Indie Auto

1969-77 Plymouth: Fuselage wasn’t so bad compared to anti-fuselage

by Steve in History 6

(EXPANDED FROM 5/13/2022) Ponderous styling of the so-called “fuselage” Plymouths has been pointed to as the biggest reason why sales were smaller than the well-regarded platform it replaced (e.g., auto editors of Consumer Guide, 2022). Output for the fuselage body, which was produced from 1969-73, was indeed lower by an average of 15 percent [...]

Reader says ‘armchair critics’ of the 1974 AMC Matador sedan are wrong

April 29, 2024 7

LL stopped by to respond to our story, “Joe Ligo is overly kind in Nash/AMC Ambassador film.” Here’s what he had to say: “I have a 1972 Matador and a 1974 Matador and without a doubt the 74 is a way better car for ride [...]

Even Motor Trend complained about the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado’s brakes

May 1, 2024 3

Motor Trend was hardly known as the toughest of the car-buff magazines, but it nevertheless complained about inadequate brakes on the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado. A road test found that the Eldorado’s stopping distances from 60 [...]

New way to support Ate Up With Motor and should auto media collaborate?

by Steve in Media Analysis 3

Aaron Severson has set up a Patreon account for Ate Up With Motor and is starting to provide paywalled content for donors. His first piece illustrates the thoughtfulness of his approach to automotive history — a 4,000-word story that revisits the NHTSA report on the early Chevrolet Corvair. Go here to sign up. Severson (2024) notes that his goal is [...]

Road rage is on the increase — and some states are worse that others

April 22, 2024 3

Today as I was merging onto Interstate 5, a Jeep Cherokee honked while roaring around me into the fast lane. I had been doing the speed limit through an interchange that is regularly tracked by highway patrol. I would like to [...]

What if the 1970 Lincoln Continental hadn’t slavishly copied Cadillac?

April 19, 2024 32

J. P. Cavanaugh’s (2024) recent ode to the 1969 Lincoln Continental got me thinking: What if the 1970 redesign returned to the more compact size of the groundbreaking 1961-63 models? What might that have looked [...]

J. ‘Kelly’ Flory Jr.’s American Cars series is pricey but valuable

by Steve in Readings 0

The most valuable books I have bought of late have been J. “Kelly” Flory Jr.’s American Cars reference guides. This multi-volume set provides wide-ranging information on U.S.-made cars during the postwar era. Flory’s series has some advantages over the Standard Catalog of American Cars. Perhaps most importantly, he came up with a format that [...]

Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories

October 14, 2022 70

This is a centralized place for readers to offer specific story ideas to Indie Auto. Any ideas are welcome, from potential feature stories to book reviews. I have started off by posting suggestions from readers [...]