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‘The Sounds of Supercars’ is the oddest product to land on the motoring desk in years; a book providing exactly what it promises on the cover; sounds of cars being belted along a race track.
Not merely written or described but real, actual sounds. This is how it works: the reader (should that be listener?) – slides a switch from Off to On, presses a ‘starter button’ depicting one of 12 highly attractive supercars…. and the book growls into life, playing a real, surprisingly high quality recording of the car under full acceleration, via a speaker mounted to the side of the book.
It might be a bit daft but – so far – not one person spotting the book has being able to resist the temptation to flip that switch, press a button and grin in reluctant admiration as the book comes alive. And that includes people who don’t even like cars very much.
As well as the seven-to-nine-second blasts of sound, there is a concise, well-written description of each of the dozen cars, accompanied by fact panels relaying information such as top speed, price, engine type and speed. Each of the cars is further highlighted with a ‘Did you know box’ and a close-up image.
The cars range from a twin-cylinder Morgan 3-Wheeler to the 16-cylinder Bugatti Chiron, and include the Aston Martin DB5, McLaren 720S, Koenigsegg Agera and Chevrolet Corvette C7, all faithfully recorded at full throttle.
They even – craftily – include the ‘silent’ electric-powered Tesla Model S, which you can hear, quite clearly, whining along the road. The best-sounding – IMO? – the very rorty Maserati Gran Turismo, followed by the Ferrari LaFerrari. Spine-tingling and accurate.
I’m not sure whether it’s aimed at kids or adults; probably both. A bit daft but lots of fun and all for just £12.99, published by Cobalt Fortress.
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