In the Polish city of Gdansk our narrator Pawel tells of the driving lessons he took in the early 1990s, shortly after the end of communism. As he struggles with the tiny Fiat's gearbox, Pawel entertains his instructor with stories of his grandparents before the war, and of his father in the 1970s, centred on their ownership of Mercedes-Benz cars - the outings, the races, the crashes and the inevitable repairs. Based on fact, and illustrated with personal photographs, these tales contrast the golden era of Poland's post-war independence with the dismal communist years. A moving portrait of three generations amid life-changing historical events. Paperback, pp154, illustrated.