Indie Auto

New Yorker story shows difficulties of an outsider reporting on auto industry

by Steve in Links 5

(UPDATED FROM 4/25/2024) Industry coverage by journalists from outside the automotive media can be a mixed bag. They are less likely to succumb to the groupthink that can undercut reporting from the likes of Automotive News or a buff magazine, but outsiders are also more likely to miss factual nuances that a beat reporter would get. An example of [...]

The Studebaker Hawk reached its high point in 1957 — and fell rather quickly

July 30, 2026 20

(EXPANDED FROM 6/12/2024) The Studebaker Hawk arguably reached its peak in 1957. This was when it sold the best — almost 20,000 units. This was also Peak Hawk from a styling standpoint. For one shining moment, Studebaker had [...]

Automotive News’ Laurence Iliff puts away pom-poms for the Slate Truck

July 28, 2026 15

Automotive News’ coverage of product launches tends to display lots of pom-pom waving, so it was curious that a recent story about the Slate Truck was fairly negative. I think it is entirely reasonable to discuss why this fledgling electric [...]

James Ward offers more nuanced take on Packard’s fall than other auto histories

July 23, 2026 36

(EXPANDED FROM 2/26/2024) James A. Ward’s Packard book, The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company, is dwarfed by Automobile Quarterly’s epic tome edited by Beverly Rae Kimes (2002) as well as Stuart R. Blond’s (2021) [...]

The XR-400 wouldn’t have ‘saved’ AMC but it pointed in a useful direction

July 22, 2026 6

(EXPANDED FROM 7/7/2023) A while back Stéphane Dumas quite rightly noted that another alternative to the 1964 Rambler Tarpon concept car was the XR-400. This was a 2+2 convertible proposed to American Motors in 1962 [...]

The 1956 Lincoln’s styling proved to be a one-year wonder

by Steve in Design Notes 19

(UPDATED FROM 1/6/2023) The 1956 Lincoln was one of the brand’s most-important postwar cars. Almost 54,000 cars left the factory — an all-time record not broken until 1966. The Ford Motor Company was clearly intending to make a big splash in the luxury-car field. Not only did Lincoln flaunt the only fully restyled car from the Big Three that year, but this was [...]