Download Storied Independent Automakers: Nash, Hudson, and American Motors AudioBook Free
With roots extending back to the first ten years of the twentieth century, Nash Motor Company and the Hudson Motor Car Company managed to contend and even prosper as indie makers until they merged in 1954 to create the American Motors Company, which itself remained indie until it was bought in 1987 by the Chrysler Company. In Storied Indie Automakers, renowned automotive scholar Charles K. Hyde argues these companies, while so far neglected by auto record scholars, made well known contributions to automotive engineering and styling and were an important area of the American car industry. Hyde investigates the way the relatively small organizations battled in a postwar market increasingly dominated by the giant businesses of Ford, Basic Motors, and Chrysler, which benefited from economies of size in styling, engineering, tooling, marketing, and sales. He examines the enhancements that maintained the independents' products distinctive from those of the top Three and allowed these to endure and sometimes prosper against their bigger opponents. Finally, Hyde analyzes the ultimate inability of the American Motors Company and the legacy it kept for carmakers and consumers today. Winner of preference Outstanding Academic Name Award and Contemporary society of Automotive Historians Honor.
