Roads That Changed the Car

Why did giant American cruisers thrive in one era, while compact hatchbacks, minivans, SUVs, and electric cars rose in others? The answer is not found in the showroom alone. It is written in asphalt, suburbs, fuel prices, parking lots, motorways, shopping centres, zoning laws, and national ambition.

Roads That Changed the Car is a lively, wide-ranging history of how the world outside the windscreen shaped the machines people bought and the vehicles manufacturers built. From the muddy tracks of early motoring to the expressway age, from postwar suburban expansion to the oil shocks of the 1970s, from the rise of the minivan and SUV to hybrids, electrification, and autonomous driving, this book shows that the automobile never evolved in isolation.

Written in an engaging narrative style, this is the story of the hidden forces that made the family sedan, the station wagon, the pickup, the city car, and the electric crossover feel inevitable in their time. It is a history of motion, design, policy, energy, and everyday life-and a reminder that the future of the car will depend on what kind of roads, cities, and societies we choose to build next.

Perfect for readers of automotive history, transport history, social history, and anyone who wants to understand why we drove what we drove.