Car - Experience The Evolution Of The Automobile

The motor car is one of humanity’s most remarkable inventions, transforming civilisation from a world in which journeys took several days and involved considerable quantities of horse manure into one where journeys take several hours and involve considerable quantities of traffic congestion. Nevertheless, few mechanical creations have inspired such devotion, extravagance, ingenuity and spectacularly questionable financial decisions.

In Car – Experience the Evolution of the Automobile (2015), Rod Green takes readers on a fascinating journey through the history of the motor car, celebrating the extraordinary machines that transformed personal transport from an eccentric mechanical experiment into a global obsession. Published by Aura, this illustrated volume explores the development of the automobile, its technological achievements and the remarkable variety of vehicles that have emerged from more than a century of engineering ambition.

The story begins with the pioneering horseless carriages of the late nineteenth century, when inventors enthusiastically attached engines to wheeled contraptions and hoped that the resulting machinery would travel in roughly the intended direction. From these uncertain beginnings emerged an industry that would reshape cities, economies, landscapes and the daily lives of millions.

As the decades progressed, automobiles became faster, safer, more reliable and considerably more complicated. Manufacturers competed to produce everything from affordable family transport to outrageous sporting machines capable of reaching speeds that would have terrified their Victorian predecessors. Somewhere along the way, the humble motor car evolved from a practical means of transportation into a powerful expression of personal identity, social status and occasionally spectacularly poor taste.

Green’s exploration of automotive evolution celebrates the designers, manufacturers and engineering breakthroughs behind the world’s most memorable cars. From elegant classics and pioneering production models to high-performance supercars and technological innovations, the book offers an engaging appreciation of the machines that have captured the public imagination.

Naturally, progress has not always followed a perfectly sensible course. For every brilliant innovation there has been a peculiar design experiment, an unfortunate styling decision or a vehicle whose principal achievement was demonstrating that just because something could be manufactured did not necessarily mean anybody wanted to buy it.

Condition: Good. This is a previously owned copy dating from 2015, showing the ordinary signs of age and handling associated with a book that has already travelled through at least one ownership. Unlike an ageing motor car, it requires no annual MOT, replacement timing belt or increasingly expensive investigation into a mysterious dashboard warning light.

Published by Aura in 2015. ISBN: 9780233006543.

Offered by Crappy Old Books, where we believe the history of motoring should be accessible to everyone, including those whose automotive ambitions extend somewhat beyond their available bank balance.

An excellent addition to any motoring enthusiast’s library, this is a celebration of automotive ingenuity, design and development. Ideal for anyone who appreciates beautiful machinery, fascinating engineering and the extraordinary human determination to create ever more elaborate ways of travelling somewhere only to discover there is nowhere to park.

Keep browsing: See more Transport books Other books by Rod Green