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HomeDrive-By Musings

Drive-By Musings

1979 Pontiac Firebird TransAm
Drive-By Musings

What were the five most successful postwar facelifts among US cars?

February 25, 2025 Steve 9

In the “Story Ideas Bank” Stewdi offered a topic that got me thinking: What are the most successful facelifts of all time? The power was out at Indie Auto’s world headquarters for most of the […]

1970.5 AMC Gremlin
Drive-By Musings

How much did postwar automakers decontent cars to keep the price down?

February 10, 2025 Steve 6

Indie Auto commentator Peter Wilding (2025) raised a good point when noting that he “never understood the idea of deliberately decontenting a car to be able to advertise a lower price, when hardly anyone actually […]

1969 Pontiac Firebird fake ad
Drive-By Musings

How typical was car snobbery in postwar high schools?

January 27, 2025 Steve 23

(EXPANDED FROM 2/6/2023) A few years ago Curbside Classic reposted a comment from a guy named Rob who had a “soul-crushing experience” driving a 1959 Rambler American to high school hangouts (Niedermeyer, 2023). In 1968 […]

1973 Dodge Dart
Drive-By Musings

Chrysler’s Lynn Townsend in 1973: Even a compact is too small

November 1, 2024 Steve 18

CEO Lynn Townsend hinted at why the Chrysler Corporation arguably neglected its aging line of compacts in the first half of the 1970s. Townsend told Forbes in 1973, “The subcompacts are just too small. The […]

2024 Mazda Miata
Drive-By Musings

If you dislike recent styling trends does that mean you only like old cars?

September 7, 2024 Steve 10

Jim stopped by to respond to our story, “Styling comparison: C8 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray versus the original.” He wrote: “I think it would be nice to know which modern sports cars, if any, you do […]

Drive-By Musings

Why U.S. auto history focuses so little on the business side of manufacturing

August 12, 2024 Steve 5

Aaron Severson (2024) recently suggested that auto history counterfactuals almost always focus on design, engineering and product-planning choices rather than what he considers “far more decisive and dominant factors,” which he argues are “capital investment […]

Drive-By Musings

Would you believe that there was once a car in this picture?

June 5, 2024 Steve 0

A fairly popular type of auto history post includes photos of street scenes from the past. Readers tend to focus on naming the cars. It’s good, clean fun if you have nothing better to do. […]

Olympia traffic at dusk
Drive-By Musings

Robert Atkinson Jr. suffers from the insularity that he complains about

April 16, 2024 Steve 1

Curbside Classic tends to avoid political debates in the comment threads for good reason. As a case in point, a reposting of Brock Yates’ “Grosse Pointe Myopians” essay drew Robert Atkinson Jr. (2024) to share […]

Drive-By Musings

What do you think American automobiles will be like in 2043?

December 8, 2023 Steve 10

A while back I asked Indie Auto readers, “If you could have foreseen the future in high school, would today’s cars surprise you?” George Denzinger subsequently suggested in our “Story Ideas Bank” that we prognosticate […]

Automotive History Preservation Society website
Drive-By Musings

Automotive History Preservation Society’s new website isn’t always better

April 28, 2023 Steve 2

When I was updating a story today I noticed that the Automotive History Preservation Society has changed its URL. The organization’s website can now be found at autohistorypreservationsociety.org. Indie Auto links when possible to its […]

Posts pagination

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  • 1965 Studebaker Cruiser proposal
    Car Life speculates about why Studebaker shut down its South Bend plant
    July 17, 2026 8
  • 1956 Lincoln
    The 1956 Lincoln’s styling proved to be a one-year wonder
    July 17, 2026 18
  • 1975 Mercedes-Benz 450 SL
    1975 Mercedes-Benz 450 SL lacked the taut brilliance of its predecessor
    July 14, 2026 6
  • 1988 Oldsmobile Toronado
    Did GM go too far in downsizing the 1986 Riviera, Toronado and Eldorado?
    July 10, 2026 16
  • J. 'Kelly' Flory Jr.
    J. ‘Kelly’ Flory Jr.’s American Cars series is pricey but valuable
    July 10, 2026 4
  • 1968 Pontiac Firebird green convertible
    1967-72 Pontiac Firebird shows limits of ad illustrations
    July 7, 2026 10
  • Miscellaneous ramblings about being on the road
    June 25, 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

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  • Geeber on Adam Wade’s top-10 ugliest ‘classic’ cars list is decidedly quirky
  • Geeber on Miscellaneous ramblings about being on the road
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