This book charts significant moments in automative technology and design from 1885, when Benz built his first petrol-powered tricycle, to the Japanese supercars of the 1990s. The book traces the emergence of German excellence, the rugged workhorse cars on which the Ford empire was built, early racing cars from Bentley, Bugatti and Alfa Romeo, the multi-cylinder philosophy pioneered by Duesenberg, Cadillac, Lincoln and Histano-Suiza, the era of flamboyant coachwork by Saoutchik and Figoni & Falaschi, the peerless creations of Maserati and Lamborghini, the 1980s and the Audi generation and the supercars of the 1990s.