"In the first decades of motor travel, between 1900 and 1940, Americans were buying automobiles in record numbers. Cars were becoming more easily affordable, not only for high-income families but for middle-class families as well. As they bought, they redesigned. By examining the ways Americans creatively adapted their automobiles, Tinkering takes a fresh look at automotive design from the bottom up, as a process that included manufacturers, engineers, designers, advice experts, and consumers, from savvy buyers to grass-roots inventors."--BOOK JACKET.