Weird Cars: A century of the world's strangest cars

Stephen Vokins

Publication: Out Now

RRP: £9.99
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978 1 84425 848 2

This marvelous book, now available in paperback, is a celebration of eccentric cars in all shapes and sizes - some of the most ugly, crazily designed and downright awkward vehicles of all time. Where else would you find, in one book, descriptions and photographs of automotive oddities as diverse as the Gaylord Gentleman, Suminoe Flying Feather or Zil?

Where else would you find, in one book, descriptions and photographs of 250 automotive oddities as diverse as the 1920 propeller-driven Leyat Aerocar and the Purves Dynasphere - a huge wheel in which the driver sat suspended, trying to maintain momentum and stability? And the Gatso with its three headlights, Perspex roof and blob-shaped body. Then there is the Wolseley Gyrocar from 1912: a gyroscope, driven by dynamo, kept this three-ton vehicle upright. The Amphicar, Britain's answer to driving on land and water, also features, and there is even a modern equivalent in the form of the Aquarda.

Extreme Cars: The fastest, wildest, craziest, oddest cars ever

Stephen Vokins

Publication: Out Now

RRP: £9.99
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978 1 84425 846 8

Now available in paperback, here is an illustrated collection of 250 cars that vary wildly from the norm - cars that are instantly memorable for a variety of reasons. These cars, of all ages and types, reflect the personalities of those keen enough to court controversy by designing, making or owning them - people who want to make a statement by being different and individual. Many of the cars featured are undoubtedly objects of desire, or in the case of a few unfortunate examples, of ridicule, but they all stand out from the crowd and each one can lay proud claim to its status as an extreme car.

Here is a celebration of 250 of the world's most 'extreme' cars - the most expensive, the thirstiest, the ugliest, the thriftiest, the newly crowned fastest-ever production car, the largest pick-up, the smallest runabout, and a fair smattering of the most desirable cars ever to grace the highways of any country.

Packed with information and glorious photography, this is a book about cars designed to make a bold statement. It rejoices in automobile extremes as diverse as the minimalist Ariel Atom 2 (design philosophy: 'if it doesn't need it, it hasn't got it'), the plush but unhappily timed Cadillac V16, the Saint Horse Angel 'grandfather car' from China, the Blastolene Special powered by a Patton tank engine, the thrills-with-safety Mercedes-Benz F300 Life Jet and, at the other end of the economic spectrum, the Velorex, one of the crudest vehicles of all time.

Author Stephen Vokins has worked at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, for 24 years, latterly as manager of the film and video department. His spare time is devoted to writing and broadcasting about cars.

Weird Cars: A century of the world's strangest cars

Extreme Cars: The fastest, wildest, craziest, oddest cars ever

Review copies available

Haynes Publishing