3 comments about Cadillac: Standard Of The World (Automobile Quarterly Library Series Book).

1. As a dealer of Cadillac and LaSalle books, I use Cadillac: Standard of the World every day to find answers for my customers who need hard-to-find historical information about their Cadillacs.

   I don't know what I'd do without this unique reference.

   Justin Hartley




2. Excelent book and great story. I had no idea that the founder of Cadillac (Henry lelend) was an American industrial hero. Its worth reading just for the history abought Mr. Leland. Of course has good coverage of many cadillacs as well. I would love to see it updated through 2001.



3. I have the Second Edition (1977) of the 447 page "Cadillac Standard of the World The Complete History" by New Zealand automotive historian Maurice D. Hendry (1929- ), and the Editors of "Automobile Quarterly" (an automobile magazine founded in 1962).
   
   In this book we learn that it all started with Henry Martyn Leland (1843-1932), an Anglo-American mechanic/inventor/entrepreneur from a farming, Quaker background, who applied his Christian principles to an automobile business. He acquired his car's marque (which has come to typify anything grand) from a French noble/explorer, Le Sieur Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac (1658-1730), who founded the city of Detroit in 1701, where the first Cadillac cars were manufactured in 1902. (The city of Cadillac, Michigan is not related to Cadillac Motor Car Division.)
   
   There are a myriad books on Cadillac out there, but this work by Hendry, et al, is unique in that, besides the passionate scholarship, numerous, exquisite black and white/colour pictures of the cars, there are also copious chassis diagrams, and photos of family, executives, producers and motorists, involved in the Cadillac story. We also learn how, early on, its engineers brought their innovations to fruition, or, perfected what was already there through, for example, the interchangeability/standardization of parts and electric starting; each achievement garnering Cadillac the British Dewar Trophy--Nobel Prize equivalent for automobiles. (Hendry, himself, has an award named in his honour, as well.) And these are just a couple of things that maintained Cadillac as "The Standard of the World." The volume's 84 page/8 part appendix is rich with info, on things like helpful organizations to join, reproductions of ornament/crest/badge regalia, lists of men behind Cadillac--from boardroom to drawing board, specifications and production figures/details, and a glossary of model names.
   
   A Cadillac introductory brochure, "THIS IS Cadillac" (1969) said: "WE AT CADILLAC, BELIEVE...our equipment, materials, blueprints and facilities could be given to another manufacturer to produce a car--but it wouldn't be a Cadillac." The work under review here exemplifies this amply. In fact, the author(s) concluded this tome with this thought: "The Cadillac is certainly a very substantial part of the American heritage. The chances are better than ever that it will stay that way." Therefore, it all boils down to people--with a vision--like Monsieur Cadillac and Messrs. Leland and Hendry.
   
   Do look into "Cadillac Standard of the World The Complete History" by Maurice D. Hendry with the Editors of "Automobile Quarterly" soon, to get to the top of a luxury car saga, where Motor City climbers drive all directions for the coolest mountain.

No comments about Cadillac Jukebox.

No comments about Films of Laurel and Hardy.

No comments about The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Sex.

No comments about 1969 Cadillac Shop Manual.

No comments about Cadillac Jukebox.

1 comments about Cadillac Orpheus.

1. I am writing this review only because I had such high hopes for this book.I tried to give it a big chance, and while a bit entertaining at the beginning, the story is too disjointed and senseless. The author is more interested in throwing around big words than actually putting together coherent sentences. I just think he tried too hard. The book never got into any kind of a flow.

No comments about 1992 1993 Cadillac Front Wheel Drive Service Manual - De Ville Fleetwood Sixty Special - Shop Manual - Chassis and Body Repair.

3 comments about Pink Cadillac.

