A large volume of interesting information is presented, but the book is somewhat disorganized and not particularly well written. It should be simply titled "Lost Car Companies" as a significant percentage of the companies covered are from places other than Detroit. At least one Detroit based automaker, Alter, is not even mentioned.
I spotted a couple of factual errors related to Studebaker, a well documented auto company, which caused me to question the accuracy of the book as a whole. Regardless, the book does give a good sense of how many companies got in and out of the auto business over the years, and how several of the eventual giants of the industry crossed paths in the early days. The author's own photos of various factories as they look today are very interesting. But the book also includes images of postcards of plants without noting they were artists' renderings of the buildings and, at least in the case of Studebaker's Detroit facilities, were greatly exaggerated. Overall, still an interesting book worth reading.
Among more than two hundred auto companies that tried their luck in the Motor City, just three remain: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. But many of those lost to history have colorful stories worth telling. For instance, J.J. Cole forgot to put brakes in his new auto, so on the first test run, he had to drive it in circles until it ran out of gas. Brothers John and Horace Dodge often trashed saloons during wild evenings but used their great personal wealth to pay for the damage the next day (if they could remember where they had been). David D. Buick went from being the founder of his own leading auto company to working the information desk at the Detroit Board of Trade. Author Alan Naldrett explores these and more tales of automakers who ultimately failed but shaped the industry and designs putting wheels on the road today.
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