It was brash and it was loud - the 1980s put paid to the glumness of the '70s and nowhere was that more obvious than in the cars we drove, which took a quantum leap in durability, performance, equipment and style. They had to: Japanese quality and European design were luring away ever more customers[...]
What Europe needed after the Second World War was an ultra-reliable workhorse to get small businesses on the move again. And, with a little nudge from the Dutch, that's what Volkswagen provided in 1950 with its Transporter van. It was no fireball, but rock-solid quality meant it always delivered the[...]
Very few cars inspire as much affection as the original Mini. It's the small car everyone loves to eulogise because it oozes energetic fun, classless minimalism and evergreen style. But it's also of massive historical importance: the 1959 Mini, designed by Alec Issigonis, set the template from which[...]
'White Van Man' is a larger-than-life presence on Britain's road, but he's no fool. Given the choice, he inevitably opts for a Ford Transit - and indeed he has been doing so, more than for any other van, for the past 45-plus years. Why? Because the Transit better suits the needs of working drivers t[...]
The KdF car, a German acronym for Strength Through Joy, was conceived by Adolf Hitler's Third Reich as a true German 'people's car'. There is precious little in the legacy of 1930s Nazi Germany that is positive, but after the Second World war - and with a little help from the British - the Volks Wag[...]
A unique look at the development of the Land Rover, this is the story of the simple four-wheel drive vehicle born out of post-war austerity that became a global byword for toughness and rugged styleLaunched in 1948, the Land Rover owed its low-key existence to shoestring British ingenuity and--liter[...]
If you owned a car in 1960s Britain, then you'll love this blast back in time to when driving was still fun, highway speed limits were unheard-of (well, until 1965 anyway), and buying a new car was a thrilling family event. It was a golden period for iconic classic cars - the Mini Cooper, Jaguar E-t[...]
The 1970s saw some ground-breaking new metal in British showrooms: the Renault 5 established the new 'supermini' class, the Volkswagen Golf gave the average family car a hatchback and top quality, the Ford Capri made sporty cars available to everyone and, despite all of this, that old favourite the [...]
Now available in paperback, this lively book takes a behind-the-scenes look at four-wheeled stars from television. It covers classic programmes of the past, such as "The Avengers" and "Starsky" and "Hutch", recent series such as "Mr. Bean" and "Only Fools and Horses", and modern shows such as "Life [...]