(UPDATED FROM 6/16/2024) David Burrell has written what may be the most detailed account of how William Mitchell vainly tried to shift the “boat-tail” 1971 Buick Riviera to a mid-sized platform. Burrell’s story in Retro […]
(UPDATED FROM 4/25/2024) Industry coverage by journalists from outside the automotive media can be a mixed bag. They are less likely to succumb to the groupthink that can undercut reporting from the likes of Automotive […]
(UPDATED FROM 11/24, 2023) A March 1964 Car Life article offers a fascinating take on why Studebaker shifted production from its South Bend main plant to a much smaller one in Hamilton, Ontario — which […]
(UPDATED FROM 4/17/2024) Motorcade is among the more obscure magazines included in the Automotive History Preservation Society’s archives. A preview of the 1969 models may hint at why the magazine apparently did not survive the […]
(EXPANDED FROM 4/21/2023) Auto history books get surprisingly little attention in the buff media. If a newly published book is mentioned at all, it tends to be done with a modestly rewritten press release. Analytically […]
(UPDATED FROM 8/28/2024) Motor Trend had an intriguing article in its December 1960 issue. Former designers supposedly gave their “frank opinions of what is right and wrong with all of the 1961 cars” (1960, p. […]
(EXPANDED FROM 3/25/2025) The Cadillac Seville has come up in our recent debate about whether William Mitchell stayed too long as head designer at General Motors (go here). Thus, I thought I would expand on […]
(UPDATED FROM 1/16/2024) The Chrysler Corporation’s decision to shrink its big Plymouth and Dodge for 1962 occurred at a tumultuous time — the U.S. auto industry was reportedly considering even more dramatic changes due to […]
(EXPANDED FROM 11/29/2023) A while back Indie Auto reader Jim Volgarino suggested that I check out the Internet Archive for hard-to-find automotive literature. That was terrific advice. One publication I have explored is Consumer Reports […]
(UPDATED FROM 1/3/2024) A July 1966 Car and Driver road test of the Toyota Corona insisted that if this car was “typical of what the Japanese automobile industry is producing, European manufacturers deserve to lose […]
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