Motor Books

Summary based on several visits:
–great specialty book store
–helpful service
–ok prices
–many hard to find books on motoring, military, trains

Very fine specialist bookshop, focussed on transport and motor vehicles, with a military and naval section downstairs, I’m guessing probably the best of its sort in London. The rather obstreperous owner/​manager (?) can sometimes be heard swearing at suppliers downstairs in a back room. I don’t like to boast, but I once stood behind Kevin Spacey in the queue here.

If I were a pilot I would kill you. Not intentionally of course, I would just end up finding new ways to crash a plane and if, unfortunately, you were on it you’d be cruising down on a fast track to a direct smack into the earth. So Motor Books doesn’t really tickle my pickle. I’m not into aviation, maritime, military, railway or automotive topics. If, however, you’re studying to be a pilot or you’re just generally into the technical aspects of how trains work then you’ll be super impressed by this store. They sell books of all kinds related to the aforementioned topics.

OK I admit it, I’m a bit of a car geek. What is even more embarrassing, is that I don’t actually have a license. But give me a few shelves of this bookshop to delve into on a free Sunday afternoon, and I’m lost for the day. They not only stock every conceivable book about car marques, the history of cars, car design and motor industries around the world, but also dedicate half of the shop to train and bus geeks too. The train section is particularly worrying. There’s a whole rotating shelf for periodicals about Belgian trams. OK, well that’s perhaps something of an exaggeration — but not much! The last time I came looking for something specific here, I didn’t find it, but I still received great help from the staff who insisted on first searching the shelves and bargain bins with me, before calling the owner to check. Its located slap-​bang in the centre of the lovely Cecil Court — a place you should visit whether you like books about Soviet-​era Polish buses or not!

Motor Books has recently moved to new premises in Cecil Court which are a little larger than the old shops in St Martin’s Lane but are further away from Leicester Square Tube station. The new shop is rather less cramped but it’s still very full of books!
As the name suggests, Motor Books stock titles on cars and commercial road vehicles as well as motor sport. However probably the biggest section is devoted to railways with a large collection of British and foreign titles. There are also smaller sections on aviation and maritime subjects.
Prices are not always competitive with online sites but many of the books in stock are difficult or even impossible to find on the web.
Finally just to note that sometimes signed copies of books are available and are clearly displayed.