When pioneer motorist John Henry Knight wrote in 1896 – English engineers will soon produce far better engines and carriages than anything that our continental neighbours have yet seen –

The British motor industry barely exsisted. The Daimler Motor Company was established in Coventry but no cars would leave its imposingly titled Motor Mills factory until 1897.

Nevertheless the author believed that the future prospects of the autocar were very bright – From Chapter One – Prelude. Britain’s Motoring Dawn 1888 to 1896.

The Motor Industry of Britain Centenary Book. In Association with Autocar – 100 years 1895 to 1995 & the Royal Motor Industry Federation.

A Pictorial Anthology Complied by Rupert Prior.

MOTORING: THE GOLDEN YEARS is unashamedly, a pot pourri of nostalgia for those who love motoring.

A campaign for every reading mood, from the first acceptance of the motor car by societies devoted to the horse, through the beginnings of international racing in France in 1902,

to the revolutionary Volkswagen People’s car of the 30’s which brought the delights of the open road to millions. – a short extract taken from the beginnings of Motoring The Golden Years by Rupert Prior.