ENGINES OF CHANGE: A History of the American Dream in Fifteen Cars

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has chronicled the auto industry for more than 25 years, and the current deputy editor-in-chief of Reuters, Paul Ingrassia traces the cultural evolution of America through 15 cars that helped define a nation: DeLorean’s Corvette, the VW Beetle, the Chevy Corvair, Robert McNamara and Lee Iacocca’s Mustang, the Pontiac GTO, Honda’s Accord, the BMW 3 Series, and the Jeep, among others. 

ENGINES OF CHANGE details the rise of American manufacturing, the suburbanization of the country, the birth of the Hippie and the Yuppie, the emancipation of women and the unintended consequences of trial lawyers, energy crises and pollution.

Sir Harold Evans says of the book: “You will never look at a car the same way after reading Engines of Change—as I strongly recommend anyone to do who relishes great story-telling combining biography, social and political history, science and romance. Even readers who cannot tell a cam shaft from a cami-knicker will find fascination in a gallery of characters depicted by Ingrassia with vivacity and wit.”