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Home2025March

Month: March 2025

1968 Dodge Monaco
Gallery

Was Lynn Townsend’s first major failure the 1967-68 full-sized Dodge?

March 31, 2025 Steve 6

Lynn Townsend led a remarkably quick turnaround of the Chrysler Corporation, but he started to lose altitude in the late-60s. One might debate what were key turning points, but I would suggest that the 1967-68 […]

Lake Quinault sunset
Photo Essay

The automobile has opened Lake Quinault to the world

March 30, 2025 Steve 0

Prior to the automobile, Lake Quinault was a remote area mainly populated by the Quinault tribe and a few Anglo-Americans who carved homesteads out of a dense rainforest. But once Highway 101 was extended to […]

Quotes

Virgil Exner Jr.’s oral history discusses Studebaker Lark and 1962 Chryslers

March 29, 2025 Steve 3

I checked out David Crippen’s (1989) oral history of Virgil Exner Jr. to see if he offered any useful factual details about two lingering historical debates — why the Studebaker Lark as well as the […]

Quinault Kestner forest and trees
Current Events

Five things to consider as you follow the news on Trump’s automotive tariffs

March 28, 2025 Steve 2

News is moving quickly on the Trump administration’s trade wars. As you drill down into the details of each plot twist, it can be helpful to keep in mind the big picture. In other words, […]

1956 Mercury Montclair 4-door hardtop rear quarter
History

1956 was an odd transition year for Ford’s Mercury brand

March 27, 2025 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 3/3/203) The 1956 Mercury represented the end — at least for the next four years — of Edsel Ford’s original conception of the brand. Since it was introduced 1939, Mercury had been positioned […]

Data Dive

Four-door subcompacts were not exotic in late-60s and early-70s

March 26, 2025 Steve 23

(EXPANDED FROM 8/3/2023) The rise of the four-door subcompact generated a robust debate at Indie Auto a few years ago (go here), so I did a data dive to bring some facts to the table. […]

1976 Cadillac Seville
Links

The 1975-79 Cadillac Seville was a confused young sedan

March 25, 2025 Steve 16

Over at Driven to Write, jm2 (2025) recently offered a spirited defense of the first-generation Cadillac Seville. He called it a “shining star” that would “become a benchmark and gain the significance of an icon […]

1956 Packard plant
Literature

1956 Packard booklet hints at how James Nance got too big for his britches

March 24, 2025 Steve 11

(EXPANDED FROM 11/1/2021) Old Car Brochures has an unusual marketing piece from Packard. “Story of a Living Legend and the world in which it grows” showcased the automaker’s history as well as its last-ditched effort to […]

Mount Saint Helens and moon at dusk
Photo Essay

The story behind a Mount Saint Helens observatory is colored by tragedy

March 23, 2025 Steve 0

Perhaps the best view of Mount Saint Helens is from the Johnston Ridge Observatory. The facility, which is located on Highway 504 east of Castle Rock in Washington state, is named after David A. Johnston. […]

Quotes

Automotive News: Late-50s one of the best eras for U.S. car design

March 22, 2025 Steve 2

Only rarely will Automotive News publish a historical piece. One such occasion was when it ran a feature about former Chrysler design head Virgil Exner. The thing I find most striking about this article is […]

Posts pagination

1 2 … 4 »
  • 1964 Studebaker Challenger
    Brooks Stevens’s rejection of brand continuity was bad for small automakers
    June 14, 2025 0
  • EVs need a George Romney to champion them in the next few years
    June 13, 2025 15
  • Citroen SM
    Citroen SM: A surprisingly conventional next step
    June 12, 2025 5
  • 1936-37 Cord 810/812 tried to do too much at once
    June 11, 2025 10
  • 1963 Studebaker Daytona convertible
    Classic film shows human side of Studebaker’s end
    June 10, 2025 15
  • Once upon a time, car wheels were 36-to-42 inches in diameter
    June 9, 2025 5
  • Ram customized pickup
    What would you think if it was 1965 and you could magically see this truck?
    June 8, 2025 1
  • Brooks Stevens’s 1965 Studebaker Lark concept: Almost a baby Continental
    June 6, 2025 5
  • 1949 Packard Super Eight
    Packard kept a bigger foothold in the luxury-car field than commonly assumed
    June 5, 2025 9
  • Exner bio offers mostly positive take on controversial car designer
    Peter Grist views car designer Virgil Exner through rose-tinted glasses
    June 3, 2025 9
  • 1970 Mercury Cyclone
    1970 Mercury Montego had a last-of-the-wine quality
    June 2, 2025 2
  • A query, a thank you and an update on miscellaneous stuff
    April 4, 2025 0
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 124
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