I’ve looked at a couple of Jourist’s guide apps before, their Twentieth Century Small Arms Guide for example, which was passably interesting, however if any of their catalog is likely to impress me it’s one on classic American cars.  On my bookshelf sits a very well-thumbed copy of the Standard Guide to American Muscle Cars, a veritable wealth of information on some of the most interesting cars ever made.  To have that in mobile form would be a joy, so does Jourist’s guide meet my expectations?

Unfortunately, no, and the problems are essentially the same as those found in previous guides.  Before getting into them, let’s look at the positives.  The selection of cars featured is good, with more than 300 examples on display, and all expected names are there including many Mustangs, Camaros and Corvettes, plus some less well-known examples such as the ’69 GTO Judge and the ’51 Studebaker Champion.  There are some weird inclusions too, such as several one-off customs, the Hummer and Milner’s Coupe from American Graffiti.

The information provided is good too, with a concise history on each vehicle along with engine details, power, 0-60, top speed and even engine displacement figures in both CC and CI.  The app has a good search feature and the chance to filter results using almost any relevant parameter, plus the chance to save your favorites in a separate area.  A handy glossary has been provided with definitions of the more technical terms.

But while the written content is informative, it’s only half the story, as the joy of classic cars of any type comes from studying pictures.  Each car in Jourist’s guide gets just one image, and those on display are a very mixed bunch.  Take for example the C3 Corvette ZR1.  A great looking car from most angles, but the side or three-quarter shot would be the most iconic, so surely that’s what has been used, right?  Wrong, it’s a dead-on front shot revealing absolutely nothing about the look of the car.  Amazingly, the same type of picture is also used for the C5 Corvette, a ’54, the gorgeous ’57 and the ’63 Stingray.

Flat side-on pictures are also used, and while there are plenty of other Corvette’s on display to get an idea of how they all look, there’s only one Cougar Eliminator, Coronet Super Bee and ’71 Duster.  The brilliance of the Standard Guide was the wide variety of press shots, real-life pictures and manufacturers vanity pictures, but Jourist seem to have chosen odd images which are almost toy-like.  It’s a real shame, as a selection of great images for each car would have made this a great app.

Like the Twentieth Century Small Arms app, there’s nothing here which isn’t available elsewhere (Wikipedia for example) for less money and with more detail.  Jourist really needs to add something special to their guide apps in order to justify the $3.99/£2.49 price tag.

So who will get the most from the American Classic Cars Guide?  Anyone with a passing interest, or younger car fans keen to know more will probably find it helpful, and I’ll admit that finding the performance and specs of these cars can be difficult, so it’s good to have them all here; however I can’t remember the last time I needed that information.

As usual with Jourist’s guides, I find myself underwhelmed and wanting something more for the money.  More images, a video or two, comments from owners and in an ideal world, 360-degree photos – anything to make the app feel like it belongs on a modern, multimedia smartphone!  It’s by no means terrible, but these guides could be so much more.

Positives:

• Comprehensive selection of cars.
• A good, offline reference source for fans of the more technical side of classic American cars.

Negatives:

• Poor picture selection.
• Uninspired interface.

Overall: 2.5/5.