MY DAD'S CORTINA

RRP: £8.99
Format: Hardback
ISBN: 978 1 84425 696 9

"An ideal gift idea for Father's Day!"

The Ford Cortina first delivered driving freedom to eager dads in 1962 - a cheap, spacious, sleek and gutsy motor for unlocking Britain via those new-fangled motorways. It was a no-nonsense job under the bonnet, too. There had never been a car quite like it. Soon it was winning rallies and races and selling by the million. Successive models offered even more of the good stuff and, when the last Cortina was made in 1982, British motoring would never be the same again.

This entertaining book recounts the whole Cortina story as your dad experienced it. Covering the Mk I, II, III, IV and Cortina 80, it's filled with nostalgic pictures of the cars that never let the opposition overtake.

Celebrating the special bond between your old man and the legendarily dependable car he drove.

With an average of over 200,000 sold each year during the car's incredible two-decade life, the Ford Cortina remains one of the most individually popular cars Britain has ever seen. This book celebrates the Cortina's place as a major part of everyday life for so many families from 1962, when the first Consul Cortina took its bow, to the mid-1990s, by which time the huge majority of the four-million-plus sold had gone to that scrapyard in the sky.

My Dad's Cortina is a car book with a difference. Packed with fascinating images and written by a highly respected author, it will evoke nostalgia in abundance with its pithy text, character and trivia, plus its eye-catching images including Ford publicity material, celebrity shots and film stills; every model is illustrated, including the top-of-the-range and performance versions that all Dads wanted but few got - the 1600E, Lotus-Cortina and Ghia models.

Your Dad'll love it all over again. So will you.

The author Giles Chapman is a multi-award-winning motoring writer and commentator on car culture. He writes for numerous magazines and national newspapers, and has authored more than a dozen books, including TV Cars, Haynes: The Classic Cutaways and the hugely successful My Dad Had One Of Those. He lives in Sevenoaks.

ALSO........

NODDING DOGS & VINYL ROOFS

The weird world of quirky car accessories

RRP: £5.99
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978 1 84425 712 6

This is a fascinating and amusing A to Z of some of the myriad accessories, go-faster gadgets and novelty trinkets that have been available to motorists over the years. From modern essentials such as airbags and impact-absorbing bumpers, through boy-racer must-haves like exhaust flame throwers and fly-off handbrakes, to the pure kitsch of nodding dogs and fluffy dice, the motoring world's most vital accessories are gathered here in one handy volume. Readers will marvel at the ingenuity of the Bumper Dumper, wonder how they ever managed without an elevating hunting seat, or hang their heads in shame because they too owned a Capri with a matt black bonnet.

Modern essentials:
Airbags, impact-absorbing bumpers, safety glass.

Golden age bygones:
Bobby finders (for spotting policemen), dri-sleeve, easyfit fenders, neptune portable bath, pipe & cigarette smoker's companion set, snake horn.

Go faster:
Bullet holes, matt black bonnet, spoilers.

Weird and wacky:
Doggles, fuel magnetiser, Esso tiger tail.

The author Stephen Vokins has worked at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, for 23 years, latterly as manager of the film and video department. His spare time is devoted to writing and broadcasting about cars, and he is a presenter on Granada's Men & Motors programme.