Pulitzer-winning journalist Paul Ingrassia offers an entertaining overview of 15 cars that defined the American Dream. From his opening chapter on the iconic Model T to the concluding chapter irreverently titled "An innovative car (the Prius) and its insufferable drivers (the pious)," Ingrassia takes us on a ride through the dreams embodied in the cars we loved and the talents of those who designed and built them and created the ads that sold them.
Although embedded in Detroit, Ingrassia doesn't neglect the hippie Volkswagen Beetle and Microbus or the practical Honda Civic ("in just two colors... yellow and orange... bright enough to cure hangovers in a Japanese pachinko parlor") or the yuppie BMW 2002 ("Reeboks on your feet, radicchio and arugula on your plate, a BMW parked outside"). However, he is at his best on good old American muscle cars like the Pontiac GTO (whose optional-equipment list was "as long as your arm and twice as hairy"), or the Mustang ("a car to make weak men strong, strong men invincible"). While the "soccer mom" Chrysler Minivan makes Ingrassia's list, the true stars of the "light truck" craze are the classic Jeep CJ-7 ("Real Jeeps have round headlights") and the Ford F-150 ("Pickups are driven by guys who fish for bass with mail-order poles from Cabela's called Whuppin' Sticks"). No matter our ages, Ingrassia has a car to define that time in our lives when the size of our tailfins or engine mattered--if only because Madison Avenue told us so. --Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.