This latest book from Giles Chapman celebrates the fascinating lives of 50 amazing, memorable and often quirky characters, who all added significantly to the culture of cars and motoring in a wide variety of often surprising ways. These curious car tales encompass both men and women, some famous, some lesser known. This is not the place to find biographies of Henry Ford or Enzo Ferrari, towering figures who have been written about to excess already, but stop here to learn about the life of the stunt driver who crops up in so many 70s films you will be stunned not to know his name; great racing drivers such as Mary Davies; Nils Bohlin, the seatbelt inventor who saved millions of lives; as well as many designers, stylists, company founders, importers, experts and larger than life salesmen, plus some very car obsessed movie stars and producers. The modern car scene would have looked very different without these impactful individuals.

GILES CHAPMAN is an award-winning motoring writer. He has edited and written for numerous car magazines, and contributed to national newspapers. His books include My Dad Had One Of Those, Chapman's Car Compendium, Cars We Loved in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and 100 Cars Britain Can Be Proud Of. He lives in Kent.