<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Dear Bob, I am eager to get your thoughts on Mary Barra&amp;#039;s ascension to the top job at GM. Is placing a woman in charge an indication of change at GM, or is it not that big a deal? Barra&amp;#039;s also an engineer; generally speaking, what are the pros and cons of having an engineer CEO? More than anything else, what should she do first\u2014and what would you do in her shoes? Or rather, her position. I assume the two of you wear very different shoes. Nicholas Bethke, Roanoke, Virginia READ MORE:&amp;amp;nbsp;The low-down on Lutz&amp;#039;s Aston, and his favorite cigar Choosing Mary Barra as CEO indicates neither radical change nor status quo. Mary was picked because she has the advantage of knowing the company inside out while also always having been part of the &amp;quot;solution&amp;quot; rather than the &amp;quot;problem.&amp;quot; As you may have read in my book Car Guys vs. Bean Counters, it&amp;#039;s always good to have a hands-on product person in charge of any consumer-goods company. Finance folks are in plentiful supply; they&amp;#039;re necessary, but not as a driving force. What should Mary do first? She just has to maintain the momentum and keep the no-compromise hit products coming. My question is simple: Why the lack of vision at American car companies? Why couldn&amp;#039;t there be a Porsche 918-style project at Chrysler? Why can&amp;#039;t GM show the world what it&amp;#039;s truly capable of with a supercar? There is an army of genius at most American companies, and the best they can come up with is the Corvette? Don&amp;#039;t these people realize that every time they&amp;#039;ve gone all out, they&amp;#039;ve produced legends? Eric Paradidis, Beauharnois, Quebec READ MORE:&amp;amp;nbsp;Regretting the 2004 Pontiac GTO Well, I think you&amp;#039;re forgetting Ford&amp;#039;s recent GT. (The supercar, not the Mustang \u2014Ed.) And a large, ultraperforming Cadillac flagship is rumored to be in the works. Somewhat snidely, I would observe that creating a 918 or a Bugatti Veyron for over $1,000,000 is like peeing your pants in a dark suit: It gives you a warm feeling, but few others notice. The real skill demonstrated by the American companies is the ability to produce a Corvette C7 or a C6 ZR1 with performance and technology equal to or better than that of the best Europeans, but with lighter weight, better fuel economy, and a third of the price. Believe me, every European prestige carmaker is tearing down a C7, trying to figure out how Americans can create a car that good, sell it that cheaply, and still make money. Nobody else in the world knows how. I&amp;#039;m almost ready to replace an econobox daily driver with my first &amp;quot;real&amp;quot; car. My options are a sparsely equipped V8 or a loaded V6. Rationality tells me to stick to the more frugal powerplant and have a more engaging interior for the long commute. On the other shoulder, I have always longed for a V8, and my ego is telling me to take a shot at the thunder. So, if it were you ... ? Khallid Shourbaji (Via email) I don&amp;#039;t know. I&amp;#039;m suffering from the same dilemma. My Camaro convertible is a V6. Silent, fast, smooth, good on fuel, over 300 hp ... and yet, every so often, I kick myself and think, Shoulda gotten the V8, maybe even a ZL1. So who&amp;#039;s in charge: your brain or your heart? (Kind of like picking a future wife!) Most days, I love that V6. And when I don&amp;#039;t, I saddle up the ZR1. READ MORE:&amp;amp;nbsp;Go Lutz Yourself: June 2013 I am 47 and I only have a BA. I&amp;#039;ve always loved cars and writing. Am I too old to begin a new career? Assuming I have what it takes in brains and talent, is sheer drive\u2014plus a willingness to work for relatively little money in exchange for more satisfaction\u2014enough? Tim Taflica, Toronto, Ontario Hey, it&amp;#039;s never too late! You should probably work for a good car magazine. I always wanted to, and now, at 81, the dream has come true ... sort of! Submit questions to Bob at AskBob@roadandtrack.com "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a6867/go-lutz-yourself-65-7-roa0314/>