Lee Quinones reviews Motion Tales of a Muscle Car Builder

Our artist/critic and muscle car fanatic Lee Quinones weighs in on a new book Motion Tales of a Muscle Car Builder.

Simply said, Martyn L. Schorr’s fantastic new book Motion Tales of a Muscle Car Builder is a refreshing read and visual window into a unique New York entrepreneur’s story set in the turbulent late 1960’s and 1970’s.

For some who may come to read it, it may also relapse an envy for the central cogs of the story — those pesky, nasty Chevrolet’s that stole onto the streets and into the hearts of America and beyond.

The black and white photo montage throughout the book lends a strong backbone to the many memoirs of Motion’s founder Joel Rosen and his partnership with Baldwin Chevrolet’s Ed Simonin. Both Rosen and Simonin created fast special order super cars that factories couldn’t legally deliver, they built a sense of camaraderie among two business heads flanked by a leap of faith and ballsy “in your face” tactics.

I especially was moved by the chapter of Charlie “Astoria Chass” Snyder. It managed to bring together the innocence, tragedy and lasting triumph of a young American and his iconic sidekick, a 1967 Motion prepped Corvette Stingray nicknamed Ko-Motion.

As a native New Yorker myself and a fanatic for details, I religiously studied the photos captured on Rte. 27 East in Baldwin where Motion’s creations were turned lose within the villages. I could see where the sun was setting in the sky, tattle telling what time of day Motion got it’s off-track test sessions going on Sunrise Highway. A sharper eye will catch the Stingray of Charlie Snyder taking off at the now defunct New York National Speedway, back when it boasted four side to side racing lanes.

All in all, a wild read with a nostalgic forward by Joe Oldham.

Tagged as: Chevrolet, Lee Quinones, Motion Tales of a Muscle Car Builder, Muscle car, New York