The first known book in this field dates from 1958. It cannot or rather should not be considered a product of the needs of the founded retro car society, because no such society existed, but should be reviewed as a separate scientific and historical work, based on the practice and view of its author instead:
“A Car through the Centuries” by Yordan Markov
A look back to the creation and development of the automobile. The book tells about people’s efforts to create self-propelled cars, contemporary fast cars and future all-terrain vehicles.
“Narodna Mladezh” Publishing House, 1958, illustrated, soft cover, size 200x145.
No other books with subject and contents similar to retro cars were published in the 60’s and 70’s until 1976:
“The Veteran Grandfathers of the Automobile” was published in 1976 and its authors are Petar Manev and Yordan Markov. Similar to the publication of 1958, this book is not directly linked to the need of a specific group of people, but rather its publication is provoked by the Parade and Rally of Veteran Automobiles, which took place in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1974.
The next book is published after almost a 20-year gap and it sets the beginning of a series of such editions:
"The Automobile in Bulgaria” - the book is from 2001, authored by Ivan Kolev, and it is actually the first contemporary book for cars in Bulgaria from historical point of view. Its publication is indeed provoked by the formation of a retro community in Bulgaria. It has a clear target of readers and interest groups. Extremely pleasant as presentation and in essence.
“History of the Automobile in the Kingdom of Bulgaria 1896-1946” - this book is from 2010, authored again by Ivan Kolev. In it, he makes a wide review of the automobile's development - from the appearance of the first car in Bulgaria to 1946. It covers almost all pieces of the puzzle in this part of the Bulgarian history - automobile associations, car races, renown drivers - ladies as well as gentlemen - driving courses and of course the market for new cars.
“The Automobiles of Botevgrad - 100 Years of History” from 2014 is a unique book in A4 format with 242 glossy pages and a sewn hard cover. It contains many authentic pictures from the factory archive, plans and over 200 original drawings by the author Ivan Kolev. It is published in 300 copies. The contents are divided into several sections, describing the early years of the coach building in Botevgrad, the construction, development and final years of the “Chavdar” factory. There is a 120-page list with technical specifications and graphical description of all models, modifications and prototypes. This full research on the history of bus construction in Botevgrad is the first of its kind.
“Skoda - History in Images - Part I Laurin & Klement”, authored by Stefan Ivanov, published in October 2019 with 168 pages in 33x23 cm format. The story follows the period from the foundation of Laurin & Klement until the termination of the company (1895-1929). It describes in detail the story of the founders, most renowned mechanics, drivers, contests, innovations, records and much more. The author drew the cars and the process took more than 13 years. Each model is illustrated and has a description of the technical specifications. The publishing of this part is accompanied with the announcement of the preparation of part II.
“10 years Retro Auto-Moto Club Bourgas” is printed on 288 luxurious chrome pages in 275x184 format with sewn varnished hard cover. Its author is Nikolay Koruderliev. It is in the form of 770 pictures, most of which unpublished - the result of over 230 hours of shooting. Its preparation took more than 18 months, during which over 29 000 photos were reviewed to select those for publication. There are 18 unique drawings and 63 reproductions of covers, posters and documents. This book starts a new era in the club life with its essence and character.
“25 Years Retro Automobile Club Stara Zagora 1994-2019” - following the example of the book for Bourgas, at the suggestion of the lawyer Gancho Baev, the preparation of this book started in January 2019. The work on it took seven months with the cooperation of many colleagues in terms of pictures and facts. There were dozens of talks with witnesses of the events described in the book. Of course, due to this short term and not least to the lack of interest and desire for support by many “colleagues”, this book does not cover a large part of the club history. With its 280x140 mm format and 96 pages, it ranks second among similar projects in Bulgaria. The book was published in September 2019 in 300 copies. Its author is Nikolay Koruderliev. The book is distributed free and given as one of the three prizes in the 16th Retro Parade Stara Zagora 2019.
All books (except the two club ones) in the retro field are of historical and documentary nature. They contain facts, events and documents, which in most cases, at the time of their occurrence, belonged to another thematic group, namely the automotive industry. The creation of a book is a long process, which can be compared to the construction of a house. First, there must be a need for such book. This need occurs after a reader group in this field matures and forms. The latter on its part forms the thematic directions of the book's contents. The contents may be determined by the presence of historical facts for their construction. The research work required to write one such piece is in many cases equal to that necessary for writing a habilitation paper or a doctoral thesis.