By 1908, the system for registering motor cars in Cheshire was already up to number 1,784. Craig Horner's latest volume gives details 1,870 cars, motorbikes and heavy vehicles that were registered in Chester until 1911, together with the names and personal details of their owners. In the earlier records (detailed in Volume 156), some vehicles were petrol-driven, others used steam and some were electric. By the time of the records in Volume 160, almost all the vehicles ran on petrol. None were electric and only a handful were still steam-powered like the red and yellow 6 horsepower Serpollet that was owned by 64-year old Charles Wilding-Jones, an insurance agent from Malpas. He sold it in 1912 to a chauffeur from Norfolk.

From an initial explosion of manufacturers, some brands were emerging as dominant players with the Manchester company Belsize the most popular and Daimler, Renault, Rover and Wolseley all making inroads.

Although the records relate to cars registered in Cheshire, not all of them ended up in the county. Many were sold on such as the white-lined, green Siddeley sold by Frank Agnew from Altrincham to Charles Thorn, who sold it on to Arthur Taylor of Norwich.

Women make up a small but interesting percentage of the names registering vehicles - Elizabeth Clarke of Seacombe probably drove her 6 horsepower Rover herself (it was, says Horner, "a small runabout") but Mrs Charlotte Hennon of Winsford probably had a chauffeur for her 40 horsepower Austin. Women also rode motorbikes; 44-year old Frances Newman of Chester, who had private financial means, had a 3 horsepower Kelecom which as "sometimes used with a sidecar".

As second hand vehicles started to become available, working class people were able to get into motoring. David Wiley, a labourer from Northwich acquired a Cottereau in 1913 and Arthur Warburton, a labourer at a salt works bought a slightly more powerful Premier from a Middlewich bricklayer called Arthur Niddrie.

The volume is rich in detail about the individuals and social history of early twentieth century Cheshire and will be of value not just to those who are fascinated by motoring, but to anyone tracing individuals in the area or interested in the social history of the time.