James Ruppert : his take on the German industry

Keith Adams

James Ruppert: The German Car Industry - My Part in its Victory
James Ruppert: The German Car Industry - My Part in its Victory

It’s a while since I’ve blogged on here, so firstly, apologies. You know how it is – too much to do, not enough time to do it in. That’s all good, though, because the last thing you want from me is a rant about UK roads or their drivers or to hear about yet another flea-bitten shed I’ve just bought in the interests of money saving…

Anyway, enough of that navel-gazing and to the point of this blog.

Some of you may already know that I’ve been a fan of James Ruppert’s work since he joined CAR magazine in the mid-’80s to give a fresh approach to used car reporting. I’d go as far as to say that a welter of like-minded writers were inspired by James to adopt the same approach and, in doing so, change the way used cars are treated in the motoring press. I certainly count myself among these people and am happy to acknowledge James’ excellent work over the years.

That’s why it was a pleasure to receive a copy of James’ latest book, The German Car Industry –  My Part in its Victory through the post a few days ago. It’s a clever riposte to the book he put out a couple of years ago, The British Car Industry – My Part in its Downfall and you can imagine what it’s going to be like from the title.

Like the earlier book, it’s a bit of a biopic, in that James takes his personal experiences as a West End BMW salesman during the ’80s and applies them to the relentless progress of that country’s products in the UK. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular market sector, but centred on one particular product – such as the Volkswagen Golf for the mid-market – and, well, we know how good they were, are, and will be…

Overall, I have to say the book was a lot of fun, too. Bite-sized chunks of personality pepper the content, which makes this book all the more lovely to read. Want to know how James got into car journalism? Maybe try and understand what music he was playing in this eponymous period in time? Always wanted to see what life was like in the dog-eat-dog Yuppie-fuelled world of BMW sales? Step this way…

The production values of the new book are higher than the last one and it’s clear that James spent more time polishing the content, too – you can buy without fear of seeing a Sunbeam while expecting a Horizon, if you catch my drift.

The book is a great laugh and so good that I read it in one sitting – with the rude interruption of birds singing their dawn chorus towards the end of the last chapter. Buy it and enjoy!

Buy from James’ website, www.bangernomics.com.

Keith Adams

3 Comments

  1. I really enjoyed James’ previous book and am looking forward to reading the new one.

  2. I am a long-time fan of both German cars and James Ruppert’s scribblings so bought the abovementioned book at the weekend and received it a couple of days ago. It’s a thumping good read. 🙂

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