TIN LIZZIE

Spier eases into the long, leisurely biography of Tin Lizzie, a 1909 Model T Touring Car, whose first owner, Mr. Bamhart the feed dealer, had to order bottles of gasoline from the druggist; Lizzie who saw the West as a young family's trusted and steady used car and who sat in a weedy lot behind a farmer's barn until she was rescued by an antique car restorer. . . . Of course one wouldn't have to read a word; Tin Lizzie's story is all in Spier's miniaturized pastel murals which depict the changes in American towns, roads, and farmyards. Their naive, nostalgic charm is the first impression, but these illustrations are sure to be looked at more than once, whether it's the period details or the narrative incidents that catch one's eye. Even the back endpapers, with labeled schematic drawings of Tin Lizzie's parts, are worth dallying over. Like the Model T, this has staying power.