TV Cars

by Giles Chapman

This lively book takes a behind-the-scenes look at four-wheeled stars from the world of television. It covers classic programs of the past, such as The Avengers and Starsky and Hutch, recent series such as Mr. Bean and Only Fools and Horses, and current shows such as Life on Mars and The Apprentice, with a few surprises along the way.

Packed with facts, anecdotes and photographs of the cars and their star drivers from the nations favorite cop shows, dramas, sit-coms, sci-fi classics and documentaries, TV Cars is a great read for all car and TV buffs, and the perfect Christmas stocking filler.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2007

About the author

Giles Chapman is an award-winning writer and commentator on the industry, history and culture of cars. He began his career in 1984 in automotive consultancy, moving into magazine publishing in 1985. By 1991, he was editor of Classic & Sports Car, the world's best-selling classic car magazine. Since 1994, he's worked freelance across a huge variety of media. Today, he contributes to national newspapers and motoring publications, and was voted Jeep Consumer Journalist Of The Year in 2005, BCA Feature Writer Of The Year in 2008, AA Environment Writer Of The Year 2011, and Classic Writer Of The Year in 2022 as well as being shortlisted as the 2022 Royal Automobile Club Journalist Of The Year.

He's the author of almost 60 books including 'My Dad Had One Of Those' (co-written with Top Gear's Richard Porter) that was a non-fiction hardback best-seller in 2007 and has since sold almost 200,000 copies. This makes it one of the best-selling – and most popular – car books of all time.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting much - generally I'm not a fan of all those cheap fathers' day/dad's birthday 'My dad had one of these'-type books (they're too obviously an easy earner for their authors/publishers and the text sometimes seems as if it's been written in a pub somewhere during a lunch break...)
However, maybe because TV cars are just more inherently interesting/nostalgic, this one wasn't bad - I enjoyed it - the text is more informative (well, a bit!) and less laddish/childish than it is in some of those other books. If you can remember back to the 70s and 80s (and you watched a lot of TV!), you'll likely find it OK. If you're younger than that, then you won't, because you won't get the 'nostalgia effect' and it'll just seem like a load of old cars, some good, some bad, some ugly!

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surpisingly good for such a small book. It manages to impart knowledge of the star cars, and the shows they are in and make it informative and entertaining

[Townes v. Z. · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an auto-lover, I thought this book might give me ideas on what car to purchase and how to detail it to have it looking as if it came straight off of the tv screen. I was left a little disappointed. The book didn't cover as many shows as it could have and I took away no ideas for a car. (It didn't even mention Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine.) The book was published a while ago so I'd like to see a recently updated copy. Overall, it was interesting to get a close look at old classics and the types of mutations (Whomobile, Batmobile, etc.) that were used in older television shows.