STORIED INDEPENDENT AUTOMAKERS--Informative and Dry

Good book otherwise

A few years ago I found a book about the history of the Dodge Brothers car company, as well as a companion book that covered Chrysler. The same author, Charles K. Hyde, had this book that mainly focuses on Nash, Hudson, and American Motors—car companies that rose and fell within the 20th Century.

Hyde is an historian from the Great Lakes area and knows a great deal about Detroit, specifically. There’s another book from him called THE ARSENAL OF DEMOCRACY that focuses on how American car manufacturers switched to making parts for the military during World War Two. Some of that is covered here in STORIED.

Here are a few takeaways from this book:

Nash

The small car company is named for a man who had one of the most quintessential rags-to-riches stories in his youth. Like, at one point he was a literal indentured servant who had to run away from his caregiver (at age 12) and just started working for a living, making something like a dollar a month. The book chronicles his machine education and his business acumen which started in his youth when he was taking care of sheep. He eventually saved up enough money to buy his own sheep and since he was so protective of his money, he was extremely careful with the business risks he took. He never lost that practice and it served him well when he rose through the ranks.

Hudson

When I hit the Hudson chapters, I was reminded of how semi-incestuous the talent pool was among American auto companies in the early-to-mid 1900s. A lot of these guys worked for each other at different times, companies spun off of one another, brands merged and split, it was a mess to keep track of. Hudson seems to have had the less remarkable story among these three brands though its presence was still felt, and it also participated in the racing circuit for a while.

American Motors

AMC stuck around the longest and went through the most different iterations. Probably the most significant figure in its history was also a significant leader of the Nash company, and that was George Romney, who focused on finding special niches for the brands that he managed. In the case of Nash, he wanted them to specialize in smaller fuel-efficient cars since the Big Three of Detroit were making huge cars that ate gas like candy. Romney’s successor moved off of that model and the Nash company suffered for it.

That same acumen made him a successful leader at AMC during his tenure, and his popularity helped him win the governorship of Michigan for a while. He ran for president on the Republican side but lost to Richard Nixon in ‘68. Hyde is not stingy with his praise of George Romney in this book.

Conclusion

Anyway, if you’re interested in automotive history, Hyde’s books will satisfy you. At times the excessive business records and technical details can be a bit dry but these are the kinds of details worth preserving for posterity. I’m bummed that this kind of model can’t be followed today because of bureaucracy and regulations—you can’t just build a simple car that works, it’s got to have all these extra steps.

Check it out. Good book.