A Guide to the Best of Southern California : SHOPTALK : Serving the Real Motor City

AUTOBOOKS ETC. AND Automotive Book Stop couldn’t be further apart in philosophy. But as a pair, the two bookstores have made an unlikely strip of Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank a Mecca for car enthusiasts.

Autobooks Etc. is clean, well-lighted, aloof; Automotive Book Stop is gritty, dark, about as friendly as a mechanic’s smock. Autobooks Etc. has hundreds of glossy new books; Automotive Book Stop has hundreds of gritty used tomes. One is Sir Laurence Olivier; the other, Al Bundy.

This odd couple is heaven for auto lovers. From the hefty picture books covering everything from Alfa Romeos to Zimmers and the well-stocked selection of new periodicals at Autobooks Etc. to the automotive-shop manuals, sales brochures and old magazines at Automotive Book Stop, all bases are covered. “Our customers come from all walks of life; we have a lot of fun in here just talking cars,” says Fred Chaparro, owner of Automotive Book Stop. A former midget-car racer, Chaparro doesn’t stock anything exotic, but promises that he can locate just about any book anybody wants.

Autobooks Etc. will also go the extra mile to find books for its customers. “In addition to the new books, we carry out-of-print and rare items,” says store manager Neal East. “We have a lot of people--we call them ‘gearheads’--who, in the middle of a repair or a restoration job, are looking for do-it-yourself materials. We can usually help them out.” The store also gets a lot of once-a-year business (mostly Australian and Asian auto enthusiasts visiting Los Angeles from overseas, according to East).

And this being the movie capital of the world, both shops also get a lot of studio business, people researching bygone eras for movie and television productions, as well as stars who are car nuts. After all, everyone knows that L.A. is the real Motor City. Autobooks Etc., 3524 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank; (818) 845-0707. Automotive Book Stop, 1508-A W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank; (818) 845-1202.