Convertible

This is not a coffee table car book, rather it is a romantic history of rag tops from the Amphicar to Jayne Mansfield's pink Cadillac, from Eleanor Roosevelt's Fiat roadster to Clark Gable's Duesenberg, from Richard Petty's '59 Olds NASCAR convertible to James Bond's Aston-Martin and a whole lot more!

I thought I knew a lot about cars and convertible's, but boy did this beautifully written and photographed book open my eyes. I bought it for myself, but my wife really enjoyed reading it.

The author must have spent years doing all the research for this book and boy has he come up with some gems! Just about every page is full of surprises, great pictures, cartoons and anecdotes.

This is a great Christmas or Birthday present for any adventurous guy or gal.

This book is a magnificent introduction to warrant investments. Giving specific explanations of what a warrant is, how it works, and what makes it attractive, the author also clearly states the risks associated with the investment tool. This gives a fair picture of the tool, so that everybody can find out whether or not they want to use warrants for their own investment. The writing of the book is clearly understandable, even to non-investment freaks. Difficult terms are explained clearly, and the book leads the reader further into the subject with each chapter. After having read the book, you might not be the world's greatest expert on warrants, but you will definitely be in the position to make some money out of them. A book for anybody who wants to make some money!

Anyone interested in restoring automobiles will enjoy and learn from this book. Also, the price is more than reasonable. It's a hardback!

The book provides a detailed account of the search for and restoration of a '57 Chevy convertible. It is not just technical info, it's also fun reading about the trials and tribulations of the team that restored this classic. You really get to know what it's like to "live" a project like this.

There are hundreds of photos and references to shops and services that can help with your own restoration project. I'm planning on buying some of Cars and Parts other books also. I hope they can be half a good as "Peggy Sue".

IN A NUT SHELL , BENTLEY BOOKS ARE THE HANDS DOWN BEST AUTO REPAIR BOOKS THERE ARE!OTHER BOOKS GET YOU HALFWAY THROUGH A JOB AND LEAVE YOU HANGING. BENTLEY IS A TRUE STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE. BENTLEY GUIDES ARE DEFINITLY WORTH THE EXTRA MONEY!

I bought this book simply because it covered Corrados which are pretty hard to find print material on. I didn't care if it was good or not, just the fact that it had anything to do with Corrados was enough for me. When I went to "read" the book I skipped to the end where the Corrado was finially mentioned. I figured it would be a little factual blurb about the short lived car but I was delighted to find a significant amount of text devoted to it. I was surprised at just how informative the book is-it covers everything you need to know about the Corrado (US and European versions); you even get subtle opinions thrown in which makes it much more interesting to read. After reading and rereading the Corrado section of the book over and over I was impressed enough to start over at the begaining of the book. Its enjoyable reading, especially for such a factual and informative book. I highly suggest it to any VW fan, or car fan in general for that matter.

Addressing arbitrage opportunities of both convertible bonds and convertible preferred issues, this text also describes the spectrum use of other derivative instruments for both arbitrage and hedging purposes. Of note, capital structure arbitrage --a hot topic, currently-- is also briefly discussed.

The book serves as a worthwhile summary of all that is currently feasible in this arena. Additionally, many techniques are sufficiently described so as to be made immediatly applicable. As expected from a book of relatively short length, some of the techniques are not drawn out in sufficient detail. The capital structure section, for example, is addressed in only a few pages.

Given the considerable number of tips and insights offered by the author, this book is worth reading despite the lack of detail in some sections.

This is by far one of the best books on hedge fund strategies. It's very practical, but also provides enough technical details. Most other books on hedge funds just state some basic facts that everybody knows. This book, however, provides enough details on one single strategy, convertible arb. I would highly recommend this book to any serious Quant who wants to know more about convertible arb.

Convertible arbitrage is an alternative investment form that is ever-increasing in popularity. This book teaches both portfolio managers and fund of funds analysts everything they need to know about convertible bonds and includes a thorough background, a description of the various techniques, and valuation models. Illustrates points with informative graphs, tables, and appendices. An excellent resource tool.

After reading so many wonderful reviews, I was very disappointed by The Last Convertible. Although some of it was well written and the story was interesting at times, it was cliche filled and often trite. Most of the characters were stock types who behaved in predictable ways. Hardly a compelling novel!

Anton Myrer's "The Last Convertible" is probably the best book I have ever read. I could not put it down from the time I picked it up to the time I finished it. I didn't want it to ever end. As soon as I finished it, I wanted to pick it up and read it again. Myrer makes the characters so real that you literally feel like you know them. His tone and style reminded me so much of F. Scott Fitzgerald's, another of my favorite authors. You get so emotionally involved in this book; you feel the characters' happiness and pain, you are torn at their dilemas and conflicts. I had such a respect for the narrator, George Virdon, he is a very real and likeable character. If you like reading at all, especially if you like Fitzgerald or other war-era books, and definatly if you are a romantic or nostalgic, then "The Last Convertible" is the book you want to read. I loved it; it is definatly a book worth re-reading.

