Lyons, Dan 1956–

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Lyons, Dan 1956–

PERSONAL:

Born August 8, 1956. Education: State University of New York, B.A., M.A.

ADDRESSES:

CAREER:

Writer, columnist, photographer, and editor. Former road-test editor for Amoco Motor Club's RoadSmart magazine; former feature editor for Car Collector and Car Classics magazines.

MEMBER:

International Motor Press Association, Midwest Automotive Media Association.

AWARDS, HONORS:

IAMA 2005 Best of the Internet, IAMA Gold, Silver and Bronze awards, International Automotive Media Association (IAMA), for excellence in car reviews.

WRITINGS:

(With the auto editors of Consumer Guide) Cars of 1957, Publications International (Lincolnwood, IL), 1997.

Sixties American Cars, Motorbooks International (Osceola, WI), 1998.

(With John F. Katz) Corvette: An American Classic, Metro Books (New York, NY), 2001, revised edition, Barnes & Noble (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Jason Scott, and contributor of photography) Muscle Car Milestones, MBI (Osceola, WI), 2001.

(With Patrick Paternie, and contributor of photography) Modern American Muscle, MBI Publishing (St. Paul, MN), 2001.

(With editors of Consumer Guide) Cars of 1965, Publications International (Lincolnwood, IL), 2002.

Cars of the Fantastic '50s, edited by Tom Collins, KP Books (Iola, WI), 2005.

Cars of the Sensational 60s, KP Books (Iola, WI), 2006.

Columnist for the Times Union's Automotive Weekly section, Albany, NY, 1992—; syndicated automotive columnist for the Motor Matters group; road-test contributor for AutoMedia.com, Kelley Blue Book, and Autobytel.com. Contributor of photography to magazines and books, including Station Wagons, MBI Publishers; Sixties American Cars, MBI Publishers; Corvette: 50th Anniversary, Publications International; and Cars of 1957, Publications International.

SIDELIGHTS:

Dan Lyons is a writer and photographer who has written extensively about automotive history and cars in general. He is a road-test columnist for the Automotive Weekly section of the Albany, New York, Times Union and a contributor to the Kelley Blue Book and the AutoMedia.com and Autobytel.com Web sites. He has written or cowritten several automotive books. Lyons also is a photographer who has contributed to numerous automotive books, magazines, and automotive calendars. He has received several awards from the International Automotive Media Association for excellence in car reviews.

The author's automotive books feature both detailed background on the cars discussed and numerous color photos. In his first book, Cars of 1957, which Lyons wrote with the editors of Consumer Guide, the author takes a look at the cars of what many car aficionados consider to be the finest year of the 1950s, with flashy paint jobs and the beginnings of high performance. Sixties American Cars features famous and forgotten cars from the 1960s, from full-size luxury cars such as the Lincoln Continental and Cadillac Eldorado to compacts such as the Lark and Corvair and sports cars such as the Mustang and Camaro. The author provides detailed information on these cars' designs and engines, from frugal four-cylinder economy cars to "muscle cars."

The author collaborated with John F. Katz to write Corvette: An American Classic, which covers the famous American sports car from its inception in 1952. The book includes photos, period road tests, prototypes, and appendices on racing results and production statistics. A revised edition was published in 2003 to commemorate the car's fiftieth anniversary. Muscle Car Milestones, written with Jason Scott, examines classics of the muscle-car era, from the revered to the rarely seen. The authors include an in-depth history and performance specifications. In Modern American Muscle, authors Lyons and Patrick Paternie offer details on the primary muscle cars of the modern era, including the Corvette, Viper, Mustang, and Camaro. The authors also address hot-rod pickups such as the Ford F-150 Lighting and the Dodge Ram SS/T.

Collaborating with the editors of Consumer Guide to write Cars of 1965, Lyons follows the same format as the Cars of 1957: an overview of the models, automaker by automaker. Coverage includes compacts, muscle cars, and luxury cars from the three major American automakers: Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. A chapter on sports car imports is also included.

In his 2005 book Cars of the Fantastic '50s, edited by Tom Collins, the author takes readers on another nostalgic trip as he looks at the best of Ford, Chrysler, Chevy, and independently manufactured cars of the 1950s. In a review in Booklist, Brad Hooper called the decade one of "the supreme moments in the U.S. automobile industry." A contributor to the Motor Week Web site wrote in a review of the book that "tail-fin styling … turned … lowly pickup trucks into glamorous works of art." The book includes 250 color photos of highlighted vintage models, such as Cadillac, Bel-Air, and Thunderbird. Summaries are provided about each model. A California Bookwatch contributor noted the book's "outstanding depth and detail."

The author turns his attention to the next decade with Cars of the Sensational 60s. Featuring three hundred photos of pioneer models of cruising cars, the author explores many of the favorite cars of the 1960s, including big sedans, convertibles, station wagons, and coupes. He focuses primarily on the cars that have become the most coveted by collectors. "Any library strong on auto history or transportation will want this," wrote a California Bookwatch contributor.