Auto Review Programme
The programme for 2025 has now been fully issued, AR207-AR216, and is available on our books to buy page. Ten new titles have been published this year with two ‘second editions’ of existing titles also added to our stock.
All Auto Review publications are A5 size 32-page softbound.
If you are new to Auto Review you may wish to know more about us and about the Auto Review series: click here.
If you want to find out which Auto Review books mention a specific marque, click here.
We have not changed our postage rates for several years but recent increases mean that we have had to make some changes. They are now 1.90 UK Pounds for packages to the UK, 3.50 UK Pounds for those to Europe and 4.00 UK Pounds for those for the rest of the world. Please note that this is a flat rate for your package so if you order multiple books at a time you will save money.
2026 Auto Review programme
We are now able to reveal our titles for 2026.
AR217 Red Bull The racing cars, road cars and much more £5.95 February 2026
AR218 The Showfolk: Travelling Fairs and Circuses £5.95 February 2026
AR219 Made in India (plus Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka) £5.95 April 2026
AR220 Mack and Brockway classic US truck makers £5.95 April 2026
AR221 Driven for drink (vehicles for alcoholic beverages) £5.95 June 2026
AR222 Chevrolet & GMC: Commercial vehicles £5.95 June 2026
AR223 Iveco and the history of its constituent companies £5.95 September 2026
AR224 Airport ground support vehicles £5.95 September 2026
AR225 Postal Transport; mail and express parcels £5.95 November 2026
AR226 US Classic #3: The Inventors: Christie, Knox, Pennington etc £5.95 November 2026
You will find information about each book in our forthcoming 2026 programme below:
AR217 Red Bull – February 2026
Red Bull; yes, it’s a soft drink, even a wide range of drink products, but it’s also a brand with worldwide recognition, widely applied to apparently unrelated activities. Red Bull is the third biggest-selling soft drink worldwide, selling over 12 billion cans per year. It is also the biggest-selling ‘energy drink’ brand in the world.
The reason that you see the Red Bull brand attached to all kinds of sporting activities, and notably to motor sport, is to promote the name to participants and spectators in those activities, in the hope that they will buy the product. In the mostly automotive world of Auto Review the most visible manifestation of Red Bull is in the Formula 1 teams of Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls. Here we look at both teams, and their predecessors, as well as a number of other activities, such as rallying (including Dakar), car racing in all its forms, and the RB17 hypercar. In addition we look at Red Bull’s involvement with competition motorcycling, in aviation (including air races), in sailing and much more.
AR218 The Showfolk – February 2026
In this Auto Review publication we look at the Showfolk; the people who travelled with fairgrounds and circuses, and their vehicles. Enthusiasts always found a treasure trove of old vehicles at the fairground. After they had already had a full working life, commercial vehicles would have another existence in the entertainment industry. When they finally retired from the fair as well, the showman’s traction engines, fair organs, showman’s caravans and ancient lorries were often ideal candidates for preservation.
In addition to looking at some of the vehicles the showfolk used, as you would expect from Auto Review, we view the wider context, so here you will find a concise history of the travelling fair, the rides and even some of the families. We also look at the history of the travelling circus, some famous circuses and some acts, from the liberty horses to the clowns.
AR219 Made in India – April 2026
In our gradual process at Auto Review of describing the automotive industries of countries and regions of the world we now come to the Indian Subcontinent. That mostly means India, now the fourth biggest car-making country in the world, but we also look briefly at Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Our coverage of Indian auto
makers is broadly alphabetical, with prominence given to larger or more notable manufacturers.
Where vehicles were ‘world cars’ which did not significantly differ from the products of the parent manufacturers, we have, in most cases, not taken up our limited space with pictures of them. They can be seen in Auto Review publications devoted to that specific marque, such as Suzuki, Hyundai, BMW and so on.
AR220 Mack and Brockway – April 2026
Mack is a revered name among American truck manufacturers. The first vehicles were made by the Mack brothers in New York at the turn of the 20th century. Marketed for a while as ‘Manhattan’ trucks, they soon reverted to the Mack name. Their trucks were seen as so sturdy that a new saying was introduced to the language; Built like a Mack truck. Their ruggedness and their pugnacious appearance resulted in British Tommies in the Great War giving Mack ACs the Bulldog
nickname. This was regularised in 1922 with the adoption of a Bulldog bonnet (hood) ornament. Some idea of the way Macks were perceived is indicated by some of the straplines used in advertising down the following decades: Tuned to the Modern tempo’ was in the 1930s, whilst in the 1940s it was ‘Performance counts’ and ‘If you’ve got a Mack you’re lucky… If you plan to get one you’re wise’. From the 1950s onwards it was ‘Modernize with Mack’ and ‘Macks handle the important jobs’. In later years we were told that ‘Mack trucks perform’ followed by ‘Mack: the greatest name in trucks’ and ‘Mack quality: depend on it!’.
