Reviewed by Lynette Fowlston for Readers' Favorite

Tires Optional by Rick Reale is a small book that takes the reader on a nostalgic trip back to the 50’s and 60’s when gas was $0.25 a gallon, and Route 66 was the way to travel...back to a time when, for teenage boys, the thing to have was their own car. For most, it did not matter the size of the car or the shape it was in, as long as it had four tires and an engine. Rick Reale had a penchant for buying a car cheaply, just because he needed the seats or a battery, and then selling it almost for what he paid for it. Throughout the years he bought and sold many cars, but one he still has...a 1941 Packard Clipper in near mint, original and un-restored condition; he is only the second owner of the car and has no plans to sell it unless the price is right.

This is a hilarious book in parts and makes one wonder at some of the antics the author and his friends pulled; that they didn’t end up in the graveyard, hospital or jail is surprising! This is a book that all guys will surely enjoy and can relate to, but women will enjoy it as well. This book took me back to the time of large, but well-built cars that held up, to the time of cheap gas and Route 66...back to the good old days. If nothing else, I recovered a lot of memories just by reading this book.