Engines of Change by Paul Ingrassia

Paul Ingrassia made his name as a journalist writing primarily on the auto industry. His most recent book is called Engines of Change. In this book Ingrassia tells the tale of America in the story of fifteen cars.

The author points out that this is not a list of the most successful cars but the cars that in one way or another had a major impact on society.

Any story about cars in America has to begin with Henry Ford and the Model T. Ford invented the assembly line in the production of his cars, created the five dollar a day wage, and also, importantly, year by year lowered the price of his cars to make them more affordable. Today when we see technology such as flat screens, computers, and the like and their prices go down lower and lower we can remember Henry Ford.

The proliferation of tailfins in the 1950's, the Corvette, the Corvair and the rise of Ralph Nader, Lee Iacocca, Hayley Earl, John Delorean, the Mustang and the Minivan are all discussed in their own chapters.

Well written, filled with interesting pieces of information, the infatuation with cars and how integral cars are to the American experience, indeed our national psyche, this is a very good book.