Overview

In this lively and entertaining work, Witold Rybczynski--hailed as ""one of the best writers on design working today"" by Publishers Weekly--tells the story of the most distinctive cars in history and the artists, engineers, dreamers, and gearheads who created them. Delving into more than 170 years of ingenuity in design, technology, and engineering, he takes us from Carl Benz's three-wheel motorcar in 1855 to the present-day shift to electric cars. Along the way, he looks at the emergence of mass production with Henry Ford's Model T; the Golden Age of American car design and the rise of car culture; postwar European subcompacts typified by the Mini Cooper; and the long tradition of the streamlined and elegant sports car. Rybczynski explores how cars have been reflections of national character (the charming Italian Fiat Cinquecento), icons of a subculture (the VW bus for American hippies), and even emblems of an era (the practical Chrysler minivan). He explains key developments in automotive technology, including the electric starter, rack-and-pinion steering, and disc brakes, bringing to light how the modern automobile is the result of more than a century of trial and error. And he weaves in charming accounts of the many cars he's owned and driven, starting with his first--the iconic Volkswagen Beetle. The Driving Machine is a fascinating history of design.

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Witold Rybczynski is an architect and Emeritus Professor of Urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of twenty-two books, including the bestselling Home, Charleston Fancy, and The Story of Architecture. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and the New York Times. He lives in Philadelphia. As a full-time voice talent and Audie-nominated audiobook narrator, Lyle Blaker has narrated nearly 100 audiobook titles, as well as countless hours of e-learning narration for major companies such as Houghton Mifflin, Harvard Business School, and Refinery Pass, and is an often-used voice for WGBH Channel 2 in Boston, Massachusetts. He is known for his warm, friendly, and approachable narration style.

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