BOOKS - Classic Cars to 2017

THE BOOKS - Classic Cars - 2013 - 2018

I've been writing books about classic cars since 2013, when my first 'car' book, Lotus Elan - The Complete Story was published. Just like the bike books, each car book provides a detailed technical description of each individual model which make up the range. Each book also gives a history of the company to help to place the range in context, and identifies the major year on year changes to the various models. Owners impressions from people who either owned one of the models 'back in the day' or who owns one today are an important element of each book. Advice on owning and running the car today details the modifications and improvements that current owners can do to make their vehicle easier to live with today, and sources of information and data on the relevant car clubs are given. All the books are extensively illustrated with original photographs by the author, and a smattering of original factory pictures as well. A slight departure from the above approach came with my writing a brace of books for Veloce's 'Essential Buyers Guide' range - neat pocket sized books which are written to Veloce's own format and are designed to give a prospective buyer all the information they need to make an informed purchase of a particular model or range of vehicle.

I like to think that my books are both technically accurate and complete but are not dry and boring - I believe any book should be a good read, and strive to ensure that mine are. All the books are available on Amazon, the publishers (www.crowood.com or Veloce.com) and any good book shop.

Lotus Elan

Published in 2013 by The Crowood Press

ISBN- 978 1 84797 510 2

My first foray into the car world, this book looks at the Elan, Lotus's first truely successful production road car. The book covers the original two seater Elan sports car, the larger and more refined Plus 2, the racing 26R and the front wheel drive Elan M100 of the 1980s.

The book describes how the original Elan took Lotus into mainstream car production, and gives a detailed technical description of the unique design and construction of the cars. The Lotus Twin can engine gets a chaper all to itself, and the Elan, Plus 2 and Elan M100 models are described in detail. Owners impressions and a chapter on running the models today finish off the book.

174 Pages with mainly colour illustrations

Triumph Stag

An Enthusiast's Guide

Published in 2014

ISBN- 978-1-84797-735-9

My second classic car volume, this book is in Crowood's smaller Enthusiast's Guide form, which has fewer pages and is a paperback. Nevertheless it is a great product with excellent reproduction and good quality paper. This volume looks at the Triumph Stag, the two door luxury coupe that Triumph hoped would be a world beater, but which was bought to bay by a combination of poor quality and the chaos that surrounded the creation of British Leyland. The book describes how the Stag was styled by Italian maestro Giovanni Michelotti, and developed by Triumph in Canley, England. The design and development of the unique Triumph V8 engine is described in detail, together with suggestions for curing the well known cooling issues. A technical description of the car itself is complemented by owners impressions, and a chapter on running the models today finish off the book.

144 Pages with mainly colour illustrations

Triumph Dolomite

An Enthusiast's Guide

Published in 2015

by The Crowood Press

ISBN- 978-1-84797-893-6

This book like my volume on the Stag is in Crowood's Enthusiast's Guide format and gives the history of Triumph's small saloon car family, starting with the innovative Triumph 1300 of 1965 and finishing with the 1980 Dolomite Sprint.

The medium sized two and four door saloons which made up the range were styled by Giovanni Michelotti and, equipped with sporting engines, gave some much needed Italian vim to the staid UK car market at the time. This book looks at the engines used in the range, the engineering of both front and rear wheel drive derivatives, describes all the models that made up the range. It also documents the competition history, owners impressions and technical specifications as well as some of the cars derived from the range, such as the four wheel drive Triumph 'Pony' and its Autocars Dragoon incarnation and the luxury Panther Rio.

143 Pages with mainly colour illustrations

Lotus Elite, Éclat and Excel

An Enthusiast's Guide

Published in 2016 by The Crowood Press

ISBN- 978 1 78500 078 2

This book in Crowood's Enthusiast's Guide format looks at the often forgotten Lotus road cars of the 1970s and 80s. The styling of these wedge shaped cars were very much of their time, but the engineering, including the use of Lotus' own 900 series DOHC 16 valve four cylinder engine was advanced and innovative. Enthusiasts are begining to recognise not only their outstanding performance and handling but also their importance to the Lotus story. The book covers the design and development of the cars and includes an extensive interview with Mike Kimberley who was the engineer responsible for the ranges development. The improvements made to the range with the lauch of the Excel are covered and owners inmpressions are included.

144 Pages with mainly colour illustrations

TVR 1946 - 1982

The Trevor Wilkinson and Martin Lilley Years

Published in 2017 by The Crowood Press

ISBN- 978 1 78500 351 6

TVR were one of the many small independant sports car manufacturers that sprang up in the UK after World War Two. With an interview with the second owner of the company, Martin Lilley, and designer of the TVR 280, Oliver Winterbottom, this book covers the cars made under the stewardship of Trevor Wilkinson and then Martin Lilley up to the introduction of the 'Wedge' range in 1982. The book covers the design and development of the first cars and the first true production car, the Grantura, and then follows the evolution of the range through the Vixen, the 2500 and the 3000 to the Turbo. TVR's 1960s American adventures which resulted in the V8 powered Griffith - a car that today is almost legendary - and their later forays into the American market are also covered, Finally there are interviews with owners giving their experiences of owning and running these classic sportscars.

192 Pages with mostly colour illustrations

Reliant Sabre, Scimitar and SS1

An Enthusiast's Guide

Published in 2018 by The Crowood Press

ISBN- 978 1 78500 421 6

Reliant is probably best known for their quirky three wheelers, but were also a manufacturer of glass fibre bodied sports and GT cars with a great reputation. This Crowood Enthusiast's Guide covers all of Reliant's sports cars from the companies involvement with Autocars of Israel's Sabra , the Sabre GT coupe, the Ogle designed Scimitar GT through to the very successful GTE, and the final 'small sports' SS1 range. With owners experiences and a good level of technical detail the book gives a comprehensive view of Reliant's achievements in the sports car world.

192 Pages with all colour illustrations