When we look at US automotive companies we get used to seeing regular annual model changes, but Mack never felt the need for new model releases every year. The Mack AC ‘Bulldog’ lasted for 23 years, the last examples built in 1939. The Model F lasted for almost 20 years, the B series was made for 13 years, and the Model R was made for almost three decades. This means that in our coverage here we describe a model when it was first launched, but it might well still be in production decades later, outliving newer models.
In 1956 Mack took over Brockway, another American truck maker with a long history. The two firms were not really direct competitors. Mack used modern production line techniques, whereas Brockway built up custom trucks. In 1990 RVI (Renault) took over Mack, and in 2001 Volvo acquired the RVI group, including Mack.
Brockway had already closed in the 1970s.
AR221 Chevrolet and GMC – June 2026
In this Auto Review publication we look at commercial vehicles produced in the USA under the Chevrolet and GMC badges. In the early part of the story Chevrolet was limited to producing vehicles up to 1.5 tons, while GMC made bigger vehicles. In later years the two brands offered similar models badged with different names. Chevrolet mostly used their own engines, but GMC used Pontiac or Oldsmobile engines for smaller vehicles, and GM Detroit Diesel or other engines for larger trucks. GMC Caballero car-derived pickups are mentioned here, cousins of the Chevrolet El Camino. The five generations of El Camino are described in Auto Review 209 and 214. Chevrolet pickup-based MPVs, SUVs and minibuses (ie ‘the ones with windows’) are pictured in Auto Review 209 and 214, including Blazers, Suburbans, Astro MPVs and Sportvans.
On the other hand, GMC SUVs etc are included here, because they have not been covered in any other Auto Review publication. This publication covers Chevrolet and GMC vehicles sold in North America, so models exclusive to other parts of the world, such as the Montana pickup (sold in Latin America and South Africa) are not described here.
AR222 Driven for drink – June 2026
In this Auto Review publication we look at some of the vehicles involved in the alcoholic drinks industry. Transport is needed at all stages, from growing and harvesting the raw materials to production, bottling and distribution. Road vehicles have also been used to promote drinks, often in novelty shapes of bottles or barrels.
This publication is arranged by types of alcoholic drink, with some notes which might help to identify the owner or operator of a vehicle seen in a photograph, or on the road. These categories include fermented drinks (beer, ale and all their many variations, plus cider and perry), and
distilled spirits (whisky, whiskey, brandy, gin, rum, tequila and vodka). The last categories covered are wine and aperitifs/digestifs.
Consolidations in the drinks industry meant that hundreds of brews and brands which were still available in Britain in the 1950s and early 1960s had disappeared by the end of the 20th century.
Local tastes and preferences, developed over generations, were wiped out, replaced by standardised national or international brands.
In a reaction against this trend, promoted by CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale) a plethora of small craft breweries sprang up in the late 20th century and the 21st century. A wider interest in smaller-scale production of craft products led to similar growth among small manufacturers of wine, gin and other alcoholic drinks.
Most producers and distributors of alcoholic drinks see their road vehicles as a convenient way to advertise their wares. This tradition began in horse-drawn days, with smartly turned out and attractively decorated brewery drays delivering to licensed premises. Some breweries retained horse teams in the 21st century for local deliveries, as well as for promotional purposes, but motor vehicles had mostly replaced horses by the mid-20th century. In the 21st century local deliveries were switching away fom internal combustion engined vehicles to battery electric propulsion. Coverage in these pages is mostly UK-oriented, but with an international context as well.
AR223 Iveco Album – September 2026
The histories of some of the constituent member companies of Iveco are complex. In this publication we describe some of the tributaries which led into the mainstream manufacturers, which in turn eventually were combined as Iveco.
The story of Deutz goes back into the pre-history of the motor vehicle, with the four-stroke engine invented by Otto. The Magirus fire fighting equipment company dated from the 1860s, and it amalgamated with Deutz in the 1930s, their vehicles badged as Magirus-Deutz from then on. Fiat, itself a leading maker of commercial vehicles since the Great War era, acquired the truck-building activities of many Italian companies, from SPA and Lancia to Bianchi and OM. Their stories are recorded here, as forerunners to Fiat commercial vehicles, and thus to Iveco.
