Crossword Genius

Novel character ran around in pet project car (7,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

barnaby rudge

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'novel' is the definition.
(Charles Dickens novel)

'character ran around in pet project car' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'character' could be 'y' and 'y' is found within the answer.
an anagram of 'ran' is 'arn' which is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for barnaby rudge that I've seen before include "story" , "Ruby bandager (anag) - Dickens novel" , "Eponymous Dickens novel" , "Early Dickens novel" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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