The Author and His Book: A Look at Peter Peter Larsson's Biography

Peter Peter Larsson is perhaps one of the most important French coachbuilders, and his life story is fascinating. He fled from Belgium in 1899 and found himself in Paris at the birth of French coach building. Larsson went on to play a crucial role in shaping the French automotive industry after World War II. His son, Pierre Saic, took over as creative force for the company, designing some of the most iconic cars of the era, including the fantastical sa Chic models with their swoopy curves and huge scallops.

Larsson's life is chronicled in a three-volume set that showcases his story, design drawings, and the evolution of French coach building. The first book provides an in-depth biography of Larsson's life, while the second volume features reproductions of design drawings done for customers, as well as a comparative chronological analysis of sa Chic designs from its inception. The third volume is a stunning picture book that showcases cars from 1906 onwards, offering a comprehensive look at the French automotive industry during this period.

The three-volume set is a masterpiece of high-quality printing and production, with limited edition runs of only 500 copies available. This exclusivity adds to the allure of the set, making it a prized possession for collectors and enthusiasts alike. While the price point may be daunting ($500), it's a testament to the quality and craftsmanship that goes into each book.

The Collaborator: Ben H

Ben H, also known as Ben, played a crucial role in the production of this three-volume set. He undertook extensive digital research on behalf of Peter Peter Larsson, and his expertise in archiving and digitization ensured that the archives were meticulously restored to their former glory. Many photographs taken during visits to car collections and exhibitions have been attributed to Ben's efforts.

Ben H's contributions extend beyond the technical aspects of production. He has an eye for detail and a passion for photography, which is evident in the stunning images included throughout the set. The collaboration between Peter Peter Larsson and Ben H has resulted in a work of art that not only tells a compelling story but also provides a glimpse into the history of French coach building.

The Origins of the Book

This three-volume set grew out of an earlier book written by Peter Peter Larsson, which chronicled his experiences with the Taba Lago Grand Sport. The author became fascinated by sa Chic and its role in shaping French automotive design after World War II. This fascination led him to discover a hidden archive at Motorsport Archives (ret mobile), which David Cooper had generously offered to Peter Peter Larsson.

This archive served as the core of his research, providing a wealth of information on sa Chic's history and designs. The author credits this discovery with giving direction to his initial research and ultimately shaping the content of the three-volume set. By tracing the story of sa Chic from its inception, the book provides a comprehensive look at French coach building during this period.

The Production Process

This three-volume set was produced by Dalton Watson, who has a reputation for publishing high-quality books on classic cars. The set's production process involved meticulous attention to detail, ensuring that each book met the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship.

Ben H played a key role in the production process, undertaking extensive digital research and overseeing the archiving and digitization of materials. His expertise and passion for photography are evident in the stunning images included throughout the set.

