The automaker General Motors filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, and there are surely two people rejoicing in their graves at the news. One of them is John DeLorean. The other is Clement Attlee.

DeLorean will be known to many as the maverick car designer whose numerous battles and foibles as a GM executive and founder of the DeLorean Motor Company made such colorful press in the 1970s. Sci-Fi film lovers will have fond memories of the DeLorean DMC-12, the super car that featured large in the Hollywood blockbuster "Back to the Future."

The book "On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors," which tracks DeLorean's adventures within GM's Byzantine corridors of power, became an instant best seller when it was published in 1979.