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Since driving his first historic Ferrari in 1984, motoring journalist David Long has driven in excess of 2,000 different cars - everything from a 19th century Renault around the streets of Paris to the latest experimental hydrogen-powered BMW - whilst writing for the Times, Sunday Times, Sunday People and London Evening Standard. Since turning freelance he has also written for scores of different magazines, from Autocar through Top Gear to Penthouse, Maxim and Loaded.
By no means his only book on the subject, merely the first one so far to appear under his own name, Classic Cars: How to Choose Your Dream Car, is a copiously illustrated, large format hardback which takes a witty but informed look at 50 favourite classics. Explaining what makes them so special, and detailing what to look for if you are thinking of buying one yourself, it covers the full range from starter classics - cheap and cheerful runabouts such as the original Mini and pioneering little Alfasud - through to the sort of big-name blue-chips which these days cost literally millions to buy and restore.
Full of fascinating insights into the history of the cars (and the men who designed and built them) the book also offers plenty of useful tips and genuinely practical advice to help you decide what sort of car you're after, and to show you how not to get ripped off by buying a poor or poorly-restored example or a by falling for a car which, whilst you've hankered after it since school days, really isn't suited to your temperament, budget or lifestyle.
Armchair enthusiasts will love the book too, discovering in its pages why it was that John, Paul and George felt compelled to tell Ringo to sell his Facel Vega, why Elvis got out of bed and shot his De Tomaso with a handgun, and why Bonnie & Clyde dropped a line to Henry Ford explaining what made a good getaway car. Find out too what Mae West and Pope Pius XII had in common with the gangster Al Capone, how Ransom E. Olds set about dealing with his morbid fear of the smell of horses, and why it was that Henry Ford's rampant anti-semitism meant he missed out on the chance to build the Supermarine Spitfire.