Paris is not the obvious place for an automotive bookstore, especially not in the wealthy 6th arrondissement, on one of the city’s premier shopping streets. But there it sits, the Librairie Passion Automobile, an oasis for the car obsessive.
This story originally appeared in Volume 17 of Road & Track.
“Something I find funny is that some people, when they walk by the window and look at what we sell, there are times when they can’t believe their eyes that something like this exists,” says Raphaël Galdos, the store’s manager. “Because to them, it’s just so unlikely to sell books on cars. To them, the world of cars, I think, is very limited. But actually, it’s not. It has no limits.”
Stepping inside is surreal. The store is brightly lit and clean. Books fill every square millimeter, perched on shelves and tables and filling the window. How could there be this many books about cars? And how can they be here amid so many high-end boutiques?
The store is owned by publisher Sophia Editions, which, in 1947, began printing service manuals for popular cars like the Citroën Traction Avant and the Renault 4CV in the basement. That’s the same year Road & Track was born almost 6000 miles away. Sophia sold the manuals upstairs, and over time, inventory grew to include books on motorsport, antique cars, motorcycles, and anything with wheels, wings, or keels.
Galdos’s first book from the store was a road-test anthology for the Austin-Healey Sprite, received as a childhood gift. “It was in English. I couldn’t read a word, but I loved it,” he says. Galdos recalls going to the store with his father and picking out books, fueling his passion for cars. As an adult, he worked at other bookstores before joining Librairie Passion Automobile 21 years ago.
Book sales are low margin, and Paris isn’t car-friendly. With parking both expensive and limited, many customers who drove or rode motorcycles to the store no longer do so. But it still remains a favorite hangout for car nuts. “People want to come here and browse through the books and receive some advice and talk. A lot of people want to talk about cars because they’re considered boring people in their family,” he says, laughing.
Of course, most of the books are in French, but, for tourists, there are some in English. Books about European cars line most shelves. Galdos is a big Sixties Mopar fan, so classic American iron is well represented.
“One thing that I sometimes think about is, I would not like to be the last manager of this bookstore—to see it close down,” Galdos says. “I would like it to keep on existing. Right now, it’s okay, but the future is always uncertain.”
A car enthusiast since childhood, Chris Perkins is Road & Track's engineering nerd and Porsche apologist. He joined the staff in 2016 and no one has figured out a way to fire him since. He street-parks a Porsche Boxster in Brooklyn, New York, much to the horror of everyone who sees the car, not least the author himself. He also insists he's not a convertible person, despite owning three.
