This is the story of six extraordinary men who each built something from nothing, redefined the automotive industry after World War II, and redirected its course for the future: Henry Ford II (visionary autocrat with an iron will), Shoichiro Honda (most successful automotive entrepreneur since Henry Ford I), Eberhard von Kuenheim (founder of the modern BMW), Lee Iacocca, Ferdinand Piech (builder of Volkswagen Group) and Robert Lutz (who left retirement at 70 and is still highly influential at General Motors). What made them special was the sheer volume of fundamental change they brought to the largest industry in the history of the world. They not only re-shaped the auto business, the six made a sizable dent in the societies they lived in. To a man they were great cognitive thinkers. Their minds worked with animal speed, even instinct speed. But more than anything these were brave and cantankerous souls who rode the waves of history. Each could see the future. They could just make it out-sometimes imperfectly, but could see it nonetheless. They took a business that had begun to mature and decline by the 1930s and found ways to make it fresh and whole again.- The compelling story of the global car business over the past half-century.- A lively and engaging narrative that recounts some times collaborative, sometimes archly antagonistic interactions among the men- Full of business revelations at the highest level, written by a journalist operating at the heart of the industry- Global appeal that shows how automotive groups in the USA, Europe and Asia have influenced each other- A business story interlaced with personal details that explains why the six were determined to be successfulAbout the AuthorFor two decades, Richard Johnson has worked for Crain Communications, publisher of the world's leading automotive business publications. Founding editor of Crain's Automotive News Europe, he has been a reporter and editor for the group in Detroit, Tokyo, Frankfurt and London. He is currently a senior editor with Automotive News in Detroit and regularly talks to the most senior executives in the leading car manufacturing groups.

Henry Ford II -- visionary autocrat and the grandson of the founder of Ford Motor Co. Soichiro Honda -- founder of Honda, who revolutionized Japanese automaking. Lee Iacocca -- father of the Mustang and savior of Chrysler. Eberhard von Kuenheim -- founder of the modern BMW. Bob Lutz -- a driving force at Chrysler, GM, and BMW. Ferdinand Piech -- architect of the Volkswagen Group. The lives and careers of these six men were profoundly intermingled; they competed and collaborated, even hired and fired one another. This book tells their stories in their own words, showing how their fresh approaches to design, engin, mfg., and sales and marketing reshaped their respective car co. and, had a significant impact on the soc. in which they lived. Illus.

This book provides a historical review of safety features appearing on passenger cars that have been produced for sale in the U.S. from 1900 to the present. A main theme throughout is the impact the automobile has made on society, with particular emphasis on accidents and loss of life. Another theme is the technological advances that have contributed to safer driving. Even though the author details the technical details of the major safety-related components of automobiles, the book is written for anyone with an interest in the workings of motor vehicles. Topics include: events driving the implementation of specific safety features government involvement and legislative actions effects of mandated and non-mandated implementation effects of safety technologies on annual passenger deaths technical details of specific innovations development of crash protection testing standards Each of the five chapters covers a different period in the evolution of passenger cars. They include detailed descriptions of technologies and advancements that have directly contributed to the production, operation, and crash-survivability improvements made to automobiles. Also included are commentaries relating to influences of political and industry-driven initiatives, consumer reactions, and apparent effects of these influences on annual fatality rates.

Autonomous State provides the first detailed examination of the Canadian auto industry, the country’s most important economic sector, in the post-war period. In this engrossing book, Dimitry Anastakis chronicles the industry’s evolution from the 1973 OPEC embargo to the 1989 Canada–US Free Trade Agreement and looks at its effects on public policy, diplomacy, business enterprise, workers, consumers, and firms. Using an immense array of archival sources, and interviews with some of the key actors in the events, Anastakis examines a fascinating array of topics in recent auto industry and Canadian business and economic history: the impact of new safety, emissions, and fuel economy regulations on the Canadian sector and consumers, the first Chrysler bailout of 1980, the curious life and death of the 1965 Canada-US auto pact, the ‘invasion’ of Japanese imports and transplant operations, and the end of aggressive auto policy-making with the coming of free trade. More than just an examination of the auto industry, the book provides a rethinking of Canada’s tumultuous post-OPEC political and economic evolution, helping to explain the current tribulations of the global auto sector and Canada’s place within it.

