Miller-Meteor Books

got my M-M book

My M-M Book arrived on Thursday Apr 29. Now M-M people have 2 black books for reference. This is art. Lots of great pictures. Back stories we may never have known if not for Mr McPherson's work. It will take a while to read it all but I plan on reading it cover to cover.
Thanks to Tom McPherson and his staff and supporters for this great book.
Mike

:thankyou2:
 
got mine yesterday and had to wait till Kandy got home. it was addressed to her as it's her account. never payed any attention to the name on the box. but then the fuel pump kit came in for the 53 at the same time. decisions decisions . :071::festive:
 
Mine arrived 2day, April 30. Was ordered less than a week ago. First thing I did was look up Miller Packards, where I found the one-off 1937 12-cylinder carved job that appeared at the 1999 Packard Centennial in Warren. Packard did not offer a 12-cylinder commercial chassis, so Miller extended a Packard Twelve car chassis for this very impressive vehicle.
 
Still awaiting delivery...GRRR. Anyone that has had some time with it now, tell us what you think. Is it any good? Is it as good as his Henney and Superior books? Mini reviews would be appreciated. Haven't heard anything so....I assume everyone must be reading.
 
The only other McP book I have seen is the old "Black Book." This one seems quite well put together, with lots of very good photos. I haven't been able to "dig into it" yet, but what I have gotten to is very interesting. Now, if I could just find a really nice Miller Packard........................
 
Well....it's finally here and it's fabulous! It arrived yesterday and yeah, there are some pictures used in the old "Black Book" or derived from the literature but, there are hundreds and hundreds of new images that I've never seen anywhere before. And, from what I've read so far, a highly detailed text like nothing I've ever before produced on the subject of pro cars. In my opinion, this is just magnificent. As good as Superior, Eureka, Flxible and Henney were or are, this is even better. Kudos to all of those involved. Now, back to reading.
 
Glad to hear that you are happy with the book.

I suffer from the problem of being "year specific" as I have owned one coach (1960 MM) for 35 years.

It is the luxury of the author to pick and choose his content by preference, and with quotes from the MM Book regarding 1959 Cadillacs like "any similarities these baroque new offerings shared with former Cadillacs would be like comparing Marilyn Monroe to Boris Karloff" and "Although Miller-Meteor stylists must have winced when they received their first working drawings of the 1959 Cadillacs ...", it is a safe bet that these years would get minimal coverage (The 1959 is completely omitted from the color section).
While I understand the author's personal opinion, I think that Miller-Meteor was the most successful of all coach builders when it came to styling for the 1959/1960 era Cadillacs.

No author can please everyone, and this was just my turn for the short stick! lol

-WM
 
Yeah, now that you mention it, there are no '59's in the color section! Good point. I'd have to agree with you. M-M's styling for the '59 models was very dignified - especially when compared to some of the Superiors of that vintage. But, you'll have to admit that '59 Caddy was a radically designed car compared to anything the company had offered before or after. I guess that's what makes them icons. While I love'em all, I really like the cars of the 30s and 40s. I guess you're drawn to the cars of you remember from your younger days.
 
Keith Snyder said:
While I love'em all, I really like the cars of the 30s and 40s. I guess you're drawn to the cars of you remember from your younger days.
Click to expand...

You don't know how right you are. I too love them all, really like the 50's-60's cars, but have a thing for the 80's coaches-thats from my childhood when I began to notice them.
When I have my 49 S&S and one of my 80's coaches sitting next to each other at a car show the young people look at the 80s one and dont even see the 49, the older people its just the oppisite.
 
A wise man I know once told me that you can pretty well gauge the age of a person by the year of old cars he shows the most interest in, drives or collects. I guess he was not that far off the mark.
 
Keith Snyder said:
Yeah, now that you mention it, there are no '59's in the color section!...
Click to expand...
Since M-M didn't take many color photos, most of the photos in the color section are from the "modern" era - restored cars that we've seen at shows and such. Unfortunately, thanks to "Ghostbusters", many of the '59 M-M's that have survived this long have been converted into Ecto-replicas....
 
I came home for lunch today. When I pulled in the mail lady was in the driveway. As she turned around she noticed me. She said "I put your package at the door". It was my Miller-Meteor book:071::071: I haven't started reading it yet, because I won't put it down after I start.
 
Yeah, we all waited a long time to see this book. However, as I read through it and and learn more than I ever dreamed of knowing and see all of the new pictures, I stand by my original statement - this is fabulous. Without a doubt the procar book of the decade. Thanks again to all who assisted McPherson in producing such an outstanding book. He is the undisputed master of the subject of professional car history. If he hadn't done this, which of us could?
 
So far I have had time only to leaf through the book. The most interesting photo I've found is not of a car, but of the Miller plant in Bellefontaine. This is an aerial view, looking South. I like it because it shows some of the now-vanished railroad presence. Both New York Central main lines are visible, the St. loius - Cleveland line in the lower right of the shot, and the Cincinnati - Detroit route in the upper left. If the photog had snapped the shutter while the plane was a little further North, he would have gotten the junction where the two main lines came together, and maybe the depot, too. The last time I was in Bellefontaine, about all that was left is the Cleveland line curving through, past the still-standing shell of the juction interlocking tower, whose symbol was HI. There were 3 big freight yards and a large engine facility with roundhouse. Great r.r. town, back in "The Day." I have a tape of movies shot there in '55, with steam engines evrywhere, and new coaches parked along the North side of the Miller building.
 
My M-M books arrived last week, Thursday 4/29 I think. I wasn't expecting them yet and only happened to see the box when I went out the front door right after dark to ask my next door neighbors something. I've only had a thumb through so far but it looks great. In the same order but arriving earlier were the Henney and Fleetwood 75 books. Because of many other things to do lately I decided to look through the Fleetwood 75 book first since it's smaller. I've been at my barn all week doing some Army duty in Columbia. A friend came this morning to check it out and his two younger kids said the '83 Fleetwood limo was their favorite-they seemed to enjoy the "rear salon" a lot! :applause: Hmm, I agree, a lot of these smileys are pretty violent!
 
:my2cents:

What a disappointment. I expected lots of photographs, but the book is mostly text. The photos that are used are way too small for the most part...very, very disappointing, especially for such an expensive book. Plus, too many of the pictures in this book are just artist's renderings from ads and brochures instead of actual photos. Again, very disappointing! The same goes for the captions; they contain lots of manufacturer's advertising rhetoric instead of actual descriptions from the author. Per par for all of McPherson's books, many of the warning devices (especially sirens) are misidentified.

Like "The Henney Motor Company - A Complete History," this book is better borrowed then bought.
 
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