(EXPANDED FROM 6/17/2022) Compact cars represented a dramatic change for U.S. automakers when they were introduced in the early-1960s. After spending the previous decade making its “standard-sized” cars bigger, glitzier and more powerful, Detroit responded […]
(EXPANDED FROM 1/28/2022) Indie Auto commentator Geeber recently discussed how premium-priced big cars did better than their lower-priced brethren as the 1970s progressed. His comment, which is worth reading in full (go here), spurred me […]
Recently published figures from Automotive News suggest that the dealership networks for U.S. automakers have changed dramatically since the early-1960s. For one thing, the Big Three’s total number of franchises — 19,249 as of January […]
(EXPANDED FROM 10/21/2022) A few years ago J P Cavanaugh (2020) received pushback from some Curbside Classic commentators for calling the fuselage Chryslers a “Deadly Sin.” As a case in point, Moparlee (2020) wrote, “I […]
(EXPANDED FROM 10/1/2021) The four-seater Thunderbird was a surprisingly pivotal car for the Ford Motor Company during the postwar period. The T-Bird showed that the No. 2 automaker could better compete against mighty General Motors if it pioneered new […]
The U.S. automobile industry has shown admirable ingenuity in developing new technologies to reduce the greenhouse gases produced by its cars and trucks. The problem is that a religious devotion to bigger, glitzier and more […]
When Volkswagen decided to discontinue its “new” Beetle, it did not have to deal with logistical issues such as remodeling showrooms like Toyota had to do when the Scion brand was phased out. That’s because […]
A Ford executive recently told Automotive News that the Fusion sedan’s forthcoming discontinuance was the result of a “breathtaking” decline in the mid-sized sedan segment that has “accelerated over the past couple years” (Martinez, 2018). In […]
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