Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3972 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-17
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Synopsis
Good old Dad and his good old Dad's car. As solid and dependable as the man himself, if a little less balding, Dad's car was almost a member of the family, whisking you to exciting days out, or just to visit boring relatives in distant parts of the country to the chant of 'are we nearly there yet?' Like the man behind the wheel, Dad's car made you feel safe and secure, because it was as reassuring and sensible as he was. Maybe in an idle moment Dad dreamt of driving something rakish and fast, just like in idle moments he dreamt that your Mum was Twiggy, but the demands of family life meant soft tops, hard suspension and anything even remotely sporty were off the cards. Even anything less than four doors would have been wildly hedonistic. But although the family car may not have been the very essence of rock 'n' roll, Dad was proud of it. Spanning the 1950s to the '80s, this is a celebration of the heyday of the Dad car. From much loved family workhorses like the Ford Cortina and Vauxhall Viva to the rakish excitement and playground kudos of the Rover 3500 and Citroen CX, all the great Dad cars are here.

Reflecting a time before people carriers and lifestyle off roaders, when the nearest thing to an airbag was hiding behind your fat brother, this is a celebration of simple, honest cars that were as flawed and as loveable as your Dad himself.

From the Publisher
A trip up memory drive in the familiar cars your Dad knew and loved.

About the Author
Giles Chapman:
Giles Chapman has worked in every area of the motoring media but mainly national newspapers and magazines including The Independent, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times, Evening Standard, Condé Nast Traveller, Auto Express, BBC Top Gear magazine, Classic & Sports Car, and Octane.

Author of nine books, including Moving Objects (1999, with design critic Stephen Bayley), Car Badges (2005) and TV Cars (2006). He was voted Jeep Consumer Writer Of The Year, 2006.

Richard Porter:
Richard Porter is script editor for BBC's Top Gear, a columnist for Evo magazine and contributing editor for Top Gear magazine. He is author of BBC Books' Crap Cars.

Customer Reviews

Enjoyable Read...
All in all, an enjoyable book. It is always interesting to view something from someone else's perspective; in this case, how the Brits view their father's mundane "daily drivers". Interesting to note how Ford products are viewed as somewhat boring, yet popular because products such as the Cortina and the Gran-Dad, er sorry, Granada, were reliable, durable, and stylish in that they copied their larger American cousins.
I found the Austin 1100 article to be of interest; that car was sold in Canada as the Austin America; in retrospect, it was far ahead of it's time; the current Nissan Versa seems to be an update of the Austin !!
It you buy this book, check out the Hillman Hunter photograph; the car is interesting but you'll see what I am referring to when you buy the book !!

A trip down memory lane.
A splendid little book, full of humorous nostalgia for the cars your dad and in many cases you possibly also drove with such pride in the 60's 70's and 80's.
A great present for maybe Father's Day or Christmas.

Derek Bissell
Luton,Beds

Nostalgia-fest!
This is a nostalgia-fest for men of a certain age looking back at the cars of their youth, primarily from the 1970s.

Despite sturdy covers and good production, I was disappointed at first by the small dimensions of the book, but once inside I revelled in the (mostly colour) photographs of Hillmans, Fords, Austins and Vauxhalls, many of them coming from original sales brochures. Although primarily geared towards British models, there are foreign cars too: French, German, Swedish and Japanese.

The book is divided into twelve chapters, looking at the different types of car and assigning them to the types of Dad. The finale focusses on Cortina Dad, the summit of Dadness. Each entry has a photograph, a list of stats and a few paragraphs of witty comment from the authors.

Although the book took me less than an hour to read, the style is warmly humorous and down-to-earth and I often found it difficult to repress a chuckle or ten.

This would make a perfect extra present for boys in the 30 to 50 age-range.