ALL CORVETTES ARE RED: The Rebirth of an American Legend: James Schefter
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The Corvette, according to Schefter, is an American icon, a democratic sports car beloved of teenagers, mail carriers, Hollywood stars and millionaires since its birth in 1953. In 1988, General Motors resolved to redesign the fourth-generation Corvette on the road since ‘83, and Schefter’s solid report-based on his eight years of confidential access to the project team, and timed to coincide with the launch of the 1997 model-offers a candid look at the tortuous, crazy, unpredictable process of creating a car. A former editor of Popular Science, he delves into the work environment of GM, a company he views as too big, an amorphous, disorderly corporation whose unstable bureaucratic landscape of ever-changing rules and procedures makes it difficult to get things done. The 1997 Corvette stayed on budget and on time, unlike a dozen other GM cars and vans scheduled for release in 1996 and ‘97-a fact he attributes to the project team’s willingness to maneuver around the system. Crammed with an abundance of technical and engineering detail, his book will engage auto enthusiasts, but others may find it an uphill drive.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The Corvette is America’s best-loved and longest-lived sports car. For this work, Schefter was granted unprecedented access to board meetings, designers’ studios, and engineers’ workshops to document the conception and development of the 1997 Corvette, newly redesigned for only the fourth time in the car’s 40-year history. A revealing tale of intrigue and the inner workings of corporate America is the result. Had the book (and the car) been released in 1993 as originally planned, this work might have been unique. However, so far in 1996 “insider” books on GM’s electric car (Michael Schnayerson, The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM’s Revolutionary Vehicle, LJ 8/96) and Chrysler’s redesigned minivans (Brock Yates, The Critical Path, LJ 7/96) have already focused on the development and/or redesign of important vehicles to the extent that little is left for Schefter to say on the subject of “new and different.” On the other hand, this is a book about the Corvette, an American legend and icon. The car has a following, and one expects that the book will have a following as well.?Eric C. Shoaf, Brown Univ. Lib., Providence
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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