These days, a nice original Vauxhall Viva costs an arm and a leg, but back in the 1970s, £100 bought you a 'good little runner', with the rust, bald tyres and dodgy MOT thrown in for free. All you needed was someone who knew how to fix it when it broke down!

Brian Cunningham is that someone – or, at least, he used to be. Under the Bonnet is the totally true* story of being a car mechanic in the old days, when fixing a car was one thing, but keeping it fixed was something else entirely. These are the tales of a bygone age, full of secret scams, chaotic characters and cars almost bursting with personality.

* some tales may be taller than others