Oak Park author’s latest book explores history of Detroit’s auto industry
3 book signings planned throughout metro Detroit
Paul Vachon never really considered himself much of a car aficionado.
However, writing “Becoming the Motor City: A Timeline of Detroit's Auto Industry” (Reedy Press $39.95) — his sixth book — made him passionate about cars.
“Growing up in Detroit, car culture is part of the tenor of the city. I've had family members who worked in the auto industry.
My father operated a company that produced parts for cars and trucks. The Big Three were, mostly, his customers. I worked there for several summers when I was in college,” recalled Vachon, 63, of Oak Park.
An alumnus of Shrine Catholic High School in Royal Oak and Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Vachon will sign copies of “Becoming the Motor City” at Pages Bookshop in Detroit from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Mount Clemens Public Library.
“The specific reason for this book is my publisher did a book on automotive history in St. Louis,” explained Vachon. “They know Detroit is center of the American — if not the world — automotive industry and wanted a similar book here. I had one other title with them before and they liked my work, so they asked me to do the automotive history book centered on Detroit.”
Vachon explained how “Becoming the Motor City” is different than other books about the automotive industry.
“I've always been interested in history,” he said. “I approached this project from an interesting perspective. I wanted, of course, to know about the history as the automobile developed in Detroit and how early automotive history entwined with general history. As time went on, I wanted to see how the industry developed, not only in terms of the products they produced — which is really the more conventional way you look at (the) automotive history — but also the roles manufacturers played in local and national politics, especially during World War II, as well as the way the industry impacted the city of Detroit, too.
“I talk about all those things. I wanted to talk about the history of cars and the history of the automotive industry in tandem. Most automotive books don't do that; they're just about cars. My book isn't just about cars; it takes more of a nuanced view.”
Vachon's interest in history began when he attended Sacred Heart.
“I went to college in the city. It was in an urban, very blighted area of town that had once been a very prosperous residential neighborhood. Having grown up in the suburbs, I was told all kinds of things about Detroit, how bad it was, and all this other stuff. I wanted to make my own judgments and going to college in Detroit allowed me to do that,” he said. “While it certainly made me aware there were immense problems with poverty, which was caused by disinvestment and so forth, I wanted to look at the city as a place of great potential. That was not really a popular view at the time (circa the early 1980s). In recent years, I'd say that vision's been proven correct. If you drive through Detroit today — especially in the downtown and midtown areas — you can see evidence of a tremendous amount of revival.”
One interest of Vachon's is the restoration of Michigan Central Station in Detroit, which is headed up by Ford Motor Co. in Dearborn. Its projected completion date is some time in 2023.
“That's a way to really bring the automotive industry almost full circle, back into the city where it started,” he said. “The whole greater Corktown region is going to be an active area, which will enhance the industry's knowledge on new ways mobility can be achieved. For a long time, Detroit was a city that didn't have a lot of respect for the concept of mass transit because we build cars here. We're one of the few major cities in the United States that doesn't have a subway system.”
However, he believes that stance is changing in some ways.
“I'm hoping that's the next milestone the city of Detroit passes,” said Vachon. “Of course, it's always hard to achieve because you have very bitter, regional politics here with respect to the suburbs and so forth. For some reason, they don't have regional cooperation in the suburbs when it comes to mass transit. I'm hoping we get to that point here too.”
Paul Vachon will read and sign copies of his latest book, “Becoming the Motor City: A Timeline of Detroit’s Auto Industry” from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2 at Pages Bookshop, 19560 Grand River Ave., Detroit; from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, at the Mount Clemens Public Library, 300 N. Grosbeck Hwy, Mount Clemens; and from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 5, at Livonia Civic Center Library, 32777 Five Mile Rd., Livonia. For more information, call 734466-2491.