Customer Reviews

American Motors: The Last Independent

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I found this to be one of those books I could not put down. The book is a good mixture of history, inside stories and pictures. Ooooh the pictures. You get to see the 57 Rambler mock-ups wearing both a Nash and Hudson badge. Lots of other exclusive photos also. Great history of AMC mangement. Unique look into the different approachs taken to run the company and the mistakes made by each person in charge. Each time a mistake was made AMC bounced back, but a little weaker. You'll find youself wishing the ending was different.

At classic auto shows today, you can see lots of old Chevys, Fords, and Chryslers. But it's hard to find any examples of independent automotive manufacturing. Not many people seem to care about Packard, Studebaker, Hudson, Nash, and, of course, American Motors or AMC. They seem to seen as junk, not worth the steel they're made of. Patrick R. Foster in "American Motors : The Last Independent" does a wonderful job of informing the public of what effort and talent went into creating these fine cars that were a good portion of time as good, if not better, as anything the Big Three put out. You learn that AMC's demise wasn't sudden, but gradual, starting in the early 1960's. There are detailed facts about the cars that were shipped out of the Kenosha, Wisconson factory. "American Motors : The Last Independent" is all in all a good read. One of the few things it lacks is an index which I miss dearly. Even though, I would recommend it to my friends.

This book is a great addition to the AMC lover's library. Mr. Fosters book covers the entire history of the once-proud American Motors, and includes many good photos of the vehicles. The books focuses on AMC as a business, so lots of financial data is included. If you really want to understand the rise and fall of the proud independent American Motors, this the book.

I ordered for my Dad who owned "Ramblers" from the fifties through the late seventies. We thoroughly enjoyed the written history and the many pictures- which included many of our family cars ! Since my Dad was an AMC fan, its no surprise that my first car was also a Rambler (1965 American).

An added bonus is the business perspective brought out by the author. Having just completed my MBA, I especially enjoyed that perspective- which I was totally unaware of while growing up- (AMC would have been a great case study in my MBA program!).

This is an exellent look at a mis-understood and underappreciated company. American Motors IS still with us today, under another name, yet the influence IS here. Just research the origin of the Chrysler "LH" for example. And just what is the "AM" of AMGeneral Hummer? Thanks so much to Patrick Foster for telling this wonderful story. There's still more to be told, though. How about "The Last Independent II"? The financial world of capitalism worked against this tiny company (the disasterous lakefront body plant in Wisconsin, the crushing tax burden of the Kenosha plant during the 1980's, and the "conspiracy" to make the Pacer a failure) are just a few of the hidden factors that are yet to be told. For, me "The Last Independent" is the best AMC history yet!

....But I found this book to be fascinating.

AMC, over the years has produced some very unusual cars, some very UGLY cars and some very successful cars.

This book chronicles them all, and tells the story of the rising AMC under George Romney, its near death under Roy Abernethy, and all the ups and downs of the seventies and eighties. Even if you never felt compelled to buy an AMC car, you have to come away with a profound respect for the survival instinct of this underdog company.

This is the authoritative history of American Motors. The author is the world's authority on the company and this is his best book. The book is like the cars made by the company it covers - plain, practical, and a good value for the money. The text is large and easy to read. The photographs are large and all are black and white. There is no excess white space or stylized graphics.

The book tells a complete story and doesn't pull any punches or deflect blame from the people who deserve it - the top management of the company. It needs a few appendices to consolidate the fragmentary financial and production data scattered through the book. A graphic showing models for each year would also be helpful.