Indie Auto

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

by Steve in Readings 35

(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) two-volume biography of Packard’s final leader, James J. Nance. Yet when it comes to analyzing the automaker’s postwar [...]

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

July 17, 2026 18

(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 [...]

1975 Mercedes-Benz 450 SL lacked the taut brilliance of its predecessor

July 14, 2026 10

(UPDATED FROM 7/17/2024) A few years ago I came across a 1975 Mercedes-Benz SL. In all honesty, I wasn’t nearly as enthused as when I photographed a previous-generation W113 model, with its iconic “pagoda” roof. The R107 models, [...]

Did GM go too far in downsizing the 1986 Riviera, Toronado and Eldorado?

July 10, 2026 16

(UPDATED FROM 7/1/2024) General Motors has been criticized for going too far in downsizing its 1986 E-body personal coupes, which included the Buick Riviera, Oldsmobile Toronado and Cadillac Eldorado. Sales fell off a cliff, but [...]

1967-72 Pontiac Firebird shows limits of ad illustrations

by Steve in Literature 10

(UPDATED FROM 78/2024/ Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman’s artwork in Pontiac’s advertising played an important role in the brand’s popularity during the 1960s. Others have done a thorough job of showcasing the team’s most iconic ads (e.g., Niedermeyer, 2015; Stroll, 2015). Thus, rather than duplicating efforts, I would like to offer a caveat about the [...]