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1980s
Readings
Patrick Foster’s 2013 American Motors book is still sort-of the best of the bunch
(EXPANDED FROM 12/13/2021) In recent years a number of American Motors books have been published, but Patrick Foster’s 2013 history is still the best — sort of. Foster (2024) was a co-author with Tom Glatch […]
History
Would GM have done better in the 1960s and 1970s under Alfred Sloan?
(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? […]
Multimedia
Adam Wade says the best year for American cars was 1965. Really?
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 […]
History
Late-1960s Ford car design film shows US automakers losing it
(EXPANDED FROM 4/28/2023) A late-1960s Ford promotional film offers a fascinating glimpse into the car and truck designs being worked on at the time. Perhaps more than intended, The Design Makers — Inside Ford Design, […]
Media Analysis
Could American Motors have survived if it ditched passenger cars for Jeeps?
In conjunction with his recent Public Broadcasting series on American Motors, Joe Ligo (2025) wrote a provocative article for Hagerty. He wondered whether AMC might have survived for at least a while longer if it […]
Drive-By Musings
Why does the U.S. have a far higher traffic-death rate than France?
In the late-1970s the U.S. and France had roughly similar traffic-death rates. However, in recent years the two countries have diverged to such as degree that by 2021 French people were three times less likely […]
Photo Essay
This small town is something of a working-class car museum
A huge sign in the center of Goldendale welcomes you to a “Sportsman’s PARADISE.” However, the city’s Chamber of Commerce insists that this has “Always Been A Car Town” (GCC, 2025). That’s partly because Goldendale […]
Media Analysis
How come a car that goes 0-60 in 9.7 seconds is now so terrible?
(EXPANDED FROM 2/3/2022) The attention economy can be unforgiving, so it makes sense that auto media outlets would be aggressive in marketing their content. For example, the other day Rob Delisa submitted a comment to […]
Readings
Standard Catalog of Imported Cars, 1946-1990 is sort-of better than second edition
(EXPANDED FROM 5/1/2020) The Internet appears to be getting better as a source of information about cars. For example, Automobile Catalog offers basic product details about an admirably broad range of domestic and foreign brands. […]