No comments about On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors John Z. DeLorean's Look Inside the Automotive Giant.

2 comments about DeLorean 1977-1995 Gold Portfolio.

1. The De Lorean DMC-12 (manufactured 1981-1982) was and remains to this day an automobile classic of all time--not only because of its superb styling and its role in the "Back to the Future" films but also because its history typified the central theme of Greek tragedy: a fatal flaw (in this case, reliance on unfulfiled promises of the British government), eliciting pity and fear in those witnessing it. This book, providing reprints of the most important motor magazine articles evaluating the car, is a must for De Lorean fans. To be sure, Clarke's book should be purchased along with John Z. DeLorean's autobiography (titled, simply, "DeLorean," Zondervan, 1985) and the second edition of John Lamm's "De Lorean: The Stainless Steel Illusion" (Red Lion Press, 2003). It is of more than passing interest that John DeLorean himself, having created a genuinely transcendent automobile--one that is indeed timeless. as this book illustrates--ultimately became a Christian believer.



2. DeLorean was a great man, like Henry Ford. I regret how the British government treated him. It just shows that our antitrust laws can be circumvented on the global scale. Big business doensn't like competition. On a happy note, they still manufacture DeLorean's if you want to buy one. They're in the price range of 20 grand. Not bad for a great car that has style. DeLorean was a great Christian man who was blackmailed by our own government for the sake of big business. Between English government and our own government, it just shows how our government has become of the rich and powerful, by the rich and powerful and for the rich and powerful.

3 comments about On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors: John Z. DeLorean's Look Inside the Automotive Giant.

1. This is an interesting ego-trip examination of the stagnation of General Motors, which beginning in the mid-1970s declined into a top-heavy bureaucracy that appeared to have forgotten it was in the automobile business. DeLorean rammed a literary ice pick into several nerves, though the entire presentation had a bit of an I-told-them-so-at-the-time shade to it.

   DeLorean later encountered his own executive problems at DeLorean Motors, but his lawyer was able to convince the jury that Naive John was a victim of entrapment. DeLorean and his Motors never really recovered after that, but the car went on to do very well in three Michael J. Fox movies.




2. This book had as much rythym as a train switchyard run by an epileptic. John DeLorean is cast as the ignored messiah, one who's reputation for rocking the boat is only countered by the results he achieved. Simple technical errors abound, leading one to wonder what other facts where not true. What is true is the basic premise: GM had the world by the ass, and thru arrogance and sheer inertia is suffocating under it's own weight. It is grim to read this, written in the mid 70's realising that half-wit Roger Smith was just around the corner...



3. This is a favorite book because of the clear description of the life and emotions of an innovative project leader working inside one of the world's most bureaucratic organizations. Once seen as the ultimate in career security and lifelong comfort, General Motors became a constraining and anti-innovative weight around the passions of Mr. DeLorean. And, while once he was seen as a bright and promising superstar by the corporation, he was later considered irresponsible and a danger to corporate stability. His journey story, as told here, will give serious insights into corporate life that workers, managers, and leaders in many organizations would do well to study. Favorite quotes: "I got the empty feeling that "what I am doing here may be nothing more than perpetuating a gigantic fraud," a fraud on the American consumer by promising him something new but giving him only the surface alterations....I always had he vague suspicion that the annual model change may be good for the auto business in the short term but that it wasn't good for the economy and the country. Couldn't the money we spent on annual, superficial styling changes be better spent in reducing prices or in improving service and reliability? Or seeking solutions to the sociological problems with which our products were creating in areas of pollution, energy consumption, safety, and congestion?" "A fault that GM has had for a long time is its feeling that, since it sells more cars and trucks than anyone else in the world and makes far more money than any other automotive company, the GM way is the only way. At Chevrolet this corporate thinking translated into the theory that since Chevrolet is the number one nameplate in the American automobile industry it is unwise to tamper with its proven formula for success....This malady is common in some businesses. It also is common in professional sports where management with a team that is old but still winning is often reluctant to bring in younger talent. The result is, of course, that one day the winning record stops because the players are to old to compete effectively."
   And, a word to organizations seeking to reduce expense instead of changing the world, "A man trained and skilled only in financial control, who has no direct operational experience, simply lacks the understanding necessary to run the business."
   Study the decline of the dinosaur, General Motors, and you can predict what many of today's organizations will experience in the near future.
   From Jon, the Civilsociety at Seedwiki guy.