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Business strategies
Quotes
Maryann Keller: Postwar GM had ‘almost pathological resistance’ to change
Maryann Keller was one of the most astute automotive analysts of the last half century. A short passage in her 1993 book, Collision, arguably sums up as well as anyone the primary reason why General […]
Fake Design
Was the 1963-64 Studebaker Avanti a fatal mistake?
(EXPANDED FROM 4/22/2022) The 1963-64 Studebaker Avanti has been described by historian Patrick Foster as “one of the most beautiful automobiles ever to grace the road” (2008, p. 138). Even so, the premium-priced sporty coupe […]
Multimedia
Lincoln Continental Mark III versus Cadillac Eldorado: Which one was better?
Adam Wade of Rare Classic Cars & Automotive History (2025) recently compared the Lincoln Continental Mark III and the first-generation Cadillac Eldorado. Although the Mark III had a much simpler and more derivative design, Wade […]
Literature
1965-69 Chrysler: Trying to sell prestige in a rapidly changing culture
(EXPANDED FROM 3/15/2023) The Chrysler brand during the second half of the 1960s was one of that automaker’s biggest success stories. We have discussed the design of its cars (e.g., go here and here), so […]
Data Dive
How badly did the ‘aeroback’ hurt GM’s 1978-79 mid-sized sales?
(EXPANDED FROM 4/24/2023) Collectible Automobile suggested a while back that the “aeroback” styling of the 1978-79 Buick Century hurt its sales (Witzenburg, 2023). However, the article didn’t compare output with previous years or other General […]
History
1981-82 DeLorean illustrates Detroit’s failure to understand the rise of imports
(UPDATED FROM 9/23/2022) The easiest way to sum up the spectacular failure of the DeLorean Motor Company is to say that its founder was exceptionally unlucky. I am hard pressed to think of a worse […]
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Quotes
K. T. Keller predicted the end of late-50s styling excesses
K. T. Keller stepped down as Chrysler Corporation’s board chair in 1956 but he still weighed in on auto industry matters. For example, in a 1958 interview he made a rather pointed prediction that implied […]
Media Analysis
Automotive News gets surprisingly negative on Tesla Cybertruck
Automotive News isn’t noted for tough-minded journalism, so I was surprised by the negative tone of a recent Tesla Cybertruck story. It started with the provocative headline: “Cyberflop? Tesla discounts Cybertruck as demand cools for […]