A comprehensive guided tour under the skin of the car. Diesel, petrol (gasoline), electric, hybrid and alternative propulsions are all dissected and explained in a reader-friendly manner, and as you move from the engine to the tailpipe, you'll discover what an exciting world there is within the car. Organized in intuitive chapters and backed with colorful illustrations and cutaways, this book describes the systems and parts that make your car move. Without emphasizing the 'boring' science bits, it discusses the practical application of various automotive terms, and explains why having more of one thing and less of another is beneficial in the real world. Whether you're just curious, or wish to become a better car owner, this book will start you on an exciting journey.

Can you imagine a world where people drive beautiful and unusual cars, created by designers prodigiously endowed with talent and imagination? Names like Preston Tucker, Carl Borgward and John DeLorean are hardly known today. Nevertheless, today's cars would be a lot different without their contributions to automotive engineering. Although the car is a technological and rational affair, it's the dreamers and eccentrics like these who have made the biggest contribution to the development of the industry; those who have had the ability to think beyond their time and conventions. Money doesn't drive progress in the car business - it is a passion for speed, and an obsession with mechanisms. Yet for many a dreamer, this passion has ended in fiasco. Misunderstood and pushed aside by their contemporaries, they have been forced to watch their dreams trampled underfoot. This book takes a look at the history of the car from a different angle, avoiding the mainstream moguls and telling a story about a man and his dream, and the like-minded people that came before and after him. Lavishly illustrated and intensively researched, it documents the making of some of the strangest and greatest cars of the past century. The main section is devoted to the unsung heroes of motoring, and the rest of the book shines a light on the many ingenious inventions we now take for granted. Let's show some respect to the dreamers. Our world wouldn't be so exciting without them.