Here’s a book that strongly reflects the author. Opinionated, full of hyperbole, unafraid to hurt feelings … basically all the things you’d want in a book about the automotive world.

Unfortunately, Car Guys vs Bean Counters by Bob Lutz takes it too far. This is suppose to be a book about how MBA’s have ruined American manufacturing because they took their eye off what the consumer wants and focused instead on what made the most profit. But Lutz loses me when he strays into highly partisan political talk, rants against environmentalists, and barely disguised dismissiveness about rank and file workers. He bashes the media, extreme right wing talk show hosts, liberal academics, and a culture of entitlement pervasive in both the UAW and Wall Street.

It was all highly entertaining. Sometimes I applauded, sometimes I groaned. But did all the controversial statements make for a better book? No, not really.

The problem is that Bob Lutz, a former President at Chrylser who also held positions at a number of other automotive companies, is a car guy. And he needs to stick to that. He has some great insights into why the American car companies have struggled the last few decades. I found all of that to be thoughtful, well expressed, and often very funny.

Almost ready for retirement in 2001, Lutz was offered a position at GM to oversee design of GM cars. He remained there for nearly a decade. He had a front row seat for decisions that sank the company as he fought hard to change the culture of the organization. He was there when GM went bankrupt and when Washington DC bailed out the company. So he has a lot of experience and wisdom to share.

He also has a lot of attitude. He seems proud of that attitude, and I can’t imagine how people managed to work with this guy. He’s self-depreciating at times (e.g. “I tend to have a lot of ideas and strong views, which are not necessarily correct, but I want you all to know what I believe about a lot of subjects”), but more often than not he’s talking about how he was right and others were wrong. Frankly, he sounds like a grumpy old man.

So it’s an entertaining book with some good nuggets. But you have to accept the good with the bad.