Volume One traces the history of Opel and Vauxhall separately from inception through to the 1970s and thereafter collectively to 2015. Special attention is devoted to examining innovative engineering features and the role Opel has taken of providing global platforms for GM. Each model is examined individually and supplemented by exhaustive supporting specification tables. The fascinating history of Saab and Lotus begins with their humble beginnings and examines each model in detail and looks at why these unusual marques came under the GM Banner. Included is a penetrating review of Saab through to its unfortunate demise. Volume Two examines unique models and variations of Chevrolet and Buick manufactured in the Southern Hemisphere and Asia but never offered in North America. Daewoo, Wuling and Baojun are other Asian brands covered in detail. This volume concludes with recording the remarkable early success of Holden and its continued independence through to today. Volume Three covers the smaller assembly operations around the world and the evolution of GM's export operations. A brief history of Isuzu, Subaru and Suzuki looks at the three minority interests GM held in Asia. The GM North American model specifications are the most comprehensive to be found in a single book. Global and regional sales statistics are included. GM executives and management from around the globe are listed with the roles they held. An index ensures that these volumes serve as the ideal reference source on GM.

Examines recent American history, from the end of the Watergate scandal to the hotly contested presidential election of 2000, describing the events, movements, and players that shaped the era.

Today there are over a billion vehicles in the world, and within twenty years, the number will double, largely a consequence of China's and India's explosive growth. Given that greenhouse gases are already creating havoc with our climate and that violent conflict in unstable oil-rich nations is on the rise, will matters only get worse? Or are there hopeful signs that effective, realistic solutions can be found? Blending a concise history of cars and their impact on the world, leading transportation experts Daniel Sperling and Deborah Gordon explain how we arrived at this state, and what we can do about it. Sperling and Gordon assign blame squarely where it belongs-on the auto-industry, short-sighted government policies, and consumers. They explore such solutions as getting beyond the gas-guzzler monoculture, re-inventing cars, searching for low-carbon fuels, and more. Promising advances in both transportation technology and fuel efficiency together with shifts in traveler behavior, they suggest, offer us a way out of our predicament. The authors conclude that the two places that have the most troublesome emissions problems--California and China--are the most likely to become world leaders on these issues. Arnold Schwarzenegger's enlightened embrace of eco-friendly fuel policies, which he discusses in the foreword, and China's forthright recognition that it needs far-reaching environmental and energy policies, suggest that if they can tackle the issue effectively and honestly, then there really is reason for hope. Updated with a new afterword that sheds light on the profound changes in the global economy in the last year, Two Billion Cars makes the case for why and how we need to transform transportation now more than ever. "Authoritatively prescriptive." --Tom Vanderbilt, Wilson Quarterly "Provocative and pleasurable, far-seeing and refreshing, fact-based and yet a page-turner, global in scope but rooted in real places. The authors make a convincing case that smart consumers driving smart electric-drive cars can find the critical path to a safer planet." --Robert Socolow, Princeton University "In this insightful and persuasive book, Sperling and Gordon highlight one of the biggest environmental challenges of this century: two billion cars. They rightly contend that we cannot avert the worst of global warming without making our cars cleaner and petroleum-free. Luckily the authors also offer a roadmap for navigating this problem that is both visionary and achievable." --Frances Beinecke, President, Natural Resources Defense Council

A narrative like no other: a cultural history that explores how cars have both propelled and reflected the American experience— from the Model T to the Prius. From the assembly lines of Henry Ford to the open roads of Route 66, from the lore of Jack Kerouac to the sex appeal of the Hot Rod, America’s history is a vehicular history—an idea brought brilliantly to life in this major work by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Paul Ingrassia. Ingrassia offers a wondrous epic in fifteen automobiles, including the Corvette, the Beetle, and the Chevy Corvair, as well as the personalities and tales behind them: Robert McNamara’s unlikely role in Lee Iacocca’s Mustang, John Z. DeLorean’s Pontiac GTO , Henry Ford’s Model T, as well as Honda’s Accord, the BMW 3 Series, and the Jeep, among others. Through these cars and these characters, Ingrassia shows how the car has expressed the particularly American tension between the lure of freedom and the obligations of utility. He also takes us through the rise of American manufacturing, the suburbanization of the country, the birth of the hippie and the yuppie, the emancipation of women, and many more fateful episodes and eras, including the car’s unintended consequences: trial lawyers, energy crises, and urban sprawl. Narrative history of the highest caliber, Engines of Change is an entirely edifying new way to look at the American story.

Automobility and the City in Twentieth-Century Britain and Japan is the first book to consider how mass motorization reshaped cities in Japan and Britain during the 20th century. Taking two leading 'motor cities', Nagoya and Birmingham, as their principal subjects, Simon Gunn and Susan C. Townsend show how cars changed the spatial form and individual experience of the modern city and reveal the similarities and differences between Japan and Britain in adapting to the 'motor age'. The book has three main themes: the place of automobility in post-war urban reconstruction; the emerging conflict between the promise of mobility and personal freedom offered by the car and its consequences for the urban environment (the M/E dilemma); and the extent to which the Anglo-Japanese comparison can throw light on fundamental differences in cultural understanding of the environment, urbanism and the self. The result is the first comparative history of mass automobility and its environmental consequences between East and West.

Get the full history of the American muscle car in The All-American Muscle Car, from it's origin as an act of descent, to where it sits now.