Perkins and Chevrolet, bound by mutual admiration

Corvette fans the world over are eulogizing former Chevrolet General Manager Jim Perkins as the man who saved the famous high-performance sports car from the trash heap in the 1990s.

But to Perkins, who died Dec. 28 at age 83, Corvette was only one chapter in a life story that saw a young Chevrolet fan rise to run the company, take off to help Toyota start Lexus, come home to Chevy and then steer America's largest private dealership group.

As with all bosses, Perkins faced the Machiavellian dilemma of whether it's better to be loved or feared by employees.

He chose the love approach.

The folksy, Texas-born Perkins, fond of wearing cowboy boots with his business suits, made it his practice to treat people with respect and empower them to do their best work. People who were motivated and content in their work, he believed, would take pride in making their cars and their brand excel.

He led by example. In 1991, Chevrolet race car driver Tom Kendall broke both legs in a crash at Watkins Glen, N.Y. After weeks of rehab in Indiana, Kendall was ready to go home to California, but because of his injuries, he couldn't fly commercial airlines.

"I told Jim that Tom needed a way home and asked if he had a suggestion," Dick Amacher, former GM racing engineer, wrote in a tribute. "He smiled and said, 'I think I need to fly out to California for a dealer meeting. I'll call for the GM Gulfstream.' Jim and I flew to Indianapolis where an ambulance was waiting with Tom, his fiancee, Carolyn, and his mom. The medics lifted Tom on board and we took off for Burbank."

It would not be the only time in his career Perkins bent a company rule for a more noble outcome.

"That's just who Jim was," Amacher wrote. "He never hesitated to do what was right for people. I don't know a person at GM that did not love him and love to be in his company."

Perkins, born March 7, 1935, in Waco, Texas, fell in love with Chevrolet when he was 8 years old sitting on his dad's lap and steering the family's 1938 Chevy sedan.

"My dad always had a Chevrolet," he told Automotive News in 2011. "I thought Chevy hung the moon."

"By the time I was 15 or 16 years old I was probably as good a Chevrolet mechanic as there was in the state of Texas," he reminisced with Automotive News in 2011. But he didn't get much farther than the lobby door.

FB01"I had a hell of a time even getting an interview," he recalled. He begged his way into the lowest-starting job at Chevrolet: a warranty parts return clerk in a warehouse in 1960.

But that was all Perkins needed. From there came a long string of promotions into management. He handled regional jobs and dealer relations, served in a number of corporate roles and became general manager of Buick.

In 1984, Toyota wooed Perkins to jump ship, and he became senior vice president of the Japanese automaker's foray into luxury vehicles. Perkins played a key role in the creation and launch of the Lexus brand.

But by the late 1980s, Chevrolet was in turmoil. Then-GM President Lloyd Reuss persuaded him to do something former GM executives rarely did — return to Chevrolet. He replaced General Manager Bob Burger, who was about to retire.

Taking over in 1989, Perkins found Chevrolet in a mess. The decade had left it peddling such dull cars as the Lumina, Corsica and Beretta, as well as the about-to-be-launched Lumina APV minivan, derisively referred to as "the Dustbuster" for its resemblance to the hand-held vacuum cleaner. The restyled Caprice was so bloated in its styling that some said it reminded them of a parade float.

"I was stunned," he said in 2011. "I thought, 'Perkins, what in the hell have you done?' I should've done more due diligence than I did before coming back from Toyota."

But then he went to work. First order of business: Save the Corvette.

GM, which was losing about $2,000 per car sold, had deemed the Corvette "non-essential" and planned to kill it. Perkins would have none of that.

Ralph Kramer, Chevrolet's public relations director in the early 1990s, told Automotive News that Perkins devised a way to use funds earmarked for marketing to get prototypes, built of what would become the Corvette's fifth generation. "He had the opportunity to move some funds around and he did that surreptitiously, causing no end of anguish among the auditors," Kramer said. The fifth-generation Corvette debuted in 1997, and sales and profits recovered.

Starling also said Perkins shored up truck sales, and he considers the Impala SS muscle sedan — born out of the frumpy-looking Caprice — to be one of Perkins' greatest hits.

After his GM days ended in late 1996, Perkins retired to Texas. But 90 days later he was back at work, this time in retail and working closer to dealers than ever before. Perkins went to work for North Carolina megadealer Rick Hendrick as CEO of the company's new-car operations. With 100 new-car dealerships, Hendrick Automotive Group was the nation's largest dealership group at the time.

In an email to Automotive News, group Chairman Rick Hendrick wrote of Perkins: "I cannot credit him enough for the impact he made on our organization and on me personally. He was an incredible friend and confidant, especially during difficult times. Our industry has lost a true icon, and I've lost a dear friend."

Automotive News Editor-in-Chief Keith Crain, citing Perkins' rescue of the Corvette, his oversight of Chevy racing and influence on product development, called him "the last true general manager."

GM product development chief Mark Reuss wrote on Facebook: "My Dad hired him back from Toyota/Lexus. They were extremely close, and our family is very sad. JP, you are one of the best."

Wrote his colleague Ed Burns on Perkins' obituary page: "The patience yet firm decisiveness with which he ran Chevrolet was a Wharton MBA course unto itself. Jim was leadership personified. Even more admirable about him was the very protective and caring way he looked after everyone at Chevrolet. Jim treated all of us as his Extended Family and we knew that he was always supporting us."