Limited Edition Two-book Set Featuring the Cars You Always Promised Yourself and RS Icons
Remastered, restomodded, longer, larger and more affordable and, after six years, now available
Signed by author Steve Saxty, and limited to just 500 copies, this new remastered edition charts the evolution of Ford of Europe’s design, engineering, and marketing through the iconic cars that customers craved as well as those that never saw the light of day
Larger, with a new soft feel cover and additional content, the 336-page book is Saxty’s largest-ever book. It comes with a copy of the acclaimed RS Icons publication and is available now as a two-book set for £85.95 with free UK P&P, see below for details.
Having sold out its initial print run of the 2019 RAC Book Of The Year Finalist and with hundreds of back orders, Steve Saxty has released a new, limited edition 500 copy run of The Cars You Always Promised Yourself. Available now, this larger format edition charts the evolution of Ford’s most desirable coupes including the Capri, Puma, XR, and RS Sierra. Spanning 336 pages, it features a soft feel cover and custom-commissioned double-page renders of cars such as Henry Ford’s unique RS2000 alongside fascinating insight from the original designers.
Intended for enthusiasts who didn’t manage to secure one from the original run, Saxty explains, “We had hundreds of requests to reproduce the original and although we could have simply reprinted it, we wanted to do more. I envisioned a ‘restomod’ version—longer with extra content, larger to match the size of my recently launched BMW books and minor improvements to highlight what was inside,” says Steve Saxty. “As the definitive story of the design of the Capri, Sierra and RS Cosworth, we wanted the new cover to convey what was inside.”
Remastering an
Award-Winning Book
To fully recount stories of Ford’s desirable coupes from the 1970s to the early 2000s, Saxty had full access to the company’s archive and spent hundreds of hours talking to the designers, engineers and managers that brought to life the cars that defined car culture and remain firmly in demand by enthusiasts today. Saxty’s book provides fascinating anecdotes and stunning images of the cars as they evolved from hand-drawn sketches through to clay models, intriguing mules and for some, emerging as showroom stars. Alongside the cars the public adored, Saxty also offers a tantalizing glimpse into the Fords we didn’t get. The book is filled with images of concepts and prototypes alongside their stories of why they never reached the road.
Since first writing this, his first book, Saxty has quickly established himself as a definitive and respected writer on car design, particularly with his works on Ford and BMW. Both companies granted Saxty unparalleled access to their archives and designers, enabling him to tell untold stories and reveal previously unseen secret cars.
With half the allocation already sold to satisfy the preorders, the remaining copies of The Cars You Always Promised Yourself are now available (with a free copy of RS Icons) with free UK P&P.
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About The Cars You Always Promised YourselfThe original book was a 2019 RAC Motoring Book Of The Year Finalist and sold out in 2020. It tells the story of Ford of Europe design, engineering and marketing primarily through the lens of Ford’s coupes. The main feature car is therefore the Capri and the later Sierra – in three-door form – that had a troubled birth before evolving into the iconic Sierra RS Cosworth. This book is the definitive story on Capri and Sierra but the other RS and XR cars feature heavily, along with the ’90s cars that followed. This book shares virtually no overlap with the Secret Fords series and Steve Saxty’s longest and largest book to date. Key Features: Limited Edition of 500 copies 336 pages in new 280mm/11inch square format (32mm/1inch larger) New cover design with soft touch feel to match BMW by Design Extra content of featured cars in profile using beautiful, custom-commissioned double-page spreads – detailing features pointed out by designers Signed by author Steve Saxty Lower price; 2018 Collector’s Edition – £79.95 + £12.50 UK P&P, total £92.45 2025 Limited Edition – including UK P+P, £89.95 Note: the price may shift slightly as the site operates in $USD, you can switch currency top right and the £GBP price may be higher or lower on the day depending upon the exchange rate) Shipping Free UK P&P Ships worldwide – cost calculated at checkout
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Can Steve sign it for me?Each copy is signed by Steve Saxty, personal dedications are possible but you would need to pay the cost of shipping to and from his New York home (hint, it's not worth it)
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I have Number XXX of your other books, can I have the same number?No, this would have added a lot of extra cost as it requires library shelf racking and some people would want the same number!
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What is the overlap with the Secret Fords books?Overlap is deliberately minimal between Secret Fords and The Cars You Always Promised Yourself and limited to around 15%. Buyers of both books have enjoyed them for their different ways to tell the Ford tale! This book tells the big story of design, engineering and marketing Fords in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s while Secret Fords focusses primarily on design
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Ordering and AvailabilityThe new Limited Edition book is now available. Supply is restricted to 500 author-signed copies – of which half were pre-ordered and sold before printing and around 150 copies remain in stock.
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Why is the price shown in $USD?The site operates in $USD but can be switched to £GBP, Euros, $AUD at the top right of the site – you will charged in your local currency.
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I have the original book, should I buy this new version?This is a reprint, with minor updates and significant extra length in Chapter 15, some of which was derived from the original the Collector's Edition. The majority of the book is the same as the original although it is mildly updated and physically larger to match the size of the BMW books.
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Why do the BMW books have free shipping in the EU but not this book?The BMW books for EU are shipped from Germany, the Ford books are shipped from the UK which unfortunately costs extra and may involve post-Brexit fees.
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About RS IconsA stunning insight into the RS cars and additional Capri and Sierra images and stories. This book brings you up close to the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s heroes wearing the RS badge – from Capri and Escort to Focus RS. Highlights Never-seen design sketches and RS prototypes Jet-powered Capri First-hand stories from the Escort Cosworth and RS Focus – how these two icons were created by two stylists in secret Full list of the RS designers and their biographies The never-seen Prodrive-developed RS Cosworth AWD Focus RS wheels, sit back and marvel at the stories behind the classic RS allow wheels and the evolution of the RS logo