Description
Authors: Helen Jones Earley and James R. Walkinshaw, Hardbound, 496 Pages, ISBN: 07853195841, 1st Edition, 1996
SETTING THE PACE
Oldsmobile's First 100 Years
Companies are made up of people, so they, too, have stories to tell. That's especially true for Oldsmobile, the oldest name in American motoring, which turns 100 years young in 1997.
Setting the Pace: Oldsmobile's First 100 Years, is a celebration of this milestone event. Produced by the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors, this authoritative 496-page work chronicles the rich heritage of Oldsmobile's first hundred years through lively, insightful text and hundreds of fascinating period photographs taken from the archives of the Oldsmobile History Center.
The culmination of over eight years of research, Setting the Pace is written by veteran Olds careerists Helen J. Earley and James R. Walkinshaw, who themselves represent a combined hundred years of Oldsmobile memories. There are also extensive excerpts from History Center interviews with some 170 members of the "Olds family," former employees whose careers date from as early as 1919. This feature gives Setting the Pace a uniquely personal quality that sets it far above the usual hardware-oriented "car book."
Indeed, Setting the Pace presents Oldsmobile's past through compelling first-hand accounts of the people and plants in that very special place that Olds still calls home: Lansing, Michigan. Almost from the first, Olds people developed a tangible sense of family unique in the annals of automotive history. From this "family feeling" flowed the courage, can-do spirit, and teamwork that have enabled Olds to stand the test of time.
The book naturally begins with a portrait of founder Ransom Eli Olds and his efforts to build both a car and a company. By 1902, his Olds Motor Works had made a name for itself with a sturdy little Curved Dash runabout that could cross the country and was loved around the world. Subsequent chapters continue the story, mostly in increments of a decade each. After nearly being killed in the early Twenties by owner General Motors, Oldsmobile achieved undreamed-of success in the late 1920s. Here, too, is the story of how Olds survived the Depression better than most other makes, then turned out armaments in unbelievable numbers to compile one of the most distinguished war-production records in American industry.
Olds was well established as a technical innovator even before World War II, and Setting the Pace traces the development of major Olds firsts like fully automatic Hydra-Matic transmission and the history-making 1949 "Rocket" V-8 engine. Olds continued setting the pace in the Fifties and Sixties with cars like the fast and flashy 88 and the daring front-wheel-drive Toronado. Even greater success followed in the Seventies, when Olds production went well over a million cars a year. Though plagued by setbacks and corporate upheavals in the 1980s and 1990s, Olds bravely transformed itself for a successful second century, heralded by a stunning new car named Aurora.
Throughout these pages are the personal reminiscences of those who were there—the executives, designers, engineers, factory hands, and many others who played their part in Oldsmobile's first century. Together, their recollections paint an engrossing, often nostalgic picture of a durable, closely knit enterprise unlike any other. The book concludes with comprehensive tables covering a hundred years of Oldsmobile models, production, managers, plants, and other information of interest to a wide variety of readers.
In all, Setting the Pace is the definitive history of Oldsmobile—a book as personal and fascinating as the company it chronicles.
