David Temple

While I don't have much to add to the commentary of the other reviewers, the GM "dream" cars ran the gambit from almost viable prototypes to total flights of fancy, with the sky being the limit. Admittedly, some of these machines are easy to parody; I personally find it hard to get over a particular machine from 1950, the Cadillac Débutante, a convertible that featured such details as gold-plated interior fittings and leopard-skin upholstery trim! The author notes that it probably didn't provide the inspiration for the play and movie "The Solid Gold Cadillac," but myth is sometimes more fun than reality. Besides that the particular charm of this book for me is the color photography of the show cars that still exist.… (mer)

I love everything about this book - from the cut-away view of an early Corvette on the cover to the very-informative and easy-to-read contents. My only quibble is that some of the images are a bit subdued (computer printing still isn't quite up to the old color process printing in my opinion). I also wish the perfect binding (aka glued spine) was a bit more robust - but that seems to be the standard these days, at least with paperback books.

Where this book really shines is in the quality of its contents - it's suffused with technical information that's still fairly easy to read, great images of early design concepts/history and an explanation regarding the impact of each. You step through GM's design decisions through the 50's, a postwar period where Chevrolet really shines though technical innovation. You'll find the Vette, the Bel Air, the Nomad, and the Impala here in good detail. You'll also learn about the small block and how GM's transmissions changed driving in the US, contributing to what's under Chevys today. This book is worth having in your library.

I received this book as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program so it was a freebie.… (mer)