I've been reading an old Fawcett book on the "new" European sports cars (Sports Car Album by John Freeman, 1953) that really delivers a feel for the era -- a time when neither Mercedes Benz nor Ferrari were household names in the US, and the Corvette was still just a show car. The book is loaded with photos, and the author visited all of the major factories and many smaller marques. It's well worth picking up if you like that sorta stuff.
The fifties is my favorite era for sports cars, and the early part of the decade probably produced my favorite designs over all. I'm a sucker for low slung slipstream-bodied cars with skinny tires and a driver sporting a necktie.
