Random Shots
2010s
Media Analysis
2015 Mustang: How obesity is justified
Except for relatively rare moments of downsizing, the dominant tendency in the American auto industry is toward bigger, glitzier and more powerful vehicles. Each time a car adds poundage, the automaker — usually with the […]
Drive-By Musings
Car design conformity was the norm even before regulations
Question-of-the-day features can often result in banal flame wars. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised that a “red meat” question by The Truth About Cars — is regulation ruining car design — generated a fairly […]
Design Notes
A frowny face
The 2010-to-present Volvo S60 has relatively distinctive taillights but they culminate in odd center brows. Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
Media Analysis
The truth about cut-and-spin journalism
We have previously discussed how the relentless pressure for content at 24/7 automotive websites can lead to basic errors (go here). A more subtle but common problem is cut-and-spin journalism. This is where a harried […]
Drive-By Musings
Is Automobile Quarterly dead?
As mentioned in a Links mini-review, this high-quality magazine appears to have died — but its ghost remains (the publication’s website is gone but the Facebook page is still online). The auto history media has devoted very […]
Media Analysis
Does the Internet dumb down auto history?
In some respects the rise of the web has been the best thing that ever happened to American automotive history. Just click on Google’s “images” tab and you instantly have access to far more pictures […]
Readings
American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company
Bryce Hoffman, a Detroit News auto industry reporter, offers a sympathetic perspective about how Ford navigated through the Great Recession. Hoffman was given a great deal of access to company leaders and internal documents. In return, […]
Readings
Saab Cars: The Complete Story
Information is hard to find for minor imported brands such as Saab. Thus, any book on this automaker is helpful. Saab Cars is an oversized hard-cover book with a nice balance between text and large, full-color […]
Readings
‘Carjacked’ book brings up issues the buff media should address
Compared to Asphalt Nation (Holtz, 1997), Carjacked focused more on critiquing car culture and less on presenting policy alternatives. Authors Catherine Lutz and Anne Lutz Fernandez also paid more attention to encouraging individual readers to change […]