So what will the 78-year-old Bob Lutz, who has spent nearly half a century in the auto business, do in what he quips is his "early" retirement?

He's got a long to-do list: write, talk, fly, advocate and entertain other options put before him. 

Last week's Geneva motor show was abuzz with the rumors that Lutz, who had already announced his retirement from General Motors once, would do it again at any moment.

At the dinner he hosts with media during the show on what turned out to be the eve of the announcement, Lutz dodged the question of when but the conversation clearly sounded like swan song.