(EXPANDED FROM 7/14/2023) I grant you that top-whatever rankings can be clickbaity, but I decided to do this story for a specific reason. In the postwar years Detroit tended to assume that rapid-fire restylings were […]
(UPDATED FROM 10/30/2023) Popular Science had a mixed record in making predictions about the auto industry during the postwar period. We have already discussed the magazine’s misfires in 1967 and 1970. Now let’s take a […]
(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 […]
(EXPANDED FROM 6/14/2023) For good or ill, Brooks Stevens was one of the most influential independent U.S. auto design consultants of the postwar era. Despite some shaky analysis and factual lapses, the best book about […]
I feel torn in writing a review about The Complete Book of AMC Cars (2024). New auto history books are rare enough these days that anyone who navigates the gauntlet of getting published deserves applause. […]
Motor Trend’s November 1964 issue predicted a few things that didn’t happen. They included: Of these two items, a sporty Pontiac sounded more plausible — and perhaps reflected an effort by the likes of John […]
Stuart R. Blond’s biography of Packard head James Nance is among the most unusual books in my automotive library. For one thing, Spellbinder: The Life of James J. Nance, is a two-volume set that stretches […]
(UPDATED FROM 10/16/2020) Charles K. Hyde’s history of American Motors and its constituent companies is a valuable scholarly addition to the literature. His book, Storied Independent Automakers: Nash, Hudson and American Motors, offers considerably more […]
Patrick R. Foster’s Hudson Automobiles: An Illustrated History lives up to its title. If you are mainly interested in pictures, this is your book. The 128-page paperback is dominated by photographs, artist sketches and advertising, […]
Patrick Foster (2005) once lamented that he couldn’t find a publisher for a book on George Romney. “A typical rejection goes something like this: George Romney led an exemplary life, was honest in business, never […]
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