Customer Reviews

Dodge Daytona and Chrysler Laser the Definitive History 1984-1993

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Greg McCausey has to be complimented on being the first person in many years to recognize the value of one of the famous extended Chrysler K-cars, and for being able to sell his idea for a book on them to a serious publisher. With the ignorant blogging and mass-market magazine rabble constantly slamming the ol' EEKs with cheap shots, Greg's recognition of the Daytona and lack of sarcasm are refreshingly fresh.

At the time, the Daytona was quite a vehicle -- even the base model got a relatively torquey (compared with similarly sized Japanese and American cars) 2.2 liter engine; the seats were plush and comfortable, the ride smooth, the cornering capable; and the turbocharged engines impressive, from the original Turbo I (sans intercooler) right up to the 224-hp Turbo III and variable-nozzle, no-waiting-for-power Turbo IV. To his credit, McCausey not only covers all these options, but discusses them realistically, including both strengths and weaknesses. In many car books, only the top engine option gets real coverage, and any deficiencies are smoothed over; but not here.

The book is fairly long, at 179 pages, with an incredible number of details, most (but by no means all) of which came from various web sites including allpar, the Shelby Dodge site, and the writer's own moparautos.com. Much of that is taken up by tables of options, clearly moved into a word processor straight from the Web; this book has a number of hallmarks of the self publisher, and appears to have been reproduced via laser printer. The color photography is reproduced well, but the black and white photography suffers from "laser printer syndrome" and some of the scans have clear JPEG artifacts; on the other hand, other photos are quite clear and well reproduced. Many, if not most, of the photos were taken at auto shows, so the average photo is moderately cluttered and has the hood up; and quite a few cars have "not quite stock" items, such as different wheels, paint variations, etc. Some of the cars didn't have the interior cleaned before shots were snapped, and aftermarket stereos were not uncommon. If the reader looks at the photography as covering decades-old daily drivers, these shortcomings are not an issue, but those seeking a restoration guide might want to exercise caution.

(other details are at the full version of this review over on allpar.com)

The book integrated existing sources (and possibly new information) to make an easy to read history of cars that were critically acclaimed and fairly innovative when they first hit the road, and have been forgotten by most people (its owners excepted). Yes, there are a few mistakes and some of the photos are what you'd expect from a gifted amateur at a car show, and yes, you can find a lot of this information on the Web. However, the Daytona/Laser book is the best paper-based reference we're ever likely to see on any Chrysler cars of this era; it's well written, in an engaging style, and McCausey pulled in numerous sources to have a fairly well arranged, well documented compilation. It's worth a buy, and it's also a terrific gift for your Daytona-owning friends.

As a collector of 1980's Shelby vehicles this book interested me for a number of reasons. I expected to find a wealth of stats and some photos, including some that pertained to the Shelby Daytonas. I was very pleased to find the book goes far beyond that.

When they say definitive history, they mean it. This book tells the story of the G body cars from many angles including original corporate positioning/thinking, how the various models fit into the broader marketplace, what the automotive press was covering at the time, and quotes from former employees/designers. You can actually read this book cover to cover and learn a good deal about not just Daytonas, but about the people and mindset of both Chrysler and Detroit in the late 1980's and early 1990's.

The book includes a great amount of detail on the year-by-year changes to the Daytona and Laser. I also liked the tables with production counts of not just models but individual colors and option packages. While most of this is available on the Internet (including the author's website), the ability to have it in book form makes it easier to use as a reference and frankly lends credibility to the stats.

The only fault I can find with the book, and the reason for four stars instead of five, is the lack of authentic images. Most of the photos in the book are exactly what you see on the cover.. cars at swap meets or other shows.. with their hoods up and usually some after-market baubles added. I would have liked to have seen a greater number of images from the original marketing materials, press handouts, magazine spreads, and so on. There are a few (i.e. pages 14, 20, 36, 51, 60) but they are low-resolution scans and mostly black & white. I understand that the author was likely constrained to using mainly his own photos due to licensing or copyright issues.. however in future printings perhaps Chrysler would be so kind as to offer up images from their archive to be used without royalties in the book.

I think the author deserves a large amount of credit for capturing this information on an oft-overlooked segment of automotive history. With fuel prices as high as they are today, younger collectors may look at the gas-guzzling V8's of the 1970's and decide instead to move into the relatively fuel-efficient, yet high-performance turbo-4's of the 1980's. This book helps place these cars in context and demonstrates how they were the forerunners to the modern high-performance/high-mpg cars in showrooms today.

In summary, this is a solid effort and a book worth purchasing if you have an interest in late 1980's performance cars or 1980's/1990's Detroit in general.

I have the first edition of this book and looking forward to the updated second edition.