Availability

The three-volume set is available for purchase on the Dalton Watson website, as well as through other retailers such as Horton's Bookstore and Motorsmania (in France). For European orders, Motorsmania offers an authorized retailer outlet, ensuring that collectors can acquire this masterpiece of a book.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwelcome another edition of Jay Len's book club remember no weight loss no self-help just stuff that rolls explodes and makes noise now what we have here today this is something I'm really excited about because you know there are so many great art books when you go into uh some of the upper end bookstores the beautiful books on the paintings of the Vatican or whatever it might be or or rembrand or any famous artist and in the last decade or so we've seen a number of really high quality art books on a aob this is on souj this is one of the most famous coach Builders of all time uh it's a fantastic book it just came from the printer in fact Peter Peter Larsson is the author he seen the book for the first time the book came from the printer directly to us he came in from Denmark and that's why we're here to uh to talk about this book tell us about sou to start tell us who he was well he was perhaps the most important French coach Builder what's interesting is that he fled from belus in 1899 so he was in Paris at the birth of French coach building he died in 1957 and his company unfortunately went under a few years before that in 1954 his life spans the the rise and fall of the entirety of French culture building after the war his in 1946 47 his son Pierre saic and this is something that not many people have realized that that he actually took over and became the creative Force for sa Chic and those extremely flamboyant sa Chic cars with the great swoopy curves and the huge scallops and Fantastical shapes right they were actually designed by his son Pierre I mean this is just one of these great art books and these books are expensive what is this set about how much is this about $500 well it's $500 and yes that's a lot of money it is a lot of money is it expensive you're holding three books right it's three books the first book is the biography the story of his life the second book has reproductions of the design drawings that were done for customers and there is a comparative chronological analysis of sa Chi design from the very beginning and how Innovative he was and the third volume is a great big picture book going all the way back to 19 1906 uh and of all the cars that were made and I've said this before it's a $500 book you don't get rich writing these books I would guess no you don't it comes out to about two bucks an hour probably less than that probably I would take that would you hire me for two bucks an hour two bucks an hour and you know what's great it's just great to have things that you can keep nice things that you can keep you know if you can't afford one of the cars you could probably afford one of the books and I get as much enjoyment out of these kind of books because it's such high quality paper and it's so nice to see our hobby being treated with such reverence and respect now this is a limited production right how many uh 500 copies 500 copies okay that's it and I imagine they will go fairly quickly tell us about your collaborator Ben I see his name is H Ben uh has done a lot of the digital uh research on my behalf he's much better at it than I am a lot of the archiving a lot of the digitization uh has been done by Ben a number of photographs have been taken by Ben when we visited cars I enjoy seeing all the period advertising sou check like this this is you know Petra is just a wonderful wonderful three volume set is this I'm a little naive is this the first book you've done no it it actually grew out of the book that I put out two years ago I wrote a book about the taba Lago grandport okay oh okay which was a two volume book which was also published by by by dton Watson and um it turned out that out of these 33 Grand Sports 11 of them were bodied by by sa Chic after the war and I became really fascinated by sa Chic and then what happened was that David Cooper who restores cars uh he had purchased a sou Chic archive at ret mobile oh and David remarkably and very generously said Peter you can have this archive you can use it and that was what was the core and which also gave direction to my initial research and basically sort of gave me an idea where to even go to to sort of get this so you can say that this book sort of grew out of the tood Lago book this is just a scholarly approach that I find just just fascinating and so glad to see our hobby being treated with such respect Peter congratulations where can they get the book now how can they get it directly it can be ordered on the Dalton Watson homepage okay or uh a book seller called Horton's book oh I know Ben Horton Ben Horton he has stands here during during the montre week he he stalks it and uh for European orders if in France there is a retailer called motorsmania www Motors mania. uh run by Kristoff LEL who is a very good friend of mine he also STS the book and I've been saying it I've been saying souck it's sou Sai sa actually his name was Yakov Sauk Yakov yes when he was still Russian that didn't sound very chic so he became sou Chic there you go how about that Peter thank you very much you're welcome good to see youwelcome another edition of Jay Len's book club remember no weight loss no self-help just stuff that rolls explodes and makes noise now what we have here today this is something I'm really excited about because you know there are so many great art books when you go into uh some of the upper end bookstores the beautiful books on the paintings of the Vatican or whatever it might be or or rembrand or any famous artist and in the last decade or so we've seen a number of really high quality art books on a aob this is on souj this is one of the most famous coach Builders of all time uh it's a fantastic book it just came from the printer in fact Peter Peter Larsson is the author he seen the book for the first time the book came from the printer directly to us he came in from Denmark and that's why we're here to uh to talk about this book tell us about sou to start tell us who he was well he was perhaps the most important French coach Builder what's interesting is that he fled from belus in 1899 so he was in Paris at the birth of French coach building he died in 1957 and his company unfortunately went under a few years before that in 1954 his life spans the the rise and fall of the entirety of French culture building after the war his in 1946 47 his son Pierre saic and this is something that not many people have realized that that he actually took over and became the creative Force for sa Chic and those extremely flamboyant sa Chic cars with the great swoopy curves and the huge scallops and Fantastical shapes right they were actually designed by his son Pierre I mean this is just one of these great art books and these books are expensive what is this set about how much is this about $500 well it's $500 and yes that's a lot of money it is a lot of money is it expensive you're holding three books right it's three books the first book is the biography the story of his life the second book has reproductions of the design drawings that were done for customers and there is a comparative chronological analysis of sa Chi design from the very beginning and how Innovative he was and the third volume is a great big picture book going all the way back to 19 1906 uh and of all the cars that were made and I've said this before it's a $500 book you don't get rich writing these books I would guess no you don't it comes out to about two bucks an hour probably less than that probably I would take that would you hire me for two bucks an hour two bucks an hour and you know what's great it's just great to have things that you can keep nice things that you can keep you know if you can't afford one of the cars you could probably afford one of the books and I get as much enjoyment out of these kind of books because it's such high quality paper and it's so nice to see our hobby being treated with such reverence and respect now this is a limited production right how many uh 500 copies 500 copies okay that's it and I imagine they will go fairly quickly tell us about your collaborator Ben I see his name is H Ben uh has done a lot of the digital uh research on my behalf he's much better at it than I am a lot of the archiving a lot of the digitization uh has been done by Ben a number of photographs have been taken by Ben when we visited cars I enjoy seeing all the period advertising sou check like this this is you know Petra is just a wonderful wonderful three volume set is this I'm a little naive is this the first book you've done no it it actually grew out of the book that I put out two years ago I wrote a book about the taba Lago grandport okay oh okay which was a two volume book which was also published by by by dton Watson and um it turned out that out of these 33 Grand Sports 11 of them were bodied by by sa Chic after the war and I became really fascinated by sa Chic and then what happened was that David Cooper who restores cars uh he had purchased a sou Chic archive at ret mobile oh and David remarkably and very generously said Peter you can have this archive you can use it and that was what was the core and which also gave direction to my initial research and basically sort of gave me an idea where to even go to to sort of get this so you can say that this book sort of grew out of the tood Lago book this is just a scholarly approach that I find just just fascinating and so glad to see our hobby being treated with such respect Peter congratulations where can they get the book now how can they get it directly it can be ordered on the Dalton Watson homepage okay or uh a book seller called Horton's book oh I know Ben Horton Ben Horton he has stands here during during the montre week he he stalks it and uh for European orders if in France there is a retailer called motorsmania www Motors mania. uh run by Kristoff LEL who is a very good friend of mine he also STS the book and I've been saying it I've been saying souck it's sou Sai sa actually his name was Yakov Sauk Yakov yes when he was still Russian that didn't sound very chic so he became sou Chic there you go how about that Peter thank you very much you're welcome good to see you\n"