Car Miscellany Book Review

‘Fascinating Facts for Motoring Buffs’ is the subtitle of this book, which would make the ideal Christmas stocking-filler or gift for the car enthusiast.

In fact the subtitle does The Car Miscellany a disservice. You don’t need to be a motoring buff to enjoy this book. I don’t regard myself as one, but I loved every page of it. It’s just as enjoyable if you’re a trivia nerd, a setter of pub quizzes, you like old cars, new cars, or you’re simply someone who likes discovering new things and saying ‘Well, I never knew that!’

I must have said that a few hundred times as I made my way through this pocket-sized hardback of 160 pages. It’s also the kind of book for people who have a shelf of books to browse in the bathroom, except that once someone started browsing this they’d be in there a heck of a long time.

It’s also the kind of a book that’s hard to review. The best way would be to keep quoting from it, but that would undo the hard work the author has put into tracking down and writing up this cornucopia of amazing information about cars, roads, driving, and anything at all to do with motoring.

Don’t miss our page on the Tupelo Automobile Museum.

I started making a list of pages with fun stuff on them, to highlight in this review, but the list grew so long I had to give up. However, I have to mention some of the things I regarded as noteworthy, the first of which is one of those facts that you never knew you didn’t know:

  • The word ‘car’ derives from the Latin word ‘carrus’ used by Romans to describe a horse-drawn wheeled cart.
  • In Alaska it is illegal to drive with a dog tied to the roof of your vehicle.
  • Kim Jong-un has a mobile toilet that follows him everywhere.
  • Volkswagen sells more sausages than cars.
  • When only two roads existed in the state of Kansas, two Model T Fords managed to crash at their intersection.

I could go on quoting this stuff forever, but the book isn’t a series of facts one after the other. It’s nicely designed and broken up with spreads, such as 10 Facts about the VW Beetle and 14 Facts about the Model T Ford.

How Fast Can the Popemobile Go?

So, if you want to know how fast the Popemobile can go, what’s the world’s highest-mileage car, what is the smallest working car in the world, or who invented the speed camera, then this is definitely the book for you.

The author did, however, miss one fascinating motoring fact that I happen to know: cruise control was invented by a blind man.

You might also enjoy reading about the world’s largest motorcycle museum in Birmingham. Alabama.

The Author

Simon Heptinstall is a writer who specialises in writing about cars and travel. He worked for Autocar and AutoExpress magazines, and was hired by BBC Magazines to help launch the Top Gear Magazine. The book even includes some facts about him, like the fact that he has compiled a list of the worst-ever dashboards.

More Information

The Car Miscellany is published by AA Publishing at £9.99 in the UK and is available here. You might also want to read about The British Road Map Puzzle Book.