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HomeChevrolet

Chevrolet

1999 Pontiac Firebird 30th Anniversary Trans Am
Design Notes

Obesity won even when it lost with pony cars

July 16, 2025 Steve 3

(EXPANDED FROM 9/16/2021) The failure of the fourth-generation Chevrolet Camaro and Firebird wasn’t supposed to happen. General Motors’ F-body siblings had a much more modern — and arguably more stylish — design than their sole competitor, […]

1976 Chevrolet Malibu
Data Dive

1964-77 Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu shows growth of mid-sized American cars

July 15, 2025 Steve 10

(EXPANDED FROM 11/2/2023) When the Chevrolet Chevelle was introduced in 1964, it was marketed as an “intermediate.” The term was awkward sounding but made some sense because the car was close to the mid-point in […]

1969 International pickup
Design Notes

1