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Home1970s

1970s

1980 AMC brochure cover with picture of American Center building
History

AMC’s Roy D. Chapin Jr. succumbed to the illusion of bigness

January 8, 2021 Steve 0

When writing a story about the 1974 AMC Ambassador, I came across American Motors car brochures for 1979 and 1980 that took the unusual step of picturing the company’s headquarters in Southfield, Michigan. In the 1979 […]

Readings

Hiott’s VW book captures essence of old Beetle better than new one

January 8, 2021 Steve 0

Andrea Hiott has written an engaging and nuanced automotive history that transcends the usual “car guy” narratives. Thinking Small: The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle offers a wealth of background about the political, economic […]

1966 Chevrolet Corvette
Auto Paedia

Halo cars are popular but not always a good idea

January 8, 2021 Steve 0

Halo cars tend to quite popular — even wetness inducing — among auto enthusiasts. That’s because the mission of halo cars is mostly to generate a positive buzz about a brand rather than high sales. So […]

Readings

Ed Cray’s ‘Chrome Colossus’ offers a masterful history of General Motors

January 2, 2021 Steve 0

Chrome Colossus: General Motors and its Times, is one of the best automotive history books in my library. Author Ed Cray eschewed the usual focus on product minutiae and instead focused on how GM’s growth in […]

1962 Plymouth and Dodge
Media Analysis

Did a rumor cause the downsized 1962 Plymouth and Dodge?

January 2, 2021 Steve 6

A few years ago Paul Niedermeyer (2017a) questioned the conventional wisdom that the downsized 1962 Plymouth and Dodge were an 11th-hour accident of history. In an epic essay, the Curbside Classic publisher poked holes in […]

Readings

Avanti book by John Hull provides a useful overview

December 26, 2020 Steve 0

To my mind, the Avanti’s history has two major parts: Under Studebaker and as an independent automaker. Of the Studebaker histories, Richard M. Langworth (1993) arguably offers the most detailed and analytically sophisticated narrative. The […]

Drive-by musings
Drive-By Musings

The good and bad of William Mitchell’s 1977 Pontiac Phantom

December 18, 2020 Steve 5

Dean’s Garage has a great discussion about William Mitchell’s swan song, the 1977 Pontiac Phantom (Smith, 2020). I must admit feeling rather ambivalent about this concept car. Although it strikes me as one of the […]

Elon Musk on Joe Rogan's podcast
Media Analysis

Elon Musk’s infamous interview: What the auto media missed

December 11, 2020 Steve 0

Joe Rogan’s (2018) podcast with Elon Musk may very well be the most infamous — and high-visibility — interview of an automotive executive ever conducted. Alas, the event received so much attention for the wrong […]

Parody ads about the auto industry and media
Our Sponsors

Automotive Views: GM and Ford made ‘honest accident’

November 27, 2020 Steve 0
Quotes
Quotes

Donald Trump took a shovel to John DeLorean’s estate

November 13, 2020 Steve 1

“DeLorean spends the rest of his life in and out of court. He declares bankruptcy in 1999. His Bedminster estate is purchased by a Connecticut-based golf-course development partnership, who within two years will sell it […]

Posts pagination

« 1 … 31 32 33 … 40 »
  • A query, a thank you and an update on miscellaneous stuff
    April 4, 2025 0
  • A sad reason bridges aren’t just used for driving over
    June 15, 2025 1
  • 1964 Studebaker Challenger
    Brooks Stevens’s rejection of brand continuity was bad for small automakers
    June 14, 2025 0
  • EVs need a George Romney to champion them in the next few years
    June 13, 2025 16
  • Citroen SM
    Citroen SM: A surprisingly conventional next step
    June 12, 2025 5
  • 1936-37 Cord 810/812 tried to do too much at once
    June 11, 2025 10
  • 1963 Studebaker Daytona convertible
    Classic film shows human side of Studebaker’s end
    June 10, 2025 15
  • Once upon a time, car wheels were 36-to-42 inches in diameter
    June 9, 2025 5
  • Brooks Stevens’s 1965 Studebaker Lark concept: Almost a baby Continental
    June 6, 2025 5
  • 1949 Packard Super Eight
    Packard kept a bigger foothold in the luxury-car field than commonly assumed
    June 5, 2025 9
  • Exner bio offers mostly positive take on controversial car designer
    Peter Grist views car designer Virgil Exner through rose-tinted glasses
    June 3, 2025 9
  • 983 AMC Eagle wagon
    Would anything have ‘saved’ American Motors?
    June 16, 2025 1
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 124
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