(EXPANDED FROM 8/25/2021) A few years ago Paul Niedermeyer (2021) wondered whether a 1961 Oldsmobile marketing image displayed people of color. The short answer is “no,” which we will talk about later in this story. […]
In the “Story Ideas Bank” James Duvall suggested that Indie Auto look into whether the 1965-66 AMC Ambassador sold better when it had a unique snout. To be more specific, he asked: “Why didn’t the […]
(EXPANDED FROM 1/19/2022) In a discussion about market segmentation a few years ago, DECG50 asked a good question: Would General Motors have been more disciplined if Alfred Sloan still headed the automaker in the 1960s? […]
(EXPANDED FROM 6/1/2023) The November 1940 issue of Popular Mechanics included an article about the just-introduced 1941 car models. However, curiously enough, Detroit’s latest wares were overshadowed by a cover story about the “automobiles of […]
(EXPANDED FROM 5/11/2022) Back in 2019 David Burrell wrote one of the better overviews of the downsized 1962 Dodge and Plymouth. However, he went astray on some important details. Unlike some other historical accounts, Burrell (2019) […]
Ranking the “best year” for American cars strikes me as clickbaity, but Adam Wade’s (2025) Rare Classic Cars & Automotive History vlog has gone there — and proposes 1965 as the winning year. Before explaining […]
(EXPANDED FROM 7/18/2023) Our discussion about the Ford Maverick got me thinking about Lee Iacocca. More than any other car, the Maverick reflected how Iacocca’s sensibility differed from that of Robert McNamara, the father of […]
(EXPANDED FROM 9/25/2023) Should I be embarrassed to admit that the first car magazine I subscribed to was Motor Trend? When I was around 11 years old I was enticed by one of those promotional […]
Even when Daryl Bates was old and near death, he still vividly remembered that moment in 1976. Back then he was a pretty optimistic person, but this time he simply couldn’t shake off his funk. […]
(EXPANDED FROM 1/2/2021) Ed Cray’s history of General Motors is one of the better automotive books in my library. A big reason why is that Chrome Colossus: General Motors and its Times eschewed the usual […]
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