Engines Of Change (Book Review)

Engines of Change, by Paul Ingrassia, was a Christmas present to me.  Ingrassia is a reporter and editor who has covered business generally and the automotive industry in particular.  He is interested in automotive cultural anthropology: what does 100 years of cars in America tell us about ourselves?  He's

not interested in iconic marques or models except incidentally.  He pairs a car with the people behind it, and/or those who bought it.  This keeps you turning the pages.  His character sketches are very well done.  His treatment of the V.W. Beetle is the best I've read.  His portraits of BMW-driving yuppies and the "Prius Pious" made me smile.

Ingrassia's basic thesis, that Americans have a love/hate relationship with cars that fluctuates between the Yin of infatuation and the Yang of practicality, is questionable.  Instead (it seems to me), these polar opposites have always existed, separated by a vast middle which is mostly indifferent.  I mean indifferent in the sense that most people "value" cars, but they value them the same way they value a dishwasher or a smart phone.  They're glad for the life-enhancing convenience, don't particularly want to know how it works, and are uninterested in the more subtle implications of the device (so am I, except for cars).

While the book is thoroughly documented, Ingrassia sometimes pushes his interpretations beyond what the facts will support.  This reservation aside, I enjoyed it.  And, in fairness, the book is intended more as an entertaining read than a serious analysis.  Ingrassia means to be taken seriously, but not with scientific solemnity.  These are the car/car-guy pairings through which he weaves his social commentary:

Model T / Henry Ford
Corvette / Zora Arkus Duntov
1959 Cadillac / Harley Earl
Beetle / Ferdinand Porsche / Heinz Nordhoff
Corvair / Ed Cole / Ralph Nader
Mustang / Lee Iaccoca
Pontiac GTO / John DeLorean
Honda Civic /  Soichiro Honda  

Chrysler minivan / Hal Sperlich
BMW 3-series / Ebernard von Kuenheim
Jeep / off-roaders, real or imagined
Ford F-150 / macho men, real or imagined
Toyota Prius / Takeshi Uchiyamada