Book Review - Mike Brewer's The Wheeler Dealer Know How

Matt Hubbard reviews Mike Brewer's The Wheeler Dealer Know How

Mike Brewer is fast becoming a household name, and in order to cash in on his popularity has released a book.

It's bound like a Beano annual, and the cover looks quite cartoony, but don't let that fool you.  The contents impart Mike's knowledge from a lifetime in the motor trade in the same style that's made him famous on the TV.

The book gives us an insight into Mike's early years, how he accumulated his knowledge, and even some cock-ups he's made along the way.  It's all about giving the reader hints and tips on buying, selling and owning a used car.

Not that Mike likes to use such a term to describe old cars.  His love for cars comes through in his writing and his passion for what he calls modern classics shines through.

It starts with an intro about Mike - and later on you can see some family pics with Mike through the years posing with cars going right back to when he was a toddler sitting on the bonnet of his dad's car.

Then we get into the meat of the book with chapters ranging from buying a car, ownership, selling, tales from the trade, to individual segments on various types of cars such as hot hatches and American classics.

All this is shot through with Mike's humour and easy style.  It's not heavy going and if you start reading it you probably will carry on to the end.

One common theme which had me chuckling is rust.  A lot of the cars featured are British classics and will start with Mike telling us why he loves it, its foibles and faults and things to look out for.  And then we get to gems such as "As always rust is the thing to look out for,", "If there's one thing that does for these Escorts, it's rust and my goodness do they rust!" or "A British car of this age means only one thing. Rust!"

It's an enjoyable book which you can read through and then come back and refer to individual chapters as and when the moment takes you.  But, beware, it can induce potentially wallet denting sessions on eBay.  I found myself looking up Mk1 Escorts and Minis after reading it.

Thoroughly recommended.

Buy "Mike Brewer's The Wheeler Dealer Know How" from the Veloce Publishing website here

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Review by Matt Hubbard