It's an interesting history of the design and manufacture of Oldsmobile from the very beginning to the mid-90s. Good balance of B&W and color pictures with text, with quality binding and heavy glossy paper. The pics are a mix of photos from the factory, period advertisements, and high quality photos of restored vehicles. This book gives you the history of Oldsmobile. Lots of black and white and color pictures. It covers more than just the cars. It shows what was going on during that time period
From the dust jacket:
Companies are made up of people, so they, too, have stories
to tell. That's especially true for Oldsmobile, the oldest name in American
motoring, which turns 100 years young in 1997.
Setting the Pace: Oldsmobile's First 100 Years, is a
celebration of this milestone event. Produced by the Oldsmobile Division of
General Motors, this authoritative 496-page work chronicles the rich heritage
of Oldsmobile's first hundred years through lively, insightful text and
hundreds of fascinating period photographs taken from the archives of the
Oldsmobile History Center.
The culmination of over eight years of research, Setting the
Pace is written by veteran Olds careerists Helen J. Earley and James R.
Walkinshaw, who themselves represent a combined hundred years of Oldsmobile
memories. There are also extensive excerpts from History Center interviews with
some 170 members of the "Olds family," former employees whose careers
date from as early as 1919. This feature gives Setting the Pace a uniquely
personal quality that sets it far above the usual hardware-oriented "car
book."
Indeed, Setting the race presents Oldsmobiles past through
compelling first-hand accounts of the people and plants in that very special
place that Olds still calls home: Lan-sing, Michigan. Almost from the first,
Olds people developed a tangible sense of family unique in the annals of
automotive history. From this "family feeling" flowed the courage,
can-do spirit, and teamwork that have enabled Olds to stand the test of time.
The book naturally begins with a portrait of founder Ransom
Ell Olds and his efforts to build both a car and a company. By 1902, his Olds
Motor Works had made a name for itself with a sturdy little Curved Dash
runabout that could cross the country and was loved around the world.
Subsequent chapters continue the story, mostly in increments of a decade each.
After nearly being killed in the early Twenties by owner General Motors,
Oldsmobile achieved un-dreamed-of success in the late 1920s.
Here, too, is the story of how Olds survived the Depression
better than most other makes, then turned out armaments in unbelievable numbers
to compile one of the most distinguished war-production records in American
industry.
Olds was well established as a technical innovator even
before World War II, and Setting the Pace traces the development of major Olds
firsts like fully automatic Hydra-Matic transmission and the history-making
1949 "Rocket" V-8 engine. Olds continued setting the pace in the
Fifties and Sixties with cars like the fast and flashy 88 and the daring
front-wheel-drive Toronado. Even greater success followed in the Seventies,
when Olds production went well over a million cars a year. Though plagued by
setbacks and corporate upheavals in the 1980s and 1990s, Olds bravely
transformed itself for a successful second century, heralded by a stunning new
car named Aurora.
Throughout these pages are the personal reminiscences of
those who were there-the executives, designers, engineers, factory hands, and
many others who played their part in Oldsmobile's first century. Together,
their recollections paint an engrossing. often nostalgic picture of a durable,
closely knit enterprise unlike any other. The book concludes with comprehensive
tables covering a hundred years of Oldsmobile models, production, managers,
plants, and other information of interest to a wide variety of readers.
In all, Setting the Pace is the definitive history of
Oldsmobile a book as personal and fascinating as the company it chronicles.
