This is yet another oversized hard-cover book from the Consumer Guide folks. It’s an entirely competent effort led by Richard M. Langworth and James Flammang but may be at least somewhat redundant if you already have another Consumer Guide book that covers this time period.
One advantage of this book over Cars of the Sizzling ’60s (2002) is that it is organized around individual nameplates by year. Although there are plenty of big color pictures, Langworth and Flammang offer considerably more detailed narrative — both about the cars as well as the business strategy behind them.
Langworth later states about this book, “look upon our written commentary as accompanying boilerplate” (2014). He was being overly modest. This book offers some prescient analysis, such as the quote below about how the Edsel proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Ford Motor Company.
Of course, one can quibble with a few details. For example, the authors suggest that the first Rambler-based Ambassador in 1958 could be viewed as a “kind of gas-guzzling dinosaur — the type of car Mr. Romney said he wasn’t building anymore” (p. 8). Eh. The new Ambassador represented a meaningful downsizing — nine inches shorter and seven narrower than the 1957 Nash-based Ambassador (Mitchell, 1994). There’s also a small fact error: they say AMC sold “exactly 1,340” Ambassadors in 1958. That’s the tally for the top-end Customer four-door hardtop; overall Ambassador sales surpassed 14,500, according to another Consumer Guide book (2006).
A fascinating aside about this book can be found on Langworth’s website (2014): “I don’t remember this book, but the publishers had a way of vacuuming the work of their authors and reissuing it, and I’m sure Flammang and I were the victims in this case; but maybe we were paid for it, I don’t remember.”
Another odd detail is that Flammang’s middle initial is listed as “R.” Flammang’s other books listed on Amazon.com use the middle initial “M.” Was this a typo . . . that leaked into a spin-off book published 13 years later?
Great American Automobiles of the 60s
- Richard M. Langworth, James R. Flammang and auto editors of Consumer Guide; 1992
- Publications International, Lincolnwood, Ill
(1960 Edsel) “When the Edsel bombed, Lincoln, Continental, and Mercury were reunited into one division, leaving Ford with just two U.S. entities. When we look at the dreadful duplication and confusion among the five GM divisions today, how can we not see the Edsel as a kind of hero? Today Ford is even successfully separating the styling of shared bodies, like the Cougar/Thunderbird and Sable/Taurus, further distancing the image of one from another. While the $350 million loss may not be the cheapest lesson Ford ever received, the Edsel’s failure may eventually go down in history as a blessing in disguise.” (p. 141)
(1960-63 Imperial) “Before Exner left Chrysler in 1962, he had planned a new truncated Imperial for that year, a companion for his downsized 1962 Dodges and Plymouths. This didn’t reach production, which was a good thing. The actual 1962 Imperial was an improved version of the ’61. Sales predictably improved — who was it who said ‘no one ever lost money underestimating the taste of the American public?’ Dealers moved nearly 7000 examples of the bread-and-butter Crown four-door hardtop, the best single model performance enjoyed by Imperial since halcyon 1957.” (p. 178)
(1967-69 Cadillac Eldorado) “Although the ‘unbreakable’ chain drive did fail on occasion, and the U-joints packed up regularly, for such a complicated car the early Eldorado was remarkably reliable. Collectors consider the ’67 the superior model because it was the first of the series, but the 472 is a better engine, and prices of nice examples haven’t diverged much to date.” (p. 60)
OTHER REVIEWS:
RE:SOURCES
- Auto editors of Consumer Guide; 2002. Cars of the Sizzling ’60s: A Decade of Great Rides and Good Vibrations. Publications International, Lincolnwood, IL.
- ——–; 2006. Encyclopedia of American Cars. Publications International, Lincolnwood, IL.
- Langworth, Richard M.; 2014. “Books.” richardlangworth.com. Accessed Nov. 19.
- Mitchell, Larry G.; 1994. Illustrated AMC Buyer’s Guide. MBI Publishing Company, Osceola, WI.
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