(EXPANDED FROM 3/19/2021) Virgil Exner was a champion of neo-classical styling throughout his career. His best designs were arguably a handful of 1950s Chrysler show cars but his most influential work didn’t come until later. […]
Peter DeLorenzo (2023) continues to insist that design is the “Ultimate Initial Product Differentiator” in the American automobile market. Among “mainstream” vehicles he singles out the Cadillac Lyriq for bringing “high-concept executions to the street.” […]
(UPDATED FROM 10/23/2023) One of the most pervasive myths in U.S. automotive history is that a V8 engine became essential to an automaker’s success in the first half of the 1950s. This narrative is summed […]
The 1965 Newport is an important car for Chrysler because it propelled the brand to record-breaking sales. That, in turn, made Chrysler a force to be reckoned with in the premium-priced, big-car field for the […]
(UPDATED FROM 5/7/2021) Warren Buffett has argued that the Number 1 problem a company can face is choosing the wrong chief executive officer. Buffett, who is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has said that over the […]
DECG50Â offered an intriguing response to our article, “Did early-postwar independent automakers try too hard to be different?” I’m front-paging the comment to give it wider attention. I wonder if the lingering effects of the depression […]
The December 2023 issue of Collectible Automobile has a photo feature of a 1967 Rambler Rebel SST hardtop. As usual, the images are first rate and the accompanying text give a nuts-and-bolts overview of the […]
(UPDATED FROM 8/15/2014) Imagine that you run Volkswagen’s American operations in 1959. Detroit has finally woken up to the public’s growing interest in small cars. Studebaker and American Motors are already seeing dramatic sales increases after introducing compact […]
(EXPANDED FROM 2/26/2021) The above-pictured car is a 1951 Packard 300 in front of an auto shop in Northern California. The faded paint and spray-painted “For Sale” sign are good metaphors for the new-for-1951 design, […]
(EXPANDED FROM 11/5/2021) The Jaguar Mark X may have a commanding presence, but it also looks like the lovechild of a Hudson step-down and the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Intriguing but somehow . . . not […]
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