Tailfins, V-8s and Corvettes: The wake of an icon

For generations, General Motors fueled America's love affair with the automobile, building cars that defined their owners' status in life and the industrial might of the nation. But less than a year after entering its second century, the company that survived wars, international rivalry and even the Great Depression is being driven by the government into bankruptcy court.

The GM that helped move the world from horses to Chevys and Cadillacs is expected to file for bankruptcy protection Monday. The new GM that emerges sometime in the future will be leaner _ unsaddled from much of its debt and labor cost disadvantages that contributed to tens of billions of dollars of …