The Ultimate Classic Car Quiz Book is both a quiz book and a history book of sorts.
It’s split into three distinct sections, the first of which contains the questions – 150 multiple choice questions divided into 15 groups, each of ten questions.
Next up is the answers segment, which gives the answers (and nothing more) to each group of questions.
And then there’s the narrative section. For every question, there’s a short (sometimes not so short) narrative piece – a story, if you will – that offers some information about the subject of the question.
Here’s an example of what one of the stories looks like:
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What was the first production car to have an anti-lock braking system?
C. Jensen FF
When is a Jensen Interceptor not a Jensen Interceptor?
When it’s a Jensen FF.
Launched in 1966 alongside the Interceptor, which it so closely resembles*, the FF was the first production car to feature not only anti-lock brakes (Dunlop’s mechanical Maxaret system) but also the first to have four-wheel drive, courtesy of the Ferguson Formula system from which the FF takes it name.
Powered by the same 6.3 litre Chrysler engine as the Interceptor, the FF was five inches longer and 300 pounds heavier than its sibling. The price of the two also differed considerably, with the more complex FF costing over 30% more than the Interceptor and about 35% more than an Aston Martin DB6.
In addition to its price, one other factor weighed heavily against the FF – key components including the central transfer case and brake servo could not be repositioned to enable left-hand drive versions to be produced, thus limiting its market. The Interceptor, from which the FF differed considerably ‘under the skin’, could, however, be converted to left-hand drive.
The FF remained in production until 1971, but the cheaper and simpler Interceptor continued to be built until Jensen was forced to close its doors in 1976. And while the Interceptor has made several comebacks in the years since, the FF has not as yet been revived
.* Visually, the easiest way to distinguish between the two is to look at the slanted air vents situated on each front wing – the FF has twin vents whereas the Interceptor has one.
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Some of the stories are longer than that, others are shorter. But with the book having a word count of just under 48,000, there’s plenty of reading in it.
It’s available only in paperback, costs £8 and is available here.