Download or read book My Years With General Motors written by Alfred P Sloan and published by eNet Press. This book was released on 2015-01-16 with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. led the General Motors Corporation to international business success by virtue of his brilliant managerial practices and his insights into the new consumer economy he and General Motors helped to produce. Sloan's business biography, My Years With General Motors, was an instant best seller when it was first published in 1964 and is still considered indispensable reading by modern business giants.

Download or read book Unsafe at Any Speed written by Ralph Nader and published by New York : Grossman. This book was released on 1965 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Account of how and why cars kill, and why the automobile manufacturers have failed to make cars safe.

Download or read book Motorama written by David Temple and published by CarTech Inc. This book was released on 2015-01-15 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In an age of unbridled American enthusiasm and towering industrial might, the GM Motorama was a dazzling and elegant show that was unlike any automotive event before it or since. General Motors staged extravagant and elaborate Motorama shows that rivaled some fashion shows. It showcased some of the most revolutionary and innovative prototype and dream cars ever built. And it captured the imagination of the car-buying public from 1950 to 1961. Motorama expert and experienced author David Temple has comprehensively researched the show, the cars, and the personalities to create a fascinating new story with many new photos of these magnificent cars. Because television was in its infancy, GM's President Alfred Sloan believed that the Motorama was the most effective way to market GM products and design prowess. Legendary stylist Harley Earl led a talented group of designers and engineers to dream up, style, and develop some of the most remarkable prototype cars of all time. While current production Buick, Chevy, Cadillac, and Pontiac cars were showcased, the bold, radical, awe-inspiring prototype and dream cars stole the show. These included the GM Le Sabre, replete with aerospace design and an aluminum engine; the fiberglass-bodied Corvette dream car, which went into production after overwhelmingly positive response; and the jet engine-powered Firebird. Temple goes into fascinating detail on the body, frame, engine, drivetrain, and all the special features of each model. He has also retraced the ownership histories of some of these cars. Within the pages of this volume, you get to relive this glorious era of automotive history and revisit the advanced show cars that inspired so many new models. This book features fascinating period photography of Motorama cars at the show, in development, and at different locales. No other automotive show rivaled the Motorama for stunning productions and awe-inspiring cars, which makes this a must-have book.

Download or read book Once Upon a Car written by Bill Vlasic and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-10-04 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once Upon a Car is the brilliantly reported inside-the-boardrooms-and-factories story of Detroit’s fight for survival, going beyond the headlines to chronicle how the country’s Big Three auto companies—General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler—teetered on the brink of collapse during the 2008 financial crisis. In a tale that reads like a corporate thriller, Bill Vlasic, who has covered the auto industry for more than fifteen years, first for the Detroit News and now for the New York Times, takes readers into the executive offices, assembly plants, and union halls to introduce a cast of memorable characters, many of whom are speaking out for the first time, including the executives who struggled to save their companies but in the end had to seek a controversial, last-gasp rescue from the U.S. government. Vlasic goes behind the scenes to portray the men at the top during Detroit’s last stand. Rick Wagoner, the CEO of General Motors, tried to turn around a dying company, only to be forced to resign as a condition of the government bailout. Bill Ford, great-grandson of the legendary Henry Ford, had the will to keep Ford alive but needed the guts to hire an unknown outsider, Alan Mulally, to transform the company before it crashed. At Chrysler, leadership was constantly changing as new owners tried in vain to fix the smallest of the beleaguered Big Three. And through it all, the president of the United Auto Workers union, Ron Gettelfinger, fought to save the jobs of the men and women who build American-made cars and trucks. This tale of an iconic industry in crisis is more than a big business drama and provides a rich, unvarnished portrait of how Detroit’s decline affected tens of thousands of workers and dozens of communities nationwide. The story moves from the gleaming corporate skyscrapers and massive auto plants to the halls of the U.S. Congress and into the Oval Office, where President Obama and his aides wrestled with how to keep General Motors and Chrysler from going out of business. Vlasic shows why the bailout worked, and how Detroit can succeed under new leadership and build automobiles equal to any in the world. Once Upon a Car tells a uniquely American tale of success, failure, and redemption. It is an important and illuminating chapter in an astonishing story that is still unfolding. And no one is more qualified to write it than Bill Vlasic.

