Six Men Who Built The Modern Auto Industry (Hardcover)

by Richard A. Johnson (Author)
Key Phrases: modern auto industry, sports car company, first minivan, Henry Ford, Soichiro Honda, General Motors (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...a lively account...a worthy read for motoring enthusiasts...also students of business management and economic history." -- Classic Car Mart, October 2005

"...lots of juicy behind-the-scenes gossip, plus plenty of interesting lore in Six Men Who Built the Modern Auto Industry." -- Motor Trend, December 2005

"...the type of inside information that usually doesn’t get revealed until many years after the events have taken place." -- Rob Mitchell, BMW of North America

"For anyone fascinated by the motor industry, this book is golddust ...You couldn’t make it up." -- Classic and Sports Car

"If you are interested in automotive excitement and intrigue, this makes for an enjoyable read." -- Lee Iacocca

Review

Motor Trend, December 2005 (circ.: 1.1 million)

“You’ll find lots of juicy behind-the-scenes gossip – plus plenty of interesting lore – in Six Men Who Built the Modern Auto Industry.”

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks (May 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760319588
• ISBN-13: 978-0760319581
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #297,175 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Six Men, May 22, 2005

By	W. Daws (Auburn Hills MI) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Just finished this book in a day, it was impossible to for me to put down. Johnson takes these six men and outlines their impressive careers and their contributions to the Automotive industry in depth.

His insite into their super sized egos, the struggles they faced as they rose and those they left in their wake is a must read for anyone with a passion for Automotive industry history.

Those interested enough to have read the biographies of Ford, Iacocca, and Lutz will appreciate the way Johnson weaves an intriguing story that connects these individuals and their mentors as they either became or didnt become CEO's of their companies in the US, Europe and Japan.

Although I work in the automotive industry, This book presented me with my first indepth knowledge of Piech, and Von Kuenheim and their dominant influence on the global industry.

Some may wonder why Kiichiro or Eiji Toyoda didnt make the list of the six men. You'll have to read the book! Its apparent that the previous reviewer had not read the book or she would not have been compelled to ask the question why "Toyota" was not one of the six.

If you cant resist the tales of the best and the brightest this book takes you inside boardrooms of the powerhouses of industry over a period of 50 extensively researched years.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Auto guys must read, February 22, 2008

By	David - See all my reviews

Excellent coverage and integration of key players in the auto industry.
I enjoyed reading and learning about each of the princible leaders. I would encourage others to give it a read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overall Ok..., April 8, 2007

By	David McGowan - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I bought and read this title recently, and was overall satisfied. I was looking forward to sitting down with this book, and was a fast read. I know that repitition is commonly used in poetry to put emphasis on a subject, but in this title there was entirely too much information repeated throughout the chapters, and could have been a bit more informative. There was a consistency of errors throunghout the text also, primarily quotation and punctuation errors, and makes the reader wonder what the editor was paid to do if there even was one. Like I said before the book was good and fast, and once you subtract the set backs the result is still a positive score. Another thing there was no in text citation, or works cited in the book, but the information seemed reliable. If I had $20.00 in my pocket and had the chance to buy it again I think I would have bought it used...