Bob Cerullo If You Won't Try out New Ideas in Your Business For
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Trade Secrets If you won’t try out new ideas in your business for fear they might not work out, you’ll never know whether your fears were justified. You also won’t know if one of them could have been a great idea. id you ever have what you backup battery for their cars. With this spe- thought was a great idea that cial battery, if the main section of the battery would make your business went dead you could simply turn a switch on grow or make you a ton of the battery and start your car with the built- money? I’ve had a few. One in second section of the battery. I bought a Bob was buying a machine that bunch of them, convinced that I could sell Cerullo was supposed to indicate if a car’s wheels them. They didn’t sell and I wound up sell- Dneeded alignment just by driving over it. I ing them for the same price as a regular bat- [email protected] learned the hard way that the machine was tery. What I was quite sure was a brilliant not accurate because when cars that had just idea really wasn’t very well received by our had a four-wheel alignment went over it, it of- customers. ten indicated an alignment was needed. I used to lament my failures. Then I start- Another brilliant idea: I bought a machine ed thinking about the failures of some of the that would tell if a car needed new shock ab- biggest car companies in the world. The Ed- sorbers. It seemed to be a great machine until sel, of course, is considered by many to be I retested several cars on which I had just in- the mother of all carmaker ideas that did not stalled new shocks. The machine often work out. Arguably the most notorious auto- showed new shocks were needed when obvi- motive design failure of all time (the grille ously they were not. was often famously described as “an When they were first introduced, I Oldsmobile sucking on a lemon”), it did not thought everyone would want a built-in send the Ford Motor Company down the tubes for good. The company learned from that mistake and produced cars that were more popular with customers. Back in 1986, GM tried converting a stock gasoline engine into a diesel. It had all kinds of problems, including blown head gaskets, diesel pump problems and shearing cylinder head bolts. The diesel venture cost GM a fortune, but now the carmaker is offering a diesel option on the Chevy Cruze. Maybe GM learned something from that failed diesel experiment. Then there was Jaguar’s failed attempt to make engine cylinder liners out of a material called Nikasil, a nickel-silicon plating used on engine components. It had worked out well in Porsches, but when Jaguar tried it, it failed miserably. The Cadillac V8-6-4 engine also seemed like an incredibly good idea back in 1981. By The Cadillac V8-6-4 engine of the early ’80s, which could switch off some switching off and on some cylinders on de- cylinders on demand depending on how much power was needed, had mand, a driver could have V8 power when it its problems. But GM persevered and eventually developed the North- was needed and four-cylinder economy star engine, Cadillac’s mainstay powerplant for almost 20 years. when it wasn’t. It seemed like the ideal solu- continued on page 10 8 October 2013 Trade Secrets tion to the poor fuel economy most Tucker 48. In the end, Preston Tuck- Cadillacs had been delivering. Un- er wound up in jail and the cars he Editor & Publisher fortunately, several problems, in- did manage to build became an im- John Lypen cluding a weak cooling system cast- portant part of automotive history. 248-312-2700 ing, caused its downfall. What Surviving Tuckers have brought as Executive Editor seemed like a brilliant idea was a much as $2 million at classic car auc- Karl Seyfert, CMAT, LI, AF-SAE disaster. The silver lining is that tions. A brilliant idea, but perhaps a Cadillac got its act together and little ahead of its time. Managing Editor Paul M. Eckstein came up with the Northstar engine. The Tucker story—of a star- Back in 1965, Chrysler built a tur- crossed auto company start-up—is Art Director bine-powered concept car. I recall not unlike the John DeLorean story. Harold A. Perry driving one of the 55 cars that actu- William Gock wrote in Popular Me- Senior Writers ally were produced and was im- chanics magazine of the DeLorean: Bob Cerullo, AF-SAE pressed with its power but surprised “Despite being one of the most Mike Dale, SAE Dan Marinucci, AF-SAE, L1 by the heat the engine gave off even iconic cars in American motion pic- Mark Warren, AF-SAE, CMAT, L1 hours after it was shut down. ture history (thanks, Michael J. The fourth-generation Chrysler Fox), the DeLorean DMC-12 was a Contributing Writers Sam Bell turbine engine ran at up to 44,500 prime example of an A-plus concept Cecil Bullard rpm. It could run on diesel, unlead- with an F for execution. Even be- Bob Chabot ed gas, kerosene, jet fuel, vegetable fore his notorious involvement in an Jim Gibson oil and even tequila—or so it FBI sting operation and drug case, Paul Weissler seemed. The engine had far fewer John DeLorean was no stranger to Production Manager moving parts than a traditional pis- poor decisions. While the DeLorean Veronica Knight ton-based internal combustion en- was originally slated for production 248-312-2712 gine. The 1965 turbine engine gen- in Puerto Rico, a last-minute offer Subscriber Service erated 130 brake horsepower and an by the U.K. of cheap labor and real 847-559-7316 instant 425 ft.-lbs. of torque at stall estate shifted operations to North- Classified Advertising Manager speed, making it good for 0 to 60 ern Ireland, where many of the fac- Michael Padalino mph in 12 seconds at a temperature tory’s workers had never held auto- 800-858-3137 of 85°F; it would sprint quicker if motive jobs before. On top of a poor Regional Sales Manager the air was cooler and denser. build quality, the V6-powered Chris Cardinal There were some wonderful plus- DMC-12 took a dismal 10.5 seconds 610-253-2463 es to having an engine with so many to shoot from 0 to 60—and you Associate Publisher fewer moving parts and a generally couldn’t seem to get the thing past Dave Marlowe cleaner exhaust. But it produced ex- 88 mph without finding yourself 248-312-2720 cess amounts of oxides of nitrogen back in 1955.” PUBLISHED BY (NOx) and lots of heat. I recall one The Trade Secret is to realize that HEARST BUSINESS PUBLISHING, INC., pundit saying he was afraid it would even though many of your ideas may A UNIT OF THE HEARST CORPORATION melt his dog if he happened to walk not have worked out, that doesn’t Steven R. Swartz past the tailpipe while the engine mean you should stop innovating. President & Chief Executive Officer, was running. Controlling those as- One or two could easily hit the jack- Hearst Corporation pects of the exhaust proved to be pot. Never allow yourself to be dis- William R. Hearst III very difficult, and it led to the couraged by failure. Thomas Edi- Chairman, Hearst Corporation demise of the Chrysler turbine auto- son, when asked how many times he Frank A. Bennack, Jr. mobile, another brilliant idea that failed while trying to develop a prac- Executive Vice Chairman, didn’t work out. tical light bulb, reportedly answered Hearst Corporation Then who can forget the Tucker? this way: I have not failed a thou- Richard P. Malloch Preston Tucker conceived a car with sand times; I have successfully dis- President & Group Head, Hearst Business Media some really amazing safety and per- covered a thousand ways not to Steven A. Hobbs formance features as well as a rear make a light bulb. Executive Vice President & Deputy Group Head, engine. It had a lot going for it, and With all the resources the giant car Hearst Business Media by all rights should have been a great companies have to guide their deci- Robert D. Wilbanks success. But it wasn’t. About 50 cars sions, even they make big mistakes. Vice President & Group Controller, Hearst Business Media were built in a former defense plant You should not give up trying to come in Chicago. Tucker folded in early up with great ideas. One day one Kevin F. Carr President, Motor Information Systems 1949, and the 1948 was the only might make a big difference in your model year for the car known as the business and possibly your life. 1301 W. Long Lake Road, Suite 300, Troy, MI 48098 10 October 2013.