Random Shots
2010s
Quotes
Chris Bangle: 1960s supercars more distinctive than modern ones
“I’m not going to call (today’s high-priced sports cars) supercars, that is why I refer to them as supercar-ish. Besides Ferrari and McLaren you will find them scattered all around (the 2018 Geneva auto show). […]
Letters to the Editor
Preserving web-based automotive history is important
The following letter is from rivguy: This is a response to a four-year-old post (go here), and happily the Curbside Classic site is still alive and well. I discovered CC over six years ago. At […]
Current Events
How would you save the Chrysler brand?
Jalopnik recently took a walk on the clickbaity side by asking readers how they would save Chrysler: The brand. The post by Rory Carroll (2021) elicited the usual range of responses, from earnestly mundane to […]
Quotes
‘Doling out progress at the minimum possible rate’
“The US auto industry has been perhaps the best example of a sector falling into a rut and doling out progress at the minimum possible rate for at least 30 years. It’s criminal IMO that […]
Media Analysis
Automotive News stops dragging its knuckles on climate change
A recent Automotive News editorial (2020) flatly declared that the planet “is warming at a dangerous rate, and the global auto industry has a major role to play in fixing the problem.” Another unsigned editorial […]
Links
On the origins of the 1974 Riviera and 2021 Grand Wagoneer
Wayne Kady comments about the bustleback Buick: The April 2021 issue of Collectible Automobile has a letter from retired General Motors’ designer Wayne Kady. He described how GM’s head designer William Mitchell ordered him to […]
Design Notes
How Toyota ruined the Scion xB
When the Scion xB was redesigned for the 2008 model year, it was upsized from a subcompact to a compact. That added a foot in length, almost three inches in width and more than 600 […]
Auto Paedia
Halo cars are popular but not always a good idea
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 […]
Editor's Note
Indie Auto wins 2020 E. P. Ingersoll Award
The Society of Automotive Historians has given the 2020 E. P. Ingersoll Award to Indie Auto. The award is named after Edward Platt Ingersoll (1861-1920), who was the editor of Horseless Age. This was the […]