In this book Steven Parissien examines the impact, development & significance of the automobile over its turbulent & colourful 130-year history. He tells the story of the auto, & of its creators, from its earliest appearance in the 1880s
- as little more than a powered quadricycle
- via the early pioneer carmakers, the advances of the interwar era, the ` Golden Age` of the 1950s & the iconic years of the 1960s to the decades of doubt & uncertainty following the oil crisis of 1973, which culminated in the global mergers of the 1990s & the bailouts of the early twenty-first century. This is not just a story of horsepower & performance. The Life of the Automobile is a tale of people: of intuitive carmakers such as Benz, Agnelli, Royce & Citroen; of exceptionally gifted designers such as Issigonis, Lefebvre, Michelotti & Bangle; & of visionary industrialists such as Ford, Tata & Porsche. Above all, The Life of the Automobile demonstrates how the epic story of the car mirrors the history of the modern era, from the brave hopes & soaring ambitions of the early twentieth century to the cynicism & ecological concerns of a century later.