Death Drive

Stephen Bayley is an author, critic, columnist, consultant, broadcaster, curator and founding director of the influential Design Museum. Over the past 40 years his writing has changed the way the world thinks about design.

Tom Wolfe on Stephen Bayley: "I don't know anybody with more interesting observations about style, taste and contemporary design".

What the critics said about the first edition:

"Reading this book, one quickly gets accustomed to superb writing. Words cascade forth in perfect pitch and harmony on page after glorious page." - Gerard DeGroot, The Times

"Death Drive is a must for petrol-heads. The range of cultural cross-reference and automotive detail is positively epicurean." - Jay Merrick, The Independent

"Akin to Kenneth Anger's Hollywood Babylon, Death Drive is an autoerotic Babylon that never ends well." - Ray Edgar, The Age, 3 June 2016

"Albert Camus once remarked that there's 'nothing more absurd than to die in a car accident'. That was before his car hit a tree at 80mph. Death Drive - a compendium of stories about famous people killed stupidly in cars - oozes absurdity. Stephen Bayley recounts delightfully grotesque tales about celebrities done in by trees, by lamp posts, or by nonentities in ancient Chevys. A design masterpiece, this book combines exquisite prose with stylish presentation - the cars are described more lovingly than the people who perished in them. Like a Bugatti, Death Drive recalls a time when books and cars were beautiful." - The Times, Books of the Year, 26 November 2016