????《亡命駕駛》（Drive）是一部關(guān)于好萊塢特技車(chē)手的電影，由瑞恩?高斯林主演。這部電影在上映之前便被炒得沸沸揚(yáng)揚(yáng)，這讓我產(chǎn)生了一個(gè)念頭：從《警網(wǎng)鐵金剛》（Bullitt）到《速度與激情》（The Fast and Furious），關(guān)于汽車(chē)的電影比比皆是，但為什么關(guān)于汽車(chē)公司的電影卻少之又少？

????畢竟，汽車(chē)行業(yè)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)重重，世人矚目，這個(gè)行業(yè)里的人肯定像他們制造的產(chǎn)品一樣“賣(mài)點(diǎn)多多”。這個(gè)行業(yè)充斥著沖突與和解的戲碼，這些素材肯定能演繹出動(dòng)人心弦的故事。而汽車(chē)之城底特律則歷經(jīng)興衰，無(wú)疑為電影拍攝提供了絕佳的背景。（克林特?伊斯特伍德主演的《老爺車(chē)》（Gran Torino）就是最有利的證據(jù)。）

????好萊塢曾經(jīng)嘗試將汽車(chē)行業(yè)搬上熒幕，最初的想法是拍攝現(xiàn)實(shí)主義題材，可最終卻都成了浮云。1978年，阿瑟?黑利的小說(shuō)《汽車(chē)城》（Wheels）被改編成電視劇，由羅克?赫德森出任主角，飾演聯(lián)邦汽車(chē)公司（National Motors）一位冷酷的高管。他一門(mén)心思想要推出“雷鷹”型汽車(chē)，但最終卻成為自身罪惡的犧牲品——一部非常無(wú)聊的電視劇。在根據(jù)哈羅德?羅賓斯色情味十足的小說(shuō)改編的電影《貝絲》（The Betsy）中，男主角勞倫斯?奧利弗（偏偏選中了他）飾演一家汽車(chē)巨頭的創(chuàng)始人，劇中老態(tài)龍鐘的男主人公在退休后想要造一輛安全、節(jié)能的汽車(chē)。

????結(jié)局我們自然都知道。然而，30年過(guò)去了，好萊塢的電影人還在不斷嘗試。

????其實(shí)制片人缺乏的是可信的人物和真實(shí)的對(duì)白。而現(xiàn)在，底特律資深新聞?dòng)浾弑葼?維拉斯克的新書(shū)《汽車(chē)往事》（Once upon a Car）的橫空出世則滿(mǎn)足了這兩個(gè)條件。維拉斯克對(duì)汽車(chē)行業(yè)知根知底，幾乎跟書(shū)中的主要角色都有交情。他在小說(shuō)中精心刻畫(huà)了人物的性格，并通過(guò)真實(shí)轉(zhuǎn)述人物的對(duì)話(huà)來(lái)表現(xiàn)各種沖突。這是第一本關(guān)于汽車(chē)行業(yè)的紀(jì)實(shí)作品，讀起來(lái)簡(jiǎn)直就像是在看劇本。

????這本書(shū)的樣書(shū)已經(jīng)在底特律引起了轟動(dòng)。維拉斯克在書(shū)中引述了汽車(chē)公司高管們?nèi)绾瓮诳喔?jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手，以及如何在背后互相攻擊。換句話(huà)說(shuō)，在他的書(shū)中，他們都是活生生的人，只不過(guò)，根據(jù)《汽車(chē)新聞》（Automotive News）的報(bào)道：“底特律汽車(chē)業(yè)三巨頭長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)一直遵守一條不成文的行為準(zhǔn)則——避免類(lèi)似的惡意詆毀。因此，它們才能在同一個(gè)城市和平共處長(zhǎng)達(dá)數(shù)十年之久?！?/p>

