Auto Biography: An A-Z Exposé of Cars

by Mat Watson

Genres: Biography

288 pages, Hardcover

Published March 3, 2026

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book a must read for any petrol head

[Krtin Narayanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who's been following Carwow for nearly a decade, this book was pretty insightful about how Mat Watson became one of the most famous automotive journalists in the world. He covers his likes and dislikes about every car maker he's been with while giving a sneak insight about life in the fast and slow lane. If you are someone who's not very familiar with the make and model of every single car sold in the UK, you might have a tough time following this book. But if you are somebody who loves cars and are willing to research a little when confused about the model, then this might just be the book for you.

It's not an autobiography in the conventional sense but that does not take anything away from it. If anything, the book offers a subjective and refreshingly frank perspective on what every car maker is onto nowadays. Don't read this book with the expectation of gaining any knowledge on the automotive world and you will enjoy it even more.

Decent read throughout - 7/10

[Robbie Tyrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I waited until this book was in the Black Friday sale on Amazon because I thought it was going to be one of those typical ‘Christmas books’ that ‘celebs’ release to make a buck at this time of year like Clarkson does with his yearly farm books. However this was a surprise. It’s an A - Z of car manufacturers but Mat actually comes across as a really good writer and journalist. His style of writing is a bit like Richard Porter of Evo magazine which is no bad thing. This book took no time to read at all. If you’re into cars, buy this.