Cars of destiny: Writing the golden age of motoring

Abstract

In the years just before and after 1908, when the first mass-produced automobiles were sold, a substantial practical, sporting and touristic literature was produced on the subject of motoring. Much of this literature, which is surveyed and analysed here, focused on long-distance motor racing and personal accounts of motor adventuring in Europe, Asia and America. These reports were often written by a generation of wealthy drivers, who were among the earliest users of automobiles. However, not every work of early motoring literature was produced by the wealthy. Travel journalists, popular novelists and sporting enthusiasts keen to share their experiences of motoring saw the emergent automobile experience not merely as a practical means of travel but as radically modern technology capable of providing pleasure, knowledge and heightened consciousness when used for high-speed racing, long-distance adventuring and serendipitous travel.