GOLDEN MILES (2005)
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“Clinton Walker has written a paean to the gas guzzler and its unique place in Australian culture… not just for or about petrol-heads, it’s about some quintessential planks of the mythical Australian identity: the suburbs, the beach, freedom” - Tim Coronel, AUSTRALIAN BOOKSELLER & PUBLISHER
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Golden Miles was first published in 2005 by Lothian and was very well received. Designed by Jim Paton and myself, it came out as a beautiful-looking book, and quickly sold out of its print run. But then Lothian went bust and was bought up by Time Warner. And then Time Warner was bought up by Hachette Livre. When Hachette LIvre demurred on returning the book to print, I got the rights back and eventually did a deal with Wakefield Press to get out a new, revamped edition in 2009. “Clinton Walker is our best chronicler of Australian grass roots culture. Feverish in his search for motifs and connections, he packs more detail and reaches wider than his rivals, while avoiding the fey tone that is a surprise blight in this area… observed like an art book of the most satisfying kind, in which design changes run in parallel with politics, songs, films, social history and the commercial/industrial climate in which mechanical and aesthetic decisions are made” - John Clare, SUN-HERALD “Clinton Walker’s latest book is a cracker” - STREET MACHINE “Australian muscle cars are suddenly earning the kind of attention and prices previously reserved for American Mustangs and GTOs… Walker’s history (and accompanying treasure trove of photographs) of the birth, rise and fall of Aussie models like the Torana, Monaro, Charger and GTHO will be nostalgia trip for some and a revelation to others” - Martin Jones, IN-PRESS
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“… features tons of black and white and colour photos and plenty of pacey text that should inform both car buffs and those interested in recent Australian history” - UNIQUE CARS “A rambling journey which is provocative, argumentative and lavishly illustrated, as much for the pop culture lovers as the petrol heads” - Toby Creswell, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD “Golden Miles is great, as innovative as Buried Country” – Dave Graney “A subject dear to many under-informed hearts and this should fill a huge gap in a car lover’s education. One of those books I was sad to finish” - Chris Emmerson, former Holden designer “Not unlike his books on Australian music, Clinton Walker’s Golden Miles is a study in larrikin Australianness” – Catherine Gale, ADVOCATE “No corner of Australian popular culture is too small for Walker to park eight cylinders of turbocharged wit in” – David Levell, AUSTRALIAN WAY “An encyclopaedic look at fast cars and a fast maturing Australian society… about sun, surf, songs and how the Australian culture developed” – MERCURY “This is a book for people who don't traditionally buy books, about a time in Australia's history, the late 1960s and early 1970s, and what the muscle car represented… provocative and thought provoking. Clinton Walker has made sure he isn't just writing a book that will be loved by car enthusiasts; it’s a book that could be considered a valuable contribution to a discourse on Australian culture and sociology” - Matt Dawson, THE SCENE 
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