From Book News, Inc.
"The Cadillac story is more than the story of a car company," writes Bonsall, an automotive historian who's also written books about the Studebaker, Lincoln, and Edsel. "It is, in many ways, the story of the American automobile industry itself." Bonsall tells the Cadillac story from the company's postwar glory days to its current fight for survival in the luxury car market. It's more a history of makes and models than of commerce or culture, however. The models are well- documented in b&w photos.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
The Cadillac Story: The Postwar years FROM THE PUBLISHER
In the depths of the Great Depression, the brand redefined itself and the luxury market. After World War II, Cadillac epitomized expansive prosperity. Then, in the 1980s, it epitomized the industrial crisis that had suddenly overtaken America. Today, Cadillac's struggle to survive in a furiously competitive - and suddenly international - automobile industry mirrors the challenges facing American industry as a whole. Its success in meeting those challenges will have much to say about the future of American industry and of General Motors.
SYNOPSIS
"The Cadillac story is more than the story of a car company," writes Bonsall, an automotive historian who's also written books about the Studebaker, Lincoln, and Edsel. "It is, in many ways, the story of the American automobile industry itself." Bonsall tells the Cadillac story from the company's postwar glory days to its current fight for survival in the luxury car market. It's more a history of makes and models than of commerce or culture, however. The models are well-documented in b&w photos. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Prolific automotive writer Bonsall gleans much of the material for this book from original sources such as annual reports, sales brochures, and other archival material from the manufacturer. The Cadillac postwar years is a riches-to-rags-and-possibly-back-to-riches story that chronicles the company's veritable slide into mediocrity through cost-cutting, mismanagement, and corporate interference by the parent company. Only in the past few years has Cadillac taken a new direction and increased sales to younger buyers, but the future is not necessarily rosy. The book is a trenchant analysis of each decade following the war: the robust Fifites and the huge fins that sprouted on the backs of cars; the mod Sixties, during which Cadillac's aging buyers began to die off; the silly Seventies, when quality problems led to much lower expectations from "America's Best"; the disaster of the Eighties, as corporate parent GM demanded cookie-cutter cars that further diluted the brand; and a return to advanced engineering form in the late Nineties. Throughout, the book is illustrated with period photos of various models that capture the mood of the industry and the company. In all, a worthy addition to postwar economic and sociological analysis.-Eric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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