Michael Bruce Associates is an Ohio corporation, founded in 1975. Michael Antonick is the owner and serves as president and chief executive officer.
The company publishes auto books. It specializes in Corvette and Camaro books, but has also published titles related to general automobile detailing and photography.
In its early years, the company sold books only at the retail level. Its first product offering was a series of nine hardbound Corvette books called Corvette! The Sensuous American. These were published at the rate of three per year during the years of 1976, 1977 and 1978 and sold directly to customers by subscription only. A second series of nine similar books was published in 1983, 1984 and 1985. The eighteen Corvette! The Sensuous American books were sold to subscribers with a no-reprint guarantee to improve the likelihood of value appreciation. The books are bought and sold today primarily between private individuals.
In 1978, the company published its first trade publication, Corvette! America’s Only, to celebrate the Corvette’s twenty-fifth anniversary. This hardbound 144-page book was sold directly by the company to its customers, but also in bookstores throughout the United States and other countries. The first 7,500 copies of the standard silver-bound edition were sequentially numbered. A deluxe edition, bound in black calfskin, was sequentially numbered and limited to 300 copies.
The last chapter of Corvette! America’s Only was called “The Facts.” This was a year-by-year listing of Corvette information including numbers, history, options, original window-sticker prices, interior and exterior colors, and unique features. It led to the publication, in September 1978, of a stand-alone, pocket-size fact guide called The Corvette Black Book, the company’s first softbound book.
Please refer to the "Books" section of this site for descriptions, photos and availability of the 50+ books published by Michael Bruce Associates and/or authored by Mike Antonick in the years following the 1978 release of the first Corvette Black Book.