????總的來(lái)說(shuō)，這本書(shū)的內(nèi)容并不陌生：通用汽車(chē)公司（GM）陷入破產(chǎn)，就像一頭傷痕累累卻不自知的雄象；鬧騰不停的克萊斯勒兩易其主，先是與戴姆勒奔馳公司（Daimler-Benz）合并，后又被賣(mài)給了私人資本運(yùn)營(yíng)商瑟伯勒斯（Cerberus），這種無(wú)力的易主舉措使克萊斯勒舉步維艱；而福特公司（Ford）經(jīng)歷了數(shù)年混亂不堪的管理，最終選擇了一名航空業(yè)前高管作為公司領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人，以期自救。

????在書(shū)中，我們可以看到許多生動(dòng)的角色。如果將本書(shū)拍成電影，通用公司CEO里克?瓦格納可以由湯姆?威爾金森飾演。里克?瓦格納身材魁梧，心地善良，他清楚公司出現(xiàn)了嚴(yán)重的問(wèn)題，但和善的性格決定了他不會(huì)采取冷酷的手段，而要想使公司免于倒閉，卻必須冷酷無(wú)情。

????而他的副手鮑勃?魯茨高瞻遠(yuǎn)矚，性格執(zhí)拗，致力于打造更優(yōu)秀的汽車(chē)，但有時(shí)也會(huì)為了自己的利益和個(gè)人的聲譽(yù)轉(zhuǎn)變立場(chǎng)。肖恩?康納利絕對(duì)是飾演這個(gè)角色的不二人選。

????The advance buzz around Drive, the movie about a Hollywood stunt driver played by Ryan Gosling, got me to thinking: We have lots of movies featuring cars, from Bullitt to The Fast and Furious, but where are the movies about car companies?

????After all, the people in this high-stakes, high-profile business should be as interesting as the products they build. Opportunities are plentiful for the conflict and resolution that make for a compelling story. The city of Detroit, with its colorful boom-and-bust history, makes a compelling backdrop. (For proof, see Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino.)

????When Hollywood has tried capturing the auto industry on film, it aimed at realistic drama but wound up with suds. In 1978, Arthur Hailey's Wheels starred Rock Hudson as a ruthless top executive of National Motors who lets nothing get in the way of launching the Hawk but falls victim to his own demons. Very daytime TV. In The Betsy, based on a steamy Harold Robbins novel, the aging founder of an auto giant, played by (of all people) Laurence Olivier, comes out of retirement to develop a safe, fuel-efficient car.

????We know how that turned out. 30 years later, they are still trying.

????What filmmakers have lacked is believable characters and realistic dialogue. Until now, that is, thanks to a new book, Once upon a Car, by veteran Detroit newspaperman Bill Vlasic. Vlasic knows the industry in and out and enjoys near-universal access to its key figures. He recounts a tale filled with shrewd insights into their characters and conflicts told through verbatim accounts of their conversations. It's the first nonfiction auto book that reads like a screenplay.

????Advance copies have already created a stir in Detroit. Vlasic quotes executives trash-talking the competition and dissing each other behind their backs. In other words, he portrays them as behaving like actual human beings, except that, according to Automotive News, "The Detroit 3 have coexisted for decades in the same city by observing an unwritten code of conduct that shuns such badmouthing."

????In broad outline, the story is a familiar one: GM (GM, Fortune 500) stumbles into bankruptcy like a wounded but not particularly self-aware bull elephant; feisty Chrysler falters under the feckless ownership of, first, Daimler-Benz and then Cerberus; and Ford (F, Fortune 500), after years of chaotic management, finds salvation in the form of a former aerospace executive.

????There are plenty of meaty roles here. In the movie version, GM CEO Rick Wagoner would be played by Tom Wilkinson. He's a big, well-intentioned man who knows he is surrounded by dysfunction but is too gentlemanly to resort to the ruthless tactics that are needed to save his company from collapse.

????His highly-visible lieutenant, Bob Lutz, is type-casting for Sean Connery: crusty and driven to build better cars, yet occasionally sidetracked by his own interests and the maintenance of his image.