Unpublished Manuscripts

Ford in My Family by Ed Ruesing

Ed Ruesing records the history of Davis Brothers Ford, a dealership owned between 1911 and 1942 by his Grandpatents, Frederick Bliss Davis and Una Lee Davis.

CLICK HERE to read “Davis Brothers Ford”

A Car Guy Bean Counter Reminisces by Patrick Bisson

Since graduating from GMI, Patrick Bisson spent most of his career as an engineer at Buick but he also for a while operated his own GM dealership.

Patrick shares his candid thoughts of his career involving GM.  Not many insiders write about their time with GM so this is a rare inside look and reflection on GM, its culture, practices and quirks.  His words convey a passion for the product tinged with frustration that is sometime repeated but only to show a desire not to scrimp with features in order to save money and leave a less desirable end product.

CLICK HERE to read “A Car Guy Bean Counter Reminisces”

South Africa’s Auto Industry: Evolving from Assembly to Manufacture by Louis F Fourie

This is a study of the factors that introduced vehicle assembly into South Africa and the transformation to manufacturing due to regulations on local content.  Besides foreign owned plants, the history of domestically owned plants, which have evolved and been acquired by the major manufacturers, is examined.  Additionally, the makes, their time-frames and a brief history is given, split by country of origin.

CLICK HERE to read “South Africa’s Auto Industry”