This book extends to all generations although it focuses on a generation coming of age during WWII. I just absolutely love the book in that it says much about those "college" or "coming of age" years -- I read it first when I was in college in the early 80's and then have read and re-read it during the years since and find new aspects to the story as I age. I think it is one of those "must-read" books for everyone! It really explores the relationships one creates with those first friends you meet on your own -- during the first few weeks of freedom most of us experience during college, and illustrates how those friendships sustain and break us through the years that follow. I just can't say enough good about this book. It is one I remember and return to often, but don't find that many other people have read... so sad.

I am unsure what book the rest of the reviewers are reading; but it was not this one. The book is not only ambiguous, but poorly crafted with topical transitions sloppy. I can comfortably say that there is not a single section of the book that adequately unveils the dynamics of various convertible instruments or their pricing. Indeed, the book reads more like a glossary than an explanatory text and for persons new to converts, the spate of regurgitated pricing theories will likely do more harm then good. Perhaps the one strength of the text is that it serves as a broad reference for readers truly interested in converts to seek out more educative pieces. For more informed readers, modest incremental knowledge seems to be the only gain.

The strategies that hedge funds are using now will be in the hands of ordinary investors within the next three weeks. One such strategy is the use of international convertible bonds. This is a derivative instrument that cannot be ignored. Fixed income until YOU the investor decide to switch.

How important is this. Mr.Woodson [not only shows how relevant it is for today's investor he makes sure that you know the necessary tips and tricks to outwit Wall Street at their own game. As investors wisen up to the need to retain their short term gains instruments such as convertible bonds, warrants, options, futures and many other derivative style investments will dominate the average investors portfolio.

Another two great books along this vein are "Futures For Small Speculators" and "Single Stock Futures For Small Speculators". Everyday investors are simply tired of the same old "buy and hold" strategies that don't work or give up to much value in the short run.

Buy convertible arbitrage you won't be disappointed.

Quite a few books have been written about the specialized subject of convertible securities, but Hart Woodson has distinguished himself by writing a comprehensive book that includes all of the latest types of convertible securities as well as the latest strategies--in plain language that a beginner could comprehend, and with sophisticated equations included for the sophisticated quant. Better still, the book is not simply an ad for convertibles nor for his employer, Gabelli Asset Management. The pitfalls as well as the potentials are described. Hart can write. Hart has broad experience. He puts it all together in this practical book.

Anyone who works on their own Saab should know that the Bentley manual is King. There's just not a better manual out there. However, even this book is lacking in a lot of ways. For one, it's not for the beginner or for someone who's afraid of messing up their car. This book assumes you have a fairly well-established knowledge of the car and skips a lot of details it assumes you'd know. A total novice would be lost with this book.

On the other hand, if you do know these cars pretty well, the Bentley manual can help fill in the blanks of a project you'd otherwise not want to do if you didn't have a little guidance. Not for the faint of heart though.

This is a great book for working on the 16 valve engine. It covers more of the nitty gritty stuff that you need when working on the more advanced Saab engine. The turbo section is great. The only complaint I have is that the book is not more specific about the differences in the engine configurations from one year to the next. But if you need wiring diagrams or schematics this is the book for you.

My saab was running great - then not so much. The idle speed was running very high most of the time, around 2,000 rpm. When I touched the accelerator it dropped down to around 1,200 rpm, still about 300 rpm above normal. It also (just once) alarmingly lost then regained power, quickly, so I was kangaroo-ing down the road looking like a first-time driver not able to handle the clutch.

Upon receiving the book I started to diagnose the problem. Within thirty minutes I was confident it was one of two things, both easy to check using the information in this book. It turned out not to be the air mass meter, but instead was the throttle position sensor. The car was fixed within an hour and is running (touch wood) wonderfully now. Using this book saved me money. A big thanks for Bentley publishers !

This book does not contain proper electrical wiring schematics like other automotive repair manuals do. I have found more useful diagrams posted by kind people on the Web. This book is too pricey to have such a deficiency. Does have other useful information (which should go without saying) however, such as on the fuel delivery system.

For the most part this was a good manual for the 325i, but there was a shortcoming that I had due to it missing information on 325iX driveline components. I thought it would have covered this info as there are quite a few 325iX cars around and many of the owners do their own work. The rest of the book was complete and close to what is printed in factory manuals.

There are several things you just have to have in order to perform accurate diagnostic work and repairs on cars. This book is complete in its descriptions, photographs and procedures. Purchasing this manual has saved me hundreds of dollars in repair costs. The Bentley Publishing group has really done its homework on this one!