Topic: How do you even do this?

[marmer]

I thought I had a big library, an extensive catalog of museum photos, a lifetime of car study, and a SAH membership.  So far I have only 11 points.  This seems like something where "if you know, you know."  But where would one find those historical photos of buses and trucks and coachbuilder information?  I know about cartype.com and coachbuild.com and coachbuilt.com and I have the Beaulieu Coachbuilding encyclopedia.  I love research puzzles but I could use a hint or two.  FYI, I run my own (much easier) car quiz on Facebook and I had to start using my own photos because everyone was GIS'ing the web photos.

Thanks!

[Carnut]

When I joined AutoPuzzles in 2009 I thought I knew a thing or two after a lifetime of being a car enthusiast, with hundreds of books, models and magazines by the thousand.
I now know one thing: I know NOTHING!

I rely on Google and it's a matter of learning how to get to the bottom of the hundreds of thousands of websites out there. The information available on the Internet is absolutely astonishing, going right back to the very dawn of the motoring age.  And all this has been put on to the Internet in the last 15/20 or so years!  Who on earth does it?

Good luck!

[gte4289]

I thought I had a big library, an extensive catalog of museum photos, a lifetime of car study, and a SAH membership.  So far I have only 11 points.  This seems like something where "if you know, you know."  But where would one find those historical photos of buses and trucks and coachbuilder information?  I know about cartype.com and coachbuild.com and coachbuilt.com and I have the Beaulieu Coachbuilding encyclopedia.  I love research puzzles but I could use a hint or two.

The websites you mention were probably great resources for AP puzzles a decade ago, but they've become far too well-known (and searchable) to be resources for challenging AP puzzle material today.

I think the most successful Autopuzzlers have either invested a great deal of time and money into compiling vast collections of old books and magazines on the subject, or have invested a great deal of time and effort into the discovery of obscure online sources for automotive imagery (or both). It would be disrespectful to openly disclose any of these specific sources, not to mention the fact that it would render those sources useless and undermine the purpose of the game.

I love research puzzles but I could use a hint or two.

A hint or two:

• If more than half of the books in your automotive library are written in the same language, then that library is not nearly as extensive as you think.
• If Google's search engine can access most of the images and information contained on the automotive websites you've been using, then your online resources are far more limited than you realize. (Google's index represents approximately 4% of the information that exists online.)

Happy hunting!

[Oguerrerob]

When I joined Autopuzzles, I knew that my knowledge was very limited, I started to buy books and magazines (I spent a lot of money) I was proud of my library, then for whatever reason I was forced to move out to other country, and all of then were lost. So, I only have Internet and a HD, with time and pacience.  There's no the right site, no easy way to solve puzzles.
If you like the searching and investigating, Welcome to this world!

[nicanary]

I thought I had a big library, an extensive catalog of museum photos, a lifetime of car study, and a SAH membership.  So far I have only 11 points.  This seems like something where "if you know, you know."  But where would one find those historical photos of buses and trucks and coachbuilder information?  I know about cartype.com and coachbuild.com and coachbuilt.com and I have the Beaulieu Coachbuilding encyclopedia.  I love research puzzles but I could use a hint or two.  FYI, I run my own (much easier) car quiz on Facebook and I had to start using my own photos because everyone was GIS'ing the web photos.

Thanks!

I still haven't got my head round it after nearly 8 years. How come everybody knows so much more than me?

[marmer]

Thanks, guys.  These responses are all very helpful.  It's good to know that the truth is out there and I just have to keep searching.