Drive on!: A Social History of the Motor Car by L J K Setright
People are unfair to the car. They criticise what it has done to society, without giving due recognition to what is has done for society- which was effectively to liberate it. The development of the car has been distracted, delayed and debased by all manner of social pressures; any failure to keep its initial promise, Setright argues, is not the fault of the concept, but of people. Drive On! looks at the world-changing history of the car decade by decade and charts how cars have adapted as a result of what society has demanded of them. Separate chapters are devoted to such things as where to stop and what to wear, tyres and wheels, city driving, 4-wheel drives and a series of chapters looks at the technological changes of the last century, from wooden wheels to computer control. This is a car book unlike any other- stimulating, informative, provocative and witty.