Another fly-on-the-wall peek at General Motors (after Michael
Shnayerson's The Car That Could, p. 956), this time from a former
West Coast editor for Popular Science. Schefter is allowed to prowl
around the hallways of GM, focusing on the design and launching of
the 1997 Corvette. Schefter begins with the image of a
Hindenburg-esque GM in 1992, fighting a staggering loss of $10
billion. In desperation, the carmaker turned to its classy jewel,
the Corvette, to solve its financial woes. Released in 1953, the
Corvette hadn't had a redesign since 1984, and an underground lair
called "The Corvette Skunk Works" had been intermittently working
to update the car since 1988. Faced with company-wide losses, the
Corvette project was buried and unearthed again by a succession of
GM honchos, until at last the new car was set to be launched in
1995. Schefter specializes in minutiae: He gives a compelling
description of how artists painstakingly carve out models from
800-pound blocks of clay, and he elegantly describes how the
project's engineers solved a gas-tank design problem. The entire
corporate world of GM takes on elements of the archetypal Old West:
There's the Corvette itself, seen as a beautiful and reliable show
horse; executives who pledge their word with a handshake; and
heroes who are taciturn but proud of their teams, prone to
pronouncements like "If we lose the summer of '95, we lose the
program." While the elevation of the business book to drama is
increasingly common, Schefter seems to have a little fun with it,
though he tends to relentlessly cheerlead for GM. (And it looks
like they missed '95 after all: The book will be released on the
same day as the newly redesigned Corvette.) Overly dramatic but
always readable, it's the attention to insider details that make
this account interesting for Corvette enthusiasts and pedestrians
alike. (Kirkus Reviews)
No other American car carries the mystique of the Corvette, and early in 1997, General Motors unveiled the stunning fifth-generation Corvette to universal acclaim. But GM's triumph was hard-won -- the legendary sports car had nearly fallen victim to internal company politics and a squeeze on profits. In this candid and compelling book, journalist James Schefter reveals the inside story of the people who saved and reinvented the Corvette, from the drawing board to the assembly line.
For eight years, Schefter enjoyed unprecedented access to every part of GM, including areas off-limits to many company vice presidents. A true insider, he observed the new Corvette's odyssey from sketch to clay model to prototype to production vehicle. He accompanied test drivers across scorching deserts and snow-packed mountains. And he came to know the fiercely dedicated team of designers, engineers, and executives who fought and achieved their dream: a new Corvette that is better conceived, better built, and less expensive than its predecessors. The Corvette's odyssey to reclaim its glory is a thrilling testament to the endurance of American spirit.
General
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