Thomas W. Sidlik

From a young age I have been interested in automobiles. I grew up in New England, far away from the auto industry of the Midwest. The area did have an auto industry but it was long gone by the time I could recognize car brands by taillights or grille ornaments. I never did see any Pope, Corbin, Columbia, Knox or a variety of others on the road. 

When I discovered there were actual magazines that covered the auto industry I became a voracious reader at the newsstand, and then a subscriber to “Car Life” “Motor Trend” and a few others that have gone by the wayside. The titles have changed but I still subscribe and get the print versions of many auto magazines. Of course, the “Viper” magazine is still my favorite. 

I went to college in New York City and Chicago. They have lots of cars and trucks on the road but don’t make many.  After graduation, I joined Ford in Dearborn. Hal Sperlich left to join Chrysler, followed by Lee Iacocca, I too did the same along with more than a few of my fellow colleagues and good friends. 

At Chrysler in the early 1980’s it was always fun because there was so much to do that was important; like walking a tightrope. Keep your balance, keep moving, and look ahead to the final goal. Don’t look back, just keep moving. I was fortunate in that I had the opportunity to move into several organizations during my career: finance, engineering, sales & marketing, procurement & supply and also be the general manager of small car operations and then Jeep. 

Team Viper weaved in and out of my career, but whether I had formal responsibility or not, I made sure I knew what was going on. I was always ready to help Roy and the team if needed. Prior to and during the formation of the Viper team, I was Director of Engineering Operations reporting to Francois Castaing. Both Francois and Bob Lutz made it very clear that the production of the Viper was top priority. My job was to help Roy assemble the personnel and resources in order to get the program approved; package it all together in a nice cohesive story so it was ready for program approval. Money was always tight but since I had worked in the corporate staff function in the headquarters, K. T. Keller Building, I knew how things operated and what could be done, what couldn’t, who to talk to, and who needed to be convinced. After a successful approval, Francois put me in charge of Special Vehicle Operations, again with responsibility for Viper, among others. Then I moved to finance as Product Development Group Controller which really did not change my involvement, except now my focus would be primarily on the finances. I had a few more career moves in finance and several in sales and marketing, and then the Platform teams were formed.  I was appointed General Manager of Small Cars, which included the Viper. I was happy to be involved one more time!