Behind the Wheel at Chrysler: The Iacocca Legacy [Paperback]

Doron P. Levin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 17, 1996

A Detroit Free Press reporter demythologizes Lee Iacocca’s leadership of Chrysler, demonstrating how salesmanship and self-promotion invariably trumped innovation and investment. “Everyone who cares about american industry should read [this book]” (New York Times Book Review). Index.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a hard-hitting, demythologizing portrait of former Chrysler chairman Lee Iacocca, Levin dismantles the public image of Iacocca as a shrewd, can-do executive and the savior of Chrysler. A Detroit Free Press business columnist, Levin paints Iacocca as a self-aggrandizing, fame-obsessed car man who hogged credit for rescuing Chrysler from bankruptcy in 1979-80, when, in fact, the bailout was a collective effort, with key roles played by Chrysler honchos Steve Miller and Gerald Greenwald. In Levin's scathing portrait, Iacocca injected flair into Chrysler models, making superficial rather than substantive changes and demonizing Japanese automakers instead of learning from their stunning leaps in efficiency and quality. According to Levin, Iacocca's bungling, blindness and preoccupation with celebrity nearly drove Chrysler once again into bankruptcy, causing the board to force him into retirement in 1992. This meticulous expose lays bare the gaping holes in Iacocca's bestselling 1984 autobiography.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

An account of how Iacocca got Chrysler back in the fast lane.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (October 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156004747
• ISBN-13: 978-0156004749
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,533,952 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the Book It Could Have Been..., August 20, 2002

By 

Oops (Woburn, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind the Wheel at Chrysler: The Iacocca Legacy (Paperback)

I really wanted to like this book, but was disappointed with the end result. When the author sticks to the facts of the story, it is a revealing look at the politics of running a struggling auto company. The biographical information of the main players in upper echelons was quite interesting, also.

However, there is a sense of the author's bias lurking throughout the pages. He manages to imply that somehow, once Toyota introduced the Corona in 1966, there wasn't a marketing misstep to be made by the Japanese, particularly Toyota. Do the nameplates "Crown", "Cressida" and "Echo" ring a bell? I won't even mention some of the other sad cars that other manufacturers have coughed up in the ensuing years, and still do occasionally, from both sides of the Pacific.

Every now and again factual errors will appear, but they're so glaring that somebody with even a moderate interest in the car industry will pick up on. For instance, Honda earned customer loyalty because they "never dropped a nameplate." Really? Where did one go in 1987 to purchase a new Honda 600 GT or Sports 800?

More troubling was a hint of elitism that came up a couple of times. Was there (is there) really anything wrong with selling new cars to the blue-collar crowd? I know that some people are consumed by image, but most of us don't care what anybody else is driving, as long as they know HOW to drive it. People without a stratospheric income should be able to make a fully warranted purchase and get "that new car smell", too.

Finally, too little of the book is spent explaining exactly what was wrong, quality-wise, with Chrysler vehicles. Aside from the Aspen / Volaré twins, there was precious little time given to specific examples of lax quality control or design deficiencies. Even the A/V cars were a major problem only in their first year. More detail would have been revealing as to why buyers were steering clear of Chrysler's showrooms in the late 70's, when the whole mess started.

I've always had an avid interest in the auto industry, and have been waiting for somebody to write a book on the true Lee Iacocca to show the savior / charlatan that he really was. Unfortunately, somebody else is going to have to write it. This one falls short.

In case anybody's wondering, I have owned several cars from both American and Japanese manufacturers, including an 80's era Chrylser product. I have enjoyed the majority of them, and the only lemon I ever picked was from a European make.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Read for Car Enthusiasts, April 20, 2000

By 

Rebecca Shortt (Galena, Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind The Wheel At Chrysler: The Iacocca Legacy (Hardcover)

I found this book provided a quite interesting history of not only Chrysler, but the entire auto industry between the years of '70-'80. I particularly enjoyed the author's insights in to Chrysler's main player Iacocca. The book did however seem to jump around from subject to subject with no clear tie-ins. I found it difficult during some portions of the book to figure out what time frame the author was speaking of, as he tended to bounce back and forth. All in all I found the book to provide some excellent information on Chrysler and the prevailing personalities and values that has kept the organization alive for so many years through so many triumphs and tragedies.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Apparently, Mr Levin has an axe go grind., November 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Behind the Wheel at Chrysler: The Iacocca Legacy (Paperback)

He takes many liberties in trashing Chrysler products of the early 80's. For instance, he states that chrysler's 2.2 engine was based on "twenty year old technology" yet he offers no evidence to back up this claim. Mr. Levin also carps about the lack of technology in Chrysler's cars such as using a "beam axle" while conveniently overlooking the fact that other cars of this time frame used solid rear axles quite frequently. Nor does he give much coverage to Chryslers lowest cost per unit, the VNT technology used in its turbo cars, the fact it had OHC engines on the market LONG before GM and Ford, the first domestic auto company to use airbags in its cars, the firs electronically adaptive transmission.
Mr Levin admitted he got little in the way of cooperation from Iacocca and it appears he wrote this tome to vent against a good yet flawed man and a great company.