Books Reviews

The Smart One – Book Review

By Angela Youngman Jul 15, 2010, 15:01 GMT

The famous - some would say infamous - Cannonball Run attracts some of the most powerful and expensive sports cars to grace the surface of the globe. The 2008 race across Europe, running through France, Spain and Portugal before the return leg to Brighton, was no exception. Among the competing vehicles were Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Bentley GTs, Porsches and...a Smart car. This is the amazing and heartwarming story ...more

I approached this book with some curiosity as it seemed too outlandish to be true.  How could a second hand Smart car survive the Cannonball Run - Europe's most grueling road race covering 3,000 miles   from Brighton to Lisbon via Barcelona and Vichy in just five days? 

Amazingly it not only survived, but actually won beating super cars like Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis.  David Ward and his co-driver Adrian Hull decided to do the Cannonball Run for charity in aid of the NSPCC, thinking they would be lucky to get all the way.  No one believed that a Smart car could do more than that. 

Their adventures during the race are well charted in this book, raising plenty of smiles as they try and navigate around some of the world's most complex cities getting lost even on the first leg of the journey. 

Despite being painted in a Union Jack and numerous logos, they manage to evade police speed checks mainly because no one can believe they are in the race!  A lightweight, entertaining book which will be enjoyed by anyone who likes cars, racing and the underdog!