Download or read book They Will Run written by Molly Butterworth and published by . This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Were it not for a few quirks of history, St. Louis might have become the center of the American automotive industry instead of Detroit. Since the late 1800s, St. Louis has been home to dozens of automobile makes and to numerous manufacturers, large and small. In They Will Run: The Golden Age of the Automobile in St. Louis, head down the road of automotive history in the Gateway City, where transportation has always meant power. Many St. Louisans have heard of the famous Moon automobile of the early twentieth century, but what about the Dyke, the Dorris, and the Gardner? Learn about the city's prominence as a key automobile manufacturing hub through the 1960s, and the role played by notorious St. Louis playboy and bon vivant Harry Turner in bringing the automobile to St. Louis. Do you know which vehicles produced here helped the Allies win World War II? Or which ones helped carry and sell beer, create the legend of America's first true sports car, or were raced around ovals and across the country? Dig down under the roads to uncover the previous lives of streets that once served as Automobile Rows lined with beautiful buildings in which to buy or repair cars. Authors and car enthusiasts Molly Butterworth and Tom Eyssell deftly take the wheel of this in-depth guide to the automotive heritage of St. Louis. Sit back and enjoy the ride, from the horseless carriage, through the halcyon 1920s, and up to the everchanging automobile industry of today.

Download or read book Maestro Bill Mitchell and the Iconic Cars of GM Styling written by Roy Lonberger and published by . This book was released on 2016-11-15 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An insider's look at the Golden Age of Automobile Design at General Motors during the leadership of Bill Mitchell, VP Design (1958-1977). Mitchell elevated design as a marketing tool resulting in General Motors establishing itself as the leading world corporation, and his Iconic cars sold over 136 million (including Corvette, Camaro, Riviera, and Toronado). Mitchell is regarded as the man who singlehandedly saved Corvette.Written by Roy Lonberger, who worked directly for Mitchell as head of his secret Studio-X, this 1st edition book of 440 pages has unique insights into the man, rare designer sketches, clay models, and secret photographs of the unique design process. Five years in preparation and with the help and license from GM Archive, this book is a must read for car enthusiasts, design students, and business managers.

Download or read book The Cars of Harley Earl written by David W Temple and published by CarTech Inc. This book was released on 2016-05-16 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At 6-foot, 3-inches tall, Harley Earl was an imposing figure, but his true stature lies in his towering talent for automotive design and styling. Over his 50-year career, he created as well as collaborated on the most innovative, bold, technologically advanced cars made by General Motors. As a titan of American auto design, the cars he helped create are still celebrated today. And as an enduring legacy, he inspired a generation of engineers, designers, and stylists. Veteran automotive historian David W. Temple has researched and unearthed the complete story of Harley Earl’s cars, his notable design achievements, and many accolades. Working as a coachbuilder at his father's Earl Automotive Works in Hollywood, California, the young Earl learned his trade. After styling the 1927 LaSalle for GM president Alfred P. Sloan, Earl rose to prominence and ran the newly created department of Art and Color. Automobile design stagnated during the Depression and World War II, but the number of his contributions to the automotive world in the 1950s is staggering. When the jet age hit, he fully embraced aviation design and infused it into GM cars. The Buick Y-Job and GM Le Sabre featured many firsts in automotive design and hardware. The Y-Job's fender extensions trailing over the doors, disappearing headlamps, flush door handles, a metal cover over the convertible top were a few innovations. When General Motors needed to show off its cars and technology, Harley Earl-designed cars were the stars of the Motorama show that toured the country from 1949 to 1961. He led the team that created the 1953 Corvette, and this iconic American sports car is still going strong today. He was involved in the creation of the 1955-1957 Chevy Bel Air, otherwise known as the Tri-Five Chevy. Harley Earl's drive toward bold and innovative design spurred American car design during the mid-twentieth century. His distinctive designs defined the 1950s finned cars and set American automotive design on the path it has followed into the modern era. With this in-depth examination, you learn the inside story of these remarkable cars and the man behind them. It’s an essential addition to any automotive library.