Unic was a leading French truck manufacturer, also taken over by Fiat in 1966. This was the agglomeration of commercial vehicle makers which came together to form Iveco in 1975, but the group continued to grow.
Iveco went on to absorb other companies, including Astra of Italy in 1986, and Pegaso of Spain in 1990. Pegaso brought in its recently-acquired UK subsidiary, Seddon Atkinson. A joint venture with Renault (and the various bus-building concerns Renault had taken over down the years) to create Irisbus eventually became Iveco Bus.
It wasn’t just bus-building that was combined into a single entity. Fire and emergency vehicles were combined as EuroFire at the Magirus-Deutz site in Ulm, and military vehicles by all the contributing members came under the Iveco Defence Vehicles umbrella. All of these entities, and more, are described in this publication.
AR224 Airport ground support vehicles – September 2026
In this Auto Review publication we look at the story of ground support vehicles and equipment at airports, aerodromes, or wherever aircraft land and take off. At an airport, most of this attention takes place on the apron, near to the terminal buildings. Speed, efficiency, and careful co-ordination are necessary to minimise turnaround time, which is the amount of time an aircraft spends at the terminal gate. At a large airport as many as 75 vehicles may be needed to service one large jet airliner. Roles include aircraft handling, servicing and refuelling, passenger handling, baggage and cargo handling, airport maintenance, and emergency services. The evolution of the many and varied roles of ground support vehicles are touched on in this publication. Some vehicles may be owned by large airlines, but often the work is carried out under contract by specialist firms, including fuel companies, catering firms and servicing outfits. We also look at some of the different vehicles operated by air forces and at smaller airports and airfields. Much of our coverage relates to British and US vehicles and equipment, but apparatus from other countries is also included.
AR225 Postal Transport – October 2026
First a definition and distinction. Post or Mail? In Britain domestic items are sent by Post (hence the Post Office), but often more important or overseas items are often referred to as Mail (hence the Royal Mail and Air Mail). In France and other countries the term Post or Poste is used, but in America it is usually Mail (hence US Mail). In the 18th and 19th centuries a ‘Post Boy’ carried the Mail, changing his horse at intervals or ‘Posts’. When it was carried by a coach it was referred to as Mail, and that was the wording used by British laws and regulations thereafter. In many countries the symbol of the national mail service was a posthorn, and therefore ‘Post’ was the terminology used. In the 21st century British usage happily accepts either Post or Mail interchangeably.
Here we have the story of the mails carried on wheels, from horse-drawn mail coaches to the railways and then motor transport by road.
The internet and emails reduced the volume of letters carried by postal services in all countries, but the growth of e-commerce increased parcels traffic. Express delivery companies had always competed with the postal service in this sector, so we also look at carriage of parcels down the years by well-known names in the industry. The 21st century also saw a switch to forms of transport which caused less pollution; electricity and even pedal power. Most of our story relates to the UK, but with sidelights on practice in other countries.
AR226 American Classic 3: The Inventors – October 2026
Automotive history is populated with inventors, many of whom were pioneers in their field. Some became household names, but others were forgotten, when more entrepreneurial characters came along who were able to turn someone else’s concept into a profit. Inventors often display similar character traits; stubbornness and reluctance to accept criticism, no matter how constructive, inability to develop an invention to a profitable commercial conclusion, and losing interest in the current invention because a more intriguing idea has come along. In the over 200 Auto Review books published so far there are many such stories, but here we look at some prolific but lesser-known American inventors who had a major impact on the automotive world.
We begin our coverage with J Walter Christie, described as a ’maverick inventor’, responsible for the first American front-wheel drive cars, for fire engine tractor units and, most famously, for innovations in armoured fighting vehicles.
Alexander Winton was a pioneer designer of cars and diesel engines, which were so successful that engines became the firm’s main activity and it was taken over by General Motors, to become the famous GM Cleveland diesel engine division.
Harry Knox was also a pioneering inventor in the automotive field, famous for his ‘Waterless’ air-cooled cars before he turned to making trucks, and then also to armoured fighting vehicles, where his work supplanted that of Christie.
Herbert Franklin was also famously an advocate of air-cooled engines. After making much-admired luxury cars, his company went on to produce Franklin air-cooled aero engines.
Edward Pennington also had a long list of patents to his name, but unlike our other subjects he was a charlatan and a serial fraudster. His story may seem like a bit of light relief after the tales of worthy hard-working inventors, but his schemes and scams cost his investors dear.
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