 2004's Collectible Automobile, there was an article about the Guild and their recent reunion. In that article, they mentioned that one of the former participants, Mr Jacobus was writing a book on the subject. Boy, was I disappointed.

The book is nicely bound and well-printed - quality piece. But, Mr Jacobus and his editor, I'm not so impressed with. It's like asking somebody the time and they tell you how to build a clock. The book reminded me of many of the academic books and articles I had to read in college. There are lots of facts on the subject, but the presentation is boring to read. I read 205 pages, out of 254 and I'd had enough. I could not go on! The Fisher Body Craftsman's Guild's not one I can recommend, especially at $49.95 plus shipping.

McFarland has several other automotive books available that sound interesting, but I'm worried that they will be boring or in the academic style of the Jacobus book. If you're interested in reading the book for yourself, you can contact McFarland at www.mcfarlandpub.com or800-253-2187.