Download or read book Engines of Change written by Paul Ingrassia and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-05-01 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book American Wheels Chinese Roads written by Michael J. Dunne and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-07-20 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How could one company—General Motors—meet disaster on one continent and achieve explosive growth on another at the very same time? While General Motors was hurtling towards bankruptcy in 2009, GM’s subsidiary in China was setting new sales and profit records. This book reveals how extraordinary people, remarkable decisions and surprising breaks made triumph in China possible for General Motors. It also shows just how vulnerable that winning track record remains. No small part of GM’s success in China springs from its management of shifting business and political relationships. In China, the government makes the rules for—and competes in—the auto industry. GM’s business partner, the City of Shanghai, is both an ally and a competitor. How does such an unnatural relationship work on a day-to-day basis? Where will it go on the future? General Motors also engages in constant battles with other global and Chinese car makers for the hearts of demanding Chinese consumers. Dunne gives us rare glimpses into the mindsets and behavior of this new moneyed set, the worlds newest class of wealthy consumers. China is already the number one car market in the world. During the next ten years, China will export millions of cars and trucks globally, including to the United States. American Wheels, Chinese Roads presents readers with fascinating illustrations of what to expect when Chinese cars, companies, and business people arrive on our shores.

Download or read book The Yugo written by Jason Vuic and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2011-03-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Six months after its American introduction in 1985, the Yugo was a punch line; within a year, it was a staple of late-night comedy. By 2000, NPR's Car Talk declared it "the worst car of the millennium." And for most Americans that's where the story begins and ends. Hardly. The short, unhappy life of the car, the men who built it, the men who imported it, and the decade that embraced and discarded it is rollicking and astounding, and one of the greatest untold business-cum-morality tales of the 1980s. Mix one rabid entrepreneur, several thousand "good" communists, a willing U.S. State Department, the shortsighted Detroit auto industry, and improvident bankers, shake vigorously, and you've got The Yugo: The Rise and Fall of the Worst Car in History. Brilliantly re-creating the amazing confluence of events that produced the Yugo, Yugoslav expert Jason Vuic uproariously tells the story of the car that became an international joke: The American CEO who happens upon a Yugo right when his company needs to find a new import or go under. A State Department eager to aid Yugoslavia's nonaligned communist government. Zastava Automobiles, which overhauls its factory to produce an American-ready Yugo in six months. And a hole left by Detroit in the cheap subcompact market that creates a race to the bottom that leaves the Yugo . . . at the bottom.

Download or read book The Sack of Detroit written by Kenneth Whyte and published by Knopf. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Vigorous, provocative... The Sack of Detroit is compelling, bold and stylishly written." —Barbara Spindel, The Wall Street Journal A provocative, revelatory history of the epic rise—and unnecessary fall—of the U.S. automotive industry, uncovering the vivid story of innovation, politics, and business that led to a sudden, seismic shift in American priorities that is still felt today, from the acclaimed author of Hoover In the 1950s, America enjoyed massive growth and affluence, and no companies contributed more to its success than automakers. They were the biggest and best businesses in the world, their leadership revered, their methods imitated, and their brands synonymous with the nation's aspirations. But by the end of the 1960s, Detroit's profits had evaporated and its famed executives had become symbols of greed, arrogance, and incompetence. And no company suffered this reversal more than General Motors, which found itself the main target of a Senate hearing on auto safety that publicly humiliated its leadership and shattered its reputation. In The Sack of Detroit, Kenneth Whyte recounts the epic rise and unnecessary fall of America's most important industry. At the center of his absorbing narrative are the titans of the automotive world but also the crusaders of safety, including Ralph Nader and a group of senators including Bobby Kennedy. Their collision left Detroit in a ditch, launched a new era of consumer advocacy and government regulation, and contributed significantly to the decline of American enterprise. This is a vivid story of politics, business, and a sudden, seismic shift in American priorities that is still felt today.

Download or read book Corvette Concept Cars written by Scott Kolecki and published by CarTech Inc. This book was released on 2022-05-15 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For more than a half century, the Corvette has been celebrated as “America’s sports car” by owners and enthusiasts. Since the first model rolled off the assembly line on June 29, 1953, it has been transformed time and again from a well-intentioned-but-underpowered boulevard cruiser into one of the most iconic sports cars of all time! How did Harley Earl’s original vision for a two-seat sports car progress through eight distinct generations to become the car that we know and love today? Who were the visionaries responsible for advancing its form and function over the last 70 years? Also, why has the Corvette continued to find commercial success in an ever-changing marketplace when so many other automobiles have come and gone since its creation? Corvette Concept Cars: Developing America's Favorite Sports Car answers these questions by delving into the origins of the Chevrolet Corvette and of the countless designers, engineers, drivers, and dreamers responsible for its creation. It explores the personal histories of Corvette’s greatest visionaries (Harley Earl, Zora Arkus-Duntov, and Bill Mitchell) and tells how each of their fates were indelibly intertwined with the rich (and sometimes volatile) history of Chevrolet’s flagship sports car. This book is an exploration of the Corvette concept cars from the earliest turnstile dream cars and purpose-built racers to the many unique mid-engined concept and research vehicles that preceded the creation of the current production model: the eighth-generation mid-engine Stingray. Painstakingly researched and written by Corvette historian Scott Kolecki and packed with more than 400 incredible photographs, Corvette Concept Cars: Developing America’s Favorite Sports Car is the quintessential history of the evolution of the Chevrolet Corvette!

