Whisky might have been involved, the fire burned low and the dog had gone to his bed. It was at this witching time that my brother posed the question: what are the best cars in literature? Not the stuff written by us hacks, you understand, but in novels, written by real writers…
So, settle back, then. Another log? Perhaps a splash more…
Greatest disappointment? There’s no car chase of any description in Bullitt. Not a single sign of a Mustang versus Charger duel over San Francisco’s precipitous hills. In Robert L Pike’s hard-boiled 1963 novel (published as Mute Witness), Frank Bullitt is called Lieutenant Clancy and mostly takes cabs, only occasionally driving his own worn-out car. It took the intervention of Hollywood in 1968 and British director Peter Yates, together with a fastback Ford Mustang, a Dodge Charger and an economy-size box of hubcaps to make the greatest-ever movie car chase.