Overview

This book fills a gaping hole in automotive history, as a University of Michigan business professor noted, as not only the first biography of David Buick, whose last name has appeared on 40 million cars over more than 100 years, and whose car formed the foundation for the creation of General Motors, which for many years was the world's largest industrial corporation. But, more than that, it's a big part of the story of the birth of the American auto industry, including details about auto pioneers Billy Durant, Charles Nash, Walter Chrysler and Louis Chevrolet, among others. And it's a story written in a popular style that's difficult to put down, said one reviewer. Another reviewer, recalling that Gustin has written about Buick history for more than 40 years, noted that If the question is Buick-related, Larry Gustin has the answer. He's also an entertaining story teller and accomplished wordsmith. From his position as automotive editor at the newspaper in Buick's former home town of Flint, and later as Buick PR assistant director, Gustin has been in position to study Buick's heritage for decades. He also tapped other authorities and, for this edition, the knowledge of Kevin Kirbitz, a GM engineering manager whose background makes him an authority on the engineering achievements of David Buick and Buick Motor Co., including the valve-in-head engine that made Buick famous. Back in 1973, Gustin wrote the award-winning and critically acclaimed first biography of William C. Durant, Billy Durant: Creator of General Motors, described as a masterpiece by Road & Track magazine and an excellent biography by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Bruce Catton. In 1980 he teamed with co-author Terry B. Dunham to produce The Buick: A Complete History, which was reprinted in five updated editions from 1985 to 2003. This book was reviewed as one of the best marque histories ever published by Car Collector magazine. The British magazine Motor Sport called it, serious history...what historical coverage! What a book! The updated and expanded edition of David Buick's Marvelous Motor Car includes about 200 photos, some never previously published, some published for the first time in a century, and a Foreword by Bob Lutz, the legendary automotive leader and recently retired GM vice chairman. The first edition was favorably reviewed by The New York Times, the (Canadian) National Post and other publications.

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9781466263673

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Lawrence R. Gustin, a native of Flint, Mich., was a writer/editor from 1960 to 1984 at The Flint Journal, in what was then Buick's headquarters city. While he covered such events as the launch of Apollo 11 that sent the first men to the Moon, the first Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier fight of the century and the inauguration of President Carter, he also became auto editor and then assistant metro editor in charge of the auto/business/labor writers. In 1973, he wrote the first biography of William C. Durant, Billy Durant: Creator of General Motors, which was re-issued in an expanded and updated third edition by the University of Michigan Press in the GM centennial year of 2008. The first edition won the Antique Automobile Club of America's Thomas McKean Memorial Cup for the best use of history in a year and two other awards. In 1976, Gustin created The Flint Journal Centennial Picture History of Flint, published in three editions. In 1980, Gustin and Terry B. Dunham co-authored the award-winning and definitive story of Buick, The Buick: A Complete History, which was published in five more updated editions from the mid-1980s to Buick's centennial in 2003. Gustin, who became Buick assistant public relations director and later helped create the Sloan Museum's Buick Gallery and Research Center, received a Distin- guished Service Citation for his historical work from the Automotive Hall of Fame in 1999. He was later elected to the State News Hall of Fame at Michigan State University. In 2003 he directed Buick's centennial activities - including a national heritage tour, award-winning poster and brochure and Legend of Buick DVD - that won the top overall award in that year's International Automotive Media Competition. At Buick PR (1984-2005), Gustin was the official Buick representative at the 1997 groundbreaking for the plant in Shanghai, China, that would produce the first Chinese-built Buicks, and two years later he walked down the Buick City assembly line with the last Buick built in Flint. He also worked with Buick events and people in Beijing, Paris, London, Mexico City, Rome and Rio de Janeiro - and in David Buick's home town of Arbroath, Scotland. The first edition of David Buick's Marvelous Motor Car, published in 2006, won a silver medal in the International Automotive Media Competition. Both the Durant and David Buick biographies were translated into Chinese and published in Shanghai in 2008.

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