Indie Auto
header-advert
  • Home
  • About
    • Introduction
    • Editor’s Notes
    • Story Ideas Bank
    • Why All The Data?
    • Fake Stuff
    • About Those Photos
    • Talk Legal To Me
    • Privacy Policy
  • All Our Features
    • Ad Nauseam
    • Bird Chatter
    • Calendar
    • Current Events
    • Data Dives
    • Design Notes
    • Drive-By Musings
    • Fake Designs
    • Gallery
    • Histories
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Links
    • Literature
    • Media Analysis
    • Multimedia
    • Our Sponsors
    • Photo Essays
    • Quotes
    • Random Shots
    • Satire
  • Look It Up
    • In Auto Paedia
    • By author
    • By automaker or brand
    • By time period
    • By topic
    • By vehicle type
  • Readings
    • General Reference
    • Specific Brands & Automakers
    • Auto Culture, Policy & Business Strategy
    • Bibliography
    • Where To Buy Your Books
    • Recently-Posted Readings
  • Links
    • Bibliography of Links
  • Contact
    • Emails & Newsletter
    • Rejected Comments
  • Donate
Home2024

Year: 2024

1956 Ugly Car of Year Award
Design Notes

1956 Ugly Car of the Year Award: Indies get desperate

December 31, 2024 Steve 17

(EXPANDED FROM 11/25/2022) For 1956 the Big Three were on relatively good behavior. Only two of their products was outrageous enough to be nominated for Indie Auto’s Ugly Car of the Year Award. All the […]

1964 Chevrolet Corvette
Literature

1953-73 Chevrolet Corvette ads gingerly showed changing gender roles

December 30, 2024 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 6/10/2022) One of the more common types of clickbait on auto history websites is to post an old-car ad and throw in a few paragraphs of background. Cranking out lots of short, breezy […]

Parody ads about the auto industry and media
Our Sponsors

Automotive Views: The otherworldly truth about Virgil Exner

December 29, 2024 Steve 0
1960 Mercury
Gallery

1960 Mercury took the wide look to an extreme

December 28, 2024 Steve 2

I am still practicing how to use my new photo-editing software, so here are a few images that illustrate an interesting moment in U.S. automobile design: This 1960 Mercury may be the most extreme example […]

1965 Ford Mustang
History

Lee Iacocca got lucky with the 1964-66 Ford Mustang

December 27, 2024 Steve 13

(UPDATED FROM 11/18/2022) The original Ford Mustang was the automotive equivalent of The Beatles rock band. The U.S. auto industry had never seen anything like it — a small sporty car that proved so popular […]

1974 AMC Matador coupes
Media Analysis

Bob Nixon interview left questions about 1974 AMC Matador and 1965 Marlin

December 26, 2024 Steve 0

(EXPANDED FROM 10/4/2014) We have previously critiqued American Motors designer Bob Nixon’s recollections about the Pacer (go here). Now let’s discuss his take on the 1974 Matador and 1965 Marlin. This portion of his Collectible […]

Readings

‘Industrial Strength Design’ offers lush but shaky take on Brooks Stevens

December 24, 2024 Steve 2

(EXPANDED FROM 6/14/2023) For good or ill, Brooks Stevens was one of the most influential independent U.S. auto design consultants of the postwar era. Despite some shaky analysis and factual lapses, the best book about […]

Gallery

The Stout Scarab didn’t just anticipate the modern minivan

December 23, 2024 Steve 1

(EXPANDED FROM JUNE 2, 2023) Histories about the Stout Scarab tend to emphasize that it was the first production minivan (Peek, 2021; Wikipedia, 2023). However, this innovative 1930s car strikes me as also being the […]

Parody ads about the auto industry and media
Our Sponsors

Close brush with gov’t closure hints at limits to electoral mandate

December 21, 2024 Steve 0
1971 AMC Gremlin and VW Beetle front
Design Notes

Richard Teague’s styling helped to kill American Motors

December 20, 2024 Steve 28

(EXPANDED FROM 3/19/2021) This story has received more reader pushback than almost any other single piece that I have published in Indie Auto. Even so, I think that it epitomizes what this blog is all […]

Posts pagination

1 2 … 22 »
  • 2006-7 Dodge Charger
    2006-2010 Dodge Charger: A cartoonish attempt at rip-roaring nostalgia
    June 5, 2026 6
  • 1950 Nash Rambler hood ornament
    Speedreaders.info is a rare source of book reviews, but quality varies
    June 3, 2026 0
  • 1958 Lincoln
    1958-60 Lincoln: Failing to beat GM at its own game
    June 2, 2026 15
  • 1957 Nash Ambassador
    Three videos: The death of car culture, rich people’s cars and the 1957 Nash
    May 29, 2026 6
  • 1963 Mercury Marauder
    1963 Mercury Marauder: Ford tries to do a premium-priced car on the cheap
    May 27, 2026 11
  • Did 1964 Ramblers share more parts between size classes than competitors?
    May 26, 2026 1
  • Patrick Foster shows how International Harvester failed to adapt
    May 13, 2026 5
  • Internet problems reminded me of U.S. automakers in the 1970s
    May 2, 2026 1
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 141
Society of Automotive Historian award to Indie Auto

Recent Comments

  • Randerson on 2006-2010 Dodge Charger: A cartoonish attempt at rip-roaring nostalgia
  • Philco Ford on 1958-60 Lincoln: Failing to beat GM at its own game
  • Zachary Morecraft on 2006-2010 Dodge Charger: A cartoonish attempt at rip-roaring nostalgia
  • Scampman on 1958-60 Lincoln: Failing to beat GM at its own game
  • Don on 2006-2010 Dodge Charger: A cartoonish attempt at rip-roaring nostalgia
  • Steve on 1958-60 Lincoln: Failing to beat GM at its own game
  • Scampman on 1958-60 Lincoln: Failing to beat GM at its own game
  • Don on 1958-60 Lincoln: Failing to beat GM at its own game
  • stewdi on Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
  • Randerson on Did 1964 Ramblers share more parts between size classes than competitors?
  • Steve on Three videos: The death of car culture, rich people’s cars and the 1957 Nash
  • Randerson on Three videos: The death of car culture, rich people’s cars and the 1957 Nash
  • Steve on 1950-51 Studebaker was ‘pinnacle of postwar styling’ that could have saved automaker
  • stewdi on 1950-51 Studebaker was ‘pinnacle of postwar styling’ that could have saved automaker
  • Steve on Three videos: The death of car culture, rich people’s cars and the 1957 Nash

Archives

Categories

Tags

1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s American Motors Auto culture Auto history media Auto media Automotive News Automotive Views Business strategies Chevrolet Compact cars Curbside Classic Design Design excesses Dodge Electric vehicles Engineering Fake advertising Ford Ford Motor Co. Full-sized cars General Motors Journalism standards Luxury cars Management culture Marketing Mid-sized cars Parody Patrick R. Foster Plymouth Premium-priced cars Public policies Rambler Reader comments Richard M. Langworth Stellantis Studebaker
Follow Us
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed
Search
Archives
Categories
Help keep the lights on
Quinault at night

Copyright © 2022 Olympia, Earth Media, LLC | All rights reserved