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Month: February 2024
Readings
James Ward offers more nuanced take on Packard’s fall than other auto histories
(EXPANDED FROM 12/15/2022) 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 […]
Current Events
Can Rivian survive long enough to launch a less-expensive SUV?
On March 7 Rivian is expected to unveil a smaller and cheaper sport-utility vehicle called the R2 to compete against the Tesla Model Y. Although such a move could be crucial to boosting the fledgling […]
Media Analysis
Has a subscription to Automotive News become too costly?
When my subscription to Automotive News recently renewed I was surprised to see that the annual price rose to $299 from $169 last year. This is for the digital and print editions; if I had […]
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Fake Design
Was the 1940-41 Lincoln Continental the all-time most influential U.S. halo car?
(EXPANDED FROM 2/14/2023) Since this is Presidents’ Day, let’s take another look at what I have suggested is the most influential halo car of all time built in the United States — the original Lincoln […]
Multimedia
VW Superbowl ad waxes nostalgic for the kind of cars it no longer makes
Volkswagen has received a good response to the ad it ran during the Superbowl last weekend. Titled “An American Love Story,” the 60-second ad and an extended version attempt to cultivate nostalgia for the brand’s […]
Links
Car and Driver playfully roasts a 1964 Ford Thunderbird convertible
Car and Driver’s road test of a 1964 Ford Thunderbird reminded me of what I enjoyed about the magazine in its heyday. Although it threw in a few bits of fawning praise, that struck me […]
Design Notes
1956 Ford Country Sedan wagon: The once and future Explorer
(EXPANDED FROM 1/25/2022) Nineteen-fifty-six was a pivotal year for Ford station wagons. This was essentially the last time that the brand would offer an old-fashioned, utilitarian wagon for more than three decades. When the Ford […]
Links
Bullet-nosed 1950 Studebaker was called futuristic when it was introduced
Last month Indie Auto made fun of articles written with artificial intelligence by running a fake piece about the 1950 Studebaker (go here). The infamous bullet-nosed car deserves more attention than that, so let’s take […]