(EXPANDED FROM 7/2/2021) Patrick Foster has questioned whether the 1964 Rambler Tarpon show car would have sold better than the Plymouth Barracuda if it had reached production. His rationale was that neither compact sporty coupe […]
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 […]
I am ambivalent about Charles K. Hyde’s book, Riding the Roller Coaster: A History of the Chrysler Corporation. The American automotive history field desperately needs more scholarly books, and Hyde is a relatively rare academic […]
(EXPANDED FROM 6/23/2023) A while back Indie Auto reader Geeber asked about what happened to Chrysler Corporation’s market share in the premium-priced field after Dodge went downmarket in 1960. He was referring to a major […]
Peter Wilding had technical problems posting a comment so I’m running it as a stand-alone letter to the editor. If you experience a similar issue, send your comment here. Know that I rarely withdraw a […]
In response to soaring import sales in the early-1970s, US automakers made brave promises of a counterattack. In retrospect, many of those promises sound decidedly hollow. For example, in the wake of a critical review […]
Roy D. Chapin Jr. showed little self awareness when recounting his tenure as head of AMC from 1967-77. He participated in an oral history project sponsored by the Henry Ford museum. The Automobile in American […]
The 1971-72 Dodge Demon is a weird historical anomaly in that it showed the Chrysler Corp. at both its best and worst. Giving the compact A-body an entry-level sporty coupe turned out to be the […]
(EXPANDED FROM 6/16/2023) A few years ago Jim and Cheryl Farrell’s articles about the 1961 Continental’s development got me thinking about what might have happened if Robert McNamara had succeeded in killing the Lincoln brand. […]
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 […]
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