Big Adventures in the Smallest Car

David Ward is a Detourist with a difference. Where others might opt for a rugged overlander or comfortable Grand Tourer for their road trip adventures, Ward favours the tiny Smart car.

He’s driven from the northern tip of Europe to the sourthern-most point on the continent and lapped Scotland’s NC500 in his diminutive Detour mobile. Now you can read all about his exploits in his new book Smart Cars Aren’t Just for Christmas.

The title comes from how he impulsively bought his very first Smart one festive season and promptly fell in love with the compact car, which has taken him all over Europe. He joined supercars on a Cannonball Run, and drove solo home from Italy in a 1,000-mile non-stop blast.

The automotive adventurer details his personal journey and the history of the Smart itself before inviting his reader along for his series of very big drives in the very small car. Throughout it all Ward confesses that he has relied more on good fortune that planning. “I have been quite lucky,” he writes. “I have acted on impulse and without thought on many occasions in the past, leading me mainly having to give thought as to how to get myself out of situations, rather than thinking about a situation before getting into it, which, consequently, has seen me give up two good and lucrative jobs and go travelling or studying, leading me into numerous adventures!”

Smart Cars Aren’t Just for Christmas is a pacy and entertaining read and one that proves you really don’t need a special car to have a special road trip. Get your copy for £11.99 here.

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