1. Pink Cadillac's author, Robert Dunn, knows the stuff of Memphis '55/56 -- the days of blues descending and rock rising, the roadhouses, radio stations, deejays, unscrupulous record label owners and the power of the mojo. He's taken that knowledge and transformed it into a riveting novel. I found myself reading late into the night, needing to know how Thomas 'Bearcat' Jackson's record producing career had been destroyed -- why blues singer Sonesta Clarke loved, but couldn't live with Bearcat -- if Dell Dellaplane's powerful father would smash his son's dreams by bringing down Bearcat's roadhouse -- if Daisy Holliday would ever come to her senses, forsake lounge singing in Buffalo, NY and return to Memphis. Most of all, I couldn't put the book down until the truth of the record -- Pink Cadillac -- was revealed. Had it actually ever been recorded? If so, why did it live in legend alone? Did it hold the answer to a mystery that might've been best left unsolved? Buy this book. Once you begin reading, you won't want to put it down.



2. Robert Dunn has given us a bittersweet story that perfectly captures a time when rhythm and blues was giving birth to rock and roll. A modern day record collector/entrepreneur, grief-sticken by his wife's sudden death, is on a healing quest to find a legendary single. He is convinced that "Pink Cadillac" is the greatest song never heard, a disc that may or may not have been recorded by a rag tag group of musical pioneers in the mid-fifties. Through flashback, the reader discovers the secret of the song, and why its origins have been kept hidden nearly half a century. The colorful characters that populate the story are in and of themselves worth the ride. Thomas "Bearcat" Jackson is a particularly vital and heartbreaking character as penned by Dunn. Bearcat is a brilliant self-taught bluesman and record man, imprisoned and haunted by the Jim Crow era into which he was born. Much to the dismay of his long time musical partners, Bearcat hooks up with two young white kids, creating a new sort of sound with their "Pink Cadillac." But was this magical tune ever actually put to wax? And what dreadful price did Bearcat and his friends pay for daring to make such music together? With "guest stars" such as Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips and Elvis himself (who provided the Cadillac the song is named for), this is a rollicking ride that will be a great read for novices and diehard music fans alike.



3. I read about 30 books a year and consider "Pink Cadillac" one of the two or three best novels (of any genre) that I've read in the last half-decade.

   Author Dunn cuts through the sickeningly-sweet nostalgia to which rock's first decade has been reduced, and paints a warts-and-all portrait of Eisenhower-era Memphis: the racism and segregation, the subjugation of women, the predatory practices of the music business, the even more predatory practices of the ruling class, and--on the positive side--the energy and exuberance that made early rock 'n' roll and those who created it something truly special.

   Dunn also does an excellent job of capturing the music historian's obsessive/compulsive thinking and behavior--a frame of mind that has motivated people such as I to spend our lives researching and writing scholarly treatises on what the people who created the music often disdainfully refer to as "those old things."

   "Pink Cadillac" grabbed me from its opening paragraph and still hasn't let me go, some 24 hours after I finished it. Even if you don't like '50s rock 'n' roll, it won't keep you from enjoying this book. And for we who love the music of that period, Dunn's novel serves both as a triumph and as a sad reminder that good novels about rock 'n' roll have been few and far between.

3 comments about Detroit's Statler and Book-Cadillac Hotels: The Anchors of Washington Boulevard (MI) (Images of America).

1. What a stimluating walk through time. David George Kohramn visits the history, past and present, of the Detroit Statler and Book Cadillac Hotels. The book is jammed with rare photos I have never seen. His deep research is evident in his concise, but detailed writing. This is a must have for any history buff and individual concerned with the preservation of our past. Thank you David, for an exciting adventure!



2. The Book-Cadillac Hotel and the Statler Hilton are two of the most magnificant buildings in Detroit, with it's amazing collection of 1910s and 1920s architecture. DK's excellent book describes in great detail the history of these two landmarks, and updates us on their current sad conditions with brilliant photography. I cannot say enough about the B-C, please check out ... after reading this book, and join the Friends of the Book Cadillac, to assure that the proposed Marriott-led rennovations occur so we can enjoy that landmark for years to come.



3. Once I picked up this book, I could barely put it down. I finished it that night. David Kohrman brings what would normally be a dull subject manner to life with interesting details and a captivating style of writing. I am eagerly awaiting his next work.