In 1991, Mary was a single mother of 2 boys on income support, living in Bury St Edmunds. She made friends with some of the local lads who were members of the TR Register. She wrote a little funny ditty about them loving their cars, and made it into a song for them. They joked that she should get it on Top Gear and, Mary being Mary, she took up the challenge and got herself on the TR Register stand at the NEC Classic Motor Show.

This was filmed by the BBC and Mary ended up being asked to perform her “silly little song” on the main central stage in front of thousands. This was the first time Mary had been on stage since 1979. Jeremy Clarkson did a voice over and the song was used on the BBC Top Gear programme.

While at the Motor Show, she realized that there was nothing she could buy the lads back home “for the man who loves his car”. Also, the men didn’t appear to get her joke, and photographers wanted to drape her over cars and be all sexy, when in fact, what she was doing was having a laugh! She wasn’t a Pamela Anderson, she was a Pamela Stevenson!

Having recorded the song professionally in 1993 with old friends of hers, Les Chapell and Lene Lovich in their studio in Norfolk, Mary got hold of another old friend of hers Rob Dickens MD at WEA and he sent her off to see a good friend of his Simon Cowell at RCA.(yes.. THE Simon Cowell) Simon loved it, and put the song up for the signings meeting, but the song fell short by 2 votes. Other record companies also showed interest ..but…

Mary felt she was still being misunderstood, and that her long blonde hair was not playing in her favor! She didn’t want to be a “pop star” she wanted to make people laugh and pay the bills. Mary believed strongly that a gap in the market was there, and started writing a little pamphlet to explain the joke behind the song. She also put together an entire product range “for the man who loves his car” to explain how the merchandizing would work.

Over 3 years the pamphlet grew from 5 pages, to the final 128 page book, with the illustrations and text written and drawn again and again and again, working from dawn until dusk at her kitchen table in Queens Road, bringing up her 2 young sons. Mary has also been a foster mother.

In 1995 her idea was picked up by the presentation department of BBC Television White City, for a proposed spot on the following series of Noel’s House Party. The viewing figures however were falling and Mary was advised not to waste The Car Masutra idea on a fading show. Her contacts with BBC Television though, have grown and remain strong, and an eye is being kept on her recent venture with Toolbox.

1995 – 2006 Mothering and marriages. The Car Masutra concept and product range lived in boxes.

In 2006, the Car Masutra book and product range came down from the loft. If nothing else, she would finally get a few books professionally printed with an ISBN number, which would then legally require her to supply the British library with a copy for future generations of the family to find. She could put this project to bed once and for all, but have it recorded for history!

Needing some legal advice, Mary joined the Giftware Association and attended The Spring Fair at the NEC Birmingham in February 06, where it was offered free to members. Her 3 bags were full of her complete life’s work. She put it all out on the table, and the lawyer’s jaws just dropped open in amazement. They immediately advised her to register the trade mark, copyright the concept and that what she had was extremely marketable.

Mary was rather taken by this, and feeling slightly worried that someone may have registered the trade mark first, came across the Publishing News web site. They were looking for Christmas books, so to help secure the copyright of the title, Mary sent the proof in, as a trade mark took about 6-12 months.

Totally unexpectedly in June, Publishing News got back to Mary, offering her a place in the highly regarded Christmas catalogue. Her book had been chosen by a professional and esteemed panel, and Mary was expected to be able to supply the entire UK book market by August. This was too short notice for any publisher or agent to pick up, so she remortgaged the house, and went to print under the name of Left and Left Again.

The Car Masutra was picked up by the NEC Classic Motor Show, and was stocked by well known high street book retailers and many major Supermarket web sites. It featured in the Guardian Christmas catalogue, and made the Amazon best sellers list. It was “best gift of the year” for Mini World, and she picked up press and radio interviews.

“She achieved all this herself, simply driven by what was required of her.”

Mary Bird is a truly unique source of creativity and realizing the potential of The Car Masutra brand in 2009 she allied with Toolbox Marketing, based in Suffolk, is a full-service retail marketing agency with specialist teams in brand development, PR, marketing strategy, advertising, new media and creative design. This formidable new team launches the brand of Car Masutra with a male cosmetics range October 2009, with a full range of quality branded items due out next year “for the man who loves his car!”

The original naively constructed tongue-in-cheek book still makes you laugh-out-loud as it humorously tries to uncover and explain man’s long-standing infatuation with all things automotive from the perspective of a puzzled, but amused, woman! This is where it all began……