Paperback: Sometimes called a coach window or Landau roof, we know what it is when we see it. Yet, it can be difficult to define as the styling language differed from manufacturer, model and year. Opera windows invoked an image of passengers being chauffeured in secluded privacy to a stately night on the town while wearing one's finest attire. These small windows enabled rear seat passengers to peer out on the town, landscape and scenery while outsiders looked in with mysterious wonderment about who may inside such a fine automobile. From the author of "Those 80s Cars", this book contains 250+ photographs with before / after comparisons and descriptions.

Paperback: People like shiny things. Few things are shinier than cars: paint, trim and chrome. And people like soft things, like pillow-top beds, sofas and recliners. Cars interiors followed this home trend. Yet, people wanted to make more of a statement as it related to their cars and they got it in generous doses of style via the Couture Car. Ask anyone what automotive brand is associated with designer cars and the reply is likely to be Lincoln. To say that Lincoln dominated the field of Couture Cars would be an understatement. From 1976 through 2003, Lincoln had one or more designer series models. But it wasn't Lincoln that started the rage. They just executed on the theme better. This book is a compilation of the automakers' media kits and brochures on the Couture Car. Included in quotes are the materials' descriptions of the packages and trim specifications which entice shoppers with glowing terms and promises of superb driving, touring and living.

Paperback: Those 80s Cars is dedicated to enthusiasts of the manufacturers of American owned and branded franchises. These often overlooked cars are now entering classic and collectible status. This is your resource guide of exterior and interior color views with hundreds of pages, over 2,400 images (front, back, profiles, interiors, dashes, seats and a few cut-a-ways), and quotes and stats from the brochures. Includes cars from 1980-1989 from these manufacturers: AMC & Eagle, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet & Geo, Chrysler & Imperial, Dodge, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Merkur, Oldsmobile, Plymouth and Pontiac.

The auto industry is facing tough competition and severe economic constraints. Their products need to be designed "right the first time" with the right combinations of features that not only satisfy the customers but continually please and delight them by providing increased functionality, comfort, convenience, safety, and craftsmanship. Based on t

The 1973 oil crisis forced the American automotive industry into a period of dramatic change, marked by stiff foreign competition, tougher product regulations and suddenly altered consumer demand. With gas prices soaring and the economy in a veritable tailspin, muscle cars and the massive "need-for-speed" engines of the late '60s were out, and fuel efficient compacts were in. By 1980, American manufacturers were churning out some of the most feature laden, yet smallest and most fuel efficient cars they had ever built. This exhaustive reference work details every model from each of the major American manufacturers from model years 1973 through 1980, including various "captive imports" (e.g. Dodge's Colt, built by Mitsubishi.) Within each model year, it reports on each manufacturer's significant news and details every model offered: its specifications, powertrain offerings, prices, standard features, major options, and production figures, among other facts. The work is heavily illustrated with approximately 1,300 photographs.

This book has proved its worth over the years as a text for courses in Production Management at the Faculty of Automotive Engineering in Turin, Italy, but deserves a wider audience as it presents a compendium of basics on Industrial Management, since it covers all major topics required. It treats all subjects from product development and “make or buy”-decision strategies to the manufacturing systems setting and management through analysis of the main resources needed in production and finally exploring the supply chain management and the procurement techniques. The very last chapter recapitulates the previous ones by analysing key management indicators to pursue the value creation that is the real purpose of every industrial enterprise. As an appendix, a specific chapter is dedicated to the basics of production management where all main relevant definitions, techniques and criteria are treated, including some numerical examples, in order to provide an adequate foundation for understanding the other chapters. This book will be of use not only to Automotive Engineering students but a wide range of readers who wish to gain insight in the world of automotive engineering and the automotive industry in general.