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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 7

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 River
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
History

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

March 27, 2025 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 3/3/2023) 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 […]

1968 Datsun 510 4-door sedan
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. […]

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) A 1956 Packard booklet hints at how its head James Nance got too big for his britches. A marketing piece titled, “Story of a Living Legend and the world in which it […]

Mnt. St. Helens at sunset
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 […]

Parody ads about the auto industry and media
Our Sponsors

Was the Studebaker Lark’s styling really stolen?

March 21, 2025 Steve 4

Posts pagination

1 2 … 4 »
  • 1962 Ford Galaxie 500
    Did the 1960-64 big Ford sell so poorly because of cannibalization?
    October 16, 2026 37
  • 1969 Ford Thunderbird 4-door Landau
    Was 1969 the beginning of the end for the Ford Thunderbird four-door Landau?
    October 14, 2026 7
  • Is Jaguar smart to run away from its design heritage?
    October 8, 2026 21
  • AMC Pacer clay model
    Why does Joe Ligo’s PBS series sanewash AMC’s mid-70s recklessness?
    October 6, 2026 21
  • 2026 Ram pickups
    A pyrrhic regulatory rollback and how poorly the 1978 Matador coupe sold
    October 2, 2026 12
  • 1962 Chrysler 300
    Did the 1962-65 Chrysler 300 ‘dilute’ the letter series?
    September 29, 2026 12
  • 1968 Ford Mustang
    Three rules led to a stultifying level of conformity in 1960s U.S. car design
    September 24, 2026 12
  • 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 146
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