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The craft of the coachbuilder developed over hundreds of years, perfecting the art of making the elegant horse-drawn carriage. With the coming of the motor car, coachbuilders were the only men with the skills to produce the comfortable bodies that wealthy car owners expected, and as carriage building declined car bodies became the canvas for the coachbuildcr's art.

Jonathan Wood traces the history of the coachbuilt car body, from the days when craftsmen drew heavily on carriage styles and car bodies were constructed along traditional lines, into the 1930s when coachbuilding reached its zenith of artistry and innovation. The post-war years saw a dramatic decline as the mass-produced steel body drove the coachbuilder almost to extinction. Illustrated with archive material throughout, this is a rare celebration of the coachbuilders and the remarkable bodies that they produced.

Jonathan Wood is a motoring writer of great experience. He has twice won both the Guild of Motoring Writers' Montagu Trophy and the Society of Automotive Historians' Cugnot Award.