My Dad Had One of Those

by Giles Chapman, Richard Porter

Good old Dad and his good old Dad's car. As solid and dependable as the man himself, if a little less balding, Dad's car was almost a member of the family, whisking you to exciting days out, or just to visit boring relatives in distant parts of the country to the chant of 'are we nearly there yet?' Like the man behind the wheel, Dad's car made you feel safe and secure, because it was as reassuring and sensible as he was. Maybe in an idle moment Dad dreamt of driving something rakish and fast, just like in idle moments he dreamt that your Mum was Twiggy, but the demands of family life meant soft tops, hard suspension and anything even remotely sporty were off the cards. Even anything less than four doors would have been wildly hedonistic. But although the family car may not have been the very essence of rock 'n' roll, Dad was proud of it.

Spanning the 1950s to the '80s, this is a celebration of the heyday of the Dad car. From much loved family workhorses like the Ford Cortina and Vauxhall Viva to the rakish excitement and playground kudos of the Rover 3500 and Citroen CX, all the great Dad cars are here. Reflecting a time before people carriers and lifestyle off roaders, when the nearest thing to an airbag was hiding behind your fat brother, this is a celebration of simple, honest cars that were as flawed and as loveable as your Dad himself.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published May 17, 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

[Roy McDine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant - may have been a freebie from our village 'Phone-box Library' but loved every page.

[Jane Riordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A trip down memory lane for everyone. Obviously, car lovers will get more out of this, but I loved looking up all the cars we had when I was a child and seeing what category these put my father in.

[Colin Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

As expected, a Top Gear-esque laddish run through the great (and not so great) cars of yesteryear, with some interesting facts included amongst the entertaining commentary. Excellent photographs

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of lovely old cars with a witty write up on each one and some amusing old pictures. Good fun, especially I expect for those of us who have fond memories of the cars featured.

[Ipswichblade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short easy to read book