Three Million Miles in a Volvo and Other Curious Car Stories: 50 Fascinating Lives with Cars

In this quirky and enthusiastic collection, journalist Chapman (Mini) takes readers into a world of vehicular obsession. As a longtime “writer on cars,” Chapman has profiled (and sometimes written the obituaries of) many of the wild personalities involved in car culture. The 50 pieces gathered here span the globe and spotlight drivers, dealers, and engineers. There’s Jack Barclay, a London luxury car dealer who accrued a severe gambling debt while hanging with his high-roller customers, and Nils Bohlin, the Volvo engineer who invented the three-point seat belt (“He felt chuffed at the many heartfelt personal thank-you letters he received from car accident survivors”). Also featured is Maurice Gastonides, who, while developing an “electric stopwatch for motor sport,” wound up inventing the speed camera. (Gastonides later lamented, “I cannot escape my own invention, because I love speeding.”) When Chapman writes about a celebrity like Peter Sellers, he has the uncanny ability to reframe the actor’s entire career around his obsession with expensive cars (which Sellers changed as frequently as one changes underwear, according to comedian Spike Milligan). Auto enthusiasts will find much to love in this revealing peek under the hood of car culture. (Apr.)