"Cars That Time Forgot"

[Station]

AKA "Cars We Think Are Shit (and not Ford/Audi/BMW/etc)", as every single one is absolutely slated in typical ill-informed misguided editorial fashion.

I bought this from an M6 motorway service station in 96/97 during new year's traffic.

 

 

Surprise!

 

[Milford Cubicle]

I like that book, my mum and dad got it for my birthday some time ago. It helped spark my interest in shite cars.Giles Chapman isn't a bad author really, I think he has a genuine passion for forgotten and unloved cars, it's probably the publishers who push the "LOL!! SHIT CARS" angle.

[Lukas]

Are there all the extinct and forgotten OJCs mentioned, or are they forgotten even in "forgotten cars"-books like always?

[Milford Cubicle]

From what I recall it features a couple of Eastern obscurities, the Mk1 Hyundai Pony and an early Toyota.

[Guest]

I have that-must dig it out for shite spotting laughs

[brammy777]

One of the books that got me into shite was 'Worst Cars' by Giles Chapman as well. It did have alot of stereotypical views, but he always included an argument against them as well. And reading through his other books (of which I have 3 or 4), its clear he does enjoy some tat.

[pompei]

Giles Chapman grew up a few doors from Mrs P's parents. MIL once tended to a wasp sting on him.

[Station]

Well, I had no idea, I honestly haven't read it for years and assumed it was going to be that way. But it has an Edsel in it, which sold reasonably for a few years, contrary to what is written about them. I actually think it's a nice looking car.I've got loads of these books, I'll have to dig em out.

[ChinaTom]

16 cars a day across Europe eh?15.78 more than Hyundai with their Grandeur in 2009

[vicsmith]

He`s written loads of books about oscure or ill-fated cars, so many that I reckon he must be into them, there`s stuff most of us on here would probably never stumble across in a miliion years, some of these weird `30s kit cars and things like that.One of his books that I read featured the chrysler 180, but the article nothing oncluded with the fact that he had put the 180 in there in order that the book wasn`t full of totally ridiculous, rubbish cars, and that it was sort of alright, really.

[trigger]

One of the books that got me into shite was 'Worst Cars' by Giles Chapman as well.

I got that for christmas, Not had much chance to look at it yet what with doing all the family thing but I'll have a look tomorrow, It looks pretty good so far.

[Negative Creep]

One of the books that got me into shite was 'Worst Cars' by Giles Chapman as well.

I got that for christmas, Not had much chance to look at it yet what with doing all the family thing but I'll have a look tomorrow, It looks pretty good so far.

If it's the one I have (blue cover) then I'm pretty sure the Tagora writeup is identical. It does also feature the 120Y which cheered me up somewhat

[egg]

Holy thread resurrection! Mind if I post a few pictures from today's charity shop 'find'?

 

 

 

[egg]

[egg]

[AMC Rebel]

OK - not only do I have the book, but I also have a very similar microwave !!!

 

 

[Negative Creep]

Presumably it's the more in depth version of this, since the text is identical

 

[AMC Rebel]

, since the text is identical

 

 

Eh?

 

I have just done a side-by-side comparison - there are some similarities but they aren't identical and the vehicles are different - is this a subtle joke I'm too thick to get?

 

Correction - text is identical for the same cars - good spot.

 

 

My copy of the Worst Cars Sold In Britain is water damaged as I fell asleep in the bath reading it.  Is that bleedin' Comic Sans?

[egg]

Since 1997, this has actually happened of course!

 

[dollywobbler]

 

 

My copy of the Worst Cars Sold In Britain is water damaged as I fell asleep in the bath reading it.  Is that bleedin' Comic Sans?

 

Looks like it. Perfect for how shit these books are.

[sierraman]

Interesting trivia about the Dacia still being used by the Romanian Embassy...

[LC Torana]

Is "books in front of the microwave" a thing now?

 

kids these days.

[Spottedlaurel]

I’ll hear nothing said against Giles Chapman. Back in 1993/94 I went and bought a fantastic haul of Japanese-make car brochures off him, loads of great stuff dating back to the early ‘70s which he’d collected as a youngster (pleasingly, many of them from dealerships round my way).

 

I also have an article he wrote extolling the virtues of a Bluebird estate that he owned at the time.

[dollywobbler]

Oh I don't deny he's a good writer. I just get fed up with books panning 'awful' cars. Why not actually celebrate the dreadfulness instead?

[Negative Creep]

I think the book is a bit of harmless fun. In the Worst one at least he does have a section for the positive aspects

[AMC Rebel]

Oh I don't deny he's a good writer. I just get fed up with books panning 'awful' cars. Why not actually celebrate the dreadfulness instead?

 I think they sort of do.  I just bought two books of pics entitled "Shit London" and "Shit London 2" - but they aren't really doing London down, they just have "quirky" pics in them - in a way they are celebrating the mad things you see in any big city in the UK  

 

[barrett]

Ah, the golden age of motoring book publishing. Really sad I was born too late to cash in on that era of 'anything goes' when sales were so high that you could actually make a living from a couple of afternoons work churning out a crappy marque history or lazy nostalgiafest. Giles Chapman (who is a lovely chap and a good historian with an interest in unusual cars) did very well in this area and, to a lesser extent, still is today even though there aren't really any motoring book publishers anymore.

The best story I've heard of this strange and fecund land was the incredibly well known motoring writer who was finishing his by the numbers history book on an Italian sports car by reading paragraphs from another book on the same subject out loud to his PA, who typed it up. Job's a good'un. I can't say who it was because I don't want to get sued - a much more profitible exercise than writing, these days.

 

The 'time forgot' book was actually my introduction to a lot of oddball-but-mainstream cars like the Tagora, Dacia etc. Where else could you read about that stuff in the pre-autoshite days? And, from what I recall, they were mostly treated quite fairly. They were crap, after all, even if their crapness lends them a certain desirability.

[garethj]

A friend of mine got his Tatra book published by Veloce who do a few minority interest motoring books. But with the age of self publishing and Kindle downloads I think it's time for your book, Barrett

[barrett]

Veloce are total crap merchants though (Ivan's excellent book is the exception, natch). Self publishing is getting better and better, but basically you still need a decent budget for design, paper, print if you want any control over the finished product. Mine will happen, one day.

[AMC Rebel]

I often wonder how modern day journos on stuff like Practical Classics make any money - maybe it's OK, but I always imagine it as a tricky job with terrible pay.

 

T'internet and ebooks has put paid to a lot of stuff - those Ian Allen books of Aircraft types for example.