Download or read book The Arsenal of Democracy written by Albert J. Baime and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2014 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chronicles Detroit's dramatic transition from an automobile manufacturing center to a highly efficient producer of World War II airplanes, citing the essential role of Edsel Ford's rebellion against his father, Henry Ford.

Download or read book Forward Drive written by Jim Motavalli and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-10-14 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive account of the past, present and future of the automobile examines the key trends, key technologies and key players involved in the race to develop clean, environmentally friendly vehicles that are affordable and that do not compromise on safety or design. Undertaking a rigorous interrogation of our global dependency on oil, the author demonstrates just how unwise and unnecessary this is in light of current developments such as the fuel cell revolution and the increasing viability of hybrid cars, which use both petrol and electricity - innovations that could signal a new era of clean, sustainable energy. The arguments put forward draw on support from an eclectic range of sources - including industry insiders, scientists, economists and environmentalists - to make for an enlightening read.

Download or read book How to Build and Modify GM LS Series Engines written by Joseph Potak and published by Motorbooks. This book was released on 2009-10-01 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For gearheads who want to build or modify popular LS engines, How to Build and Modify GM LS-Series Engines provides the most detailed and extensive instructions ever offered for those modding LS engines through the Gen IV models. The LS1 engine shook the performance world when introduced in the 1997 Corvette. Today the LS9 version far eclipses even the mightiest big-blocks from the muscle car era, and it does so while meeting modern emissions requirements and delivering respectable fuel economy. Premier LS engine technician Joseph Potak addresses every question that might come up: Block selection and modifications Crankshaft and piston assemblies Cylinder heads, camshafts, and valvetrain Intake manifolds and fuel system Header selection Setting up ring and bearing clearances for specific uses Potak also guides readers through forced induction and nitrous oxide applications. In addition, the book is fully illustrated with color photography and detailed captions to further guide readers through the mods described, from initial steps to final assembly. Whatever the reader’s performance goals,How to Build and Modify GM LS-Series Engines will guide readers through the necessary modifications and how to make them. It’s the ultimate resource for building the ultimate LS-series engine! The Motorbooks Workshop series covers topics that engage and interest car and motorcycle enthusiasts. Written by subject-matter experts and illustrated with step-by-step and how-it’s-done reference images, Motorbooks Workshop is the ultimate resource for how-to know-how.

Download or read book Fins written by William Knoedelseder and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-09-18 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestselling author of Bitter Brew chronicles the birth and rise to greatness of the American auto industry through the remarkable life of Harley Earl, an eccentric six-foot-five, stuttering visionary who dropped out of college and went on to invent the profession of automobile styling, thereby revolutionized the way cars were made, marketed, and even imagined. Harleys Earl’s story qualifies as a bona fide American family saga. It began in the Michigan pine forest in the years after the Civil War, traveled across the Great Plains on the wooden wheels of a covered wagon, and eventually settled in a dirt road village named Hollywood, California, where young Harley took the skills he learned working in his father’s carriage shop and applied them to designing sleek, racy-looking automobile bodies for the fast crowd in the burgeoning silent movie business. As the 1920s roared with the sound of mass manufacturing, Harley returned to Michigan, where, at GM’s invitation, he introduced art into the rigid mechanics of auto-making. Over the next thirty years, he functioned as a kind of combination Steve Jobs and Tom Ford of his time, redefining the form and function of the country’s premier product. His impact was profound. When he retired as GM’s VP of Styling in 1958, Detroit reigned as the manufacturing capitol of the world and General Motors ranked as the most successful company in the history of business. Knoedelseder tells the story in ways both large and small, weaving the history of the company with the history of Detroit and the Earl family as Fins examines the effect of the automobile on America’s economy, culture, and national psyche.

Download or read book Ask a Manager written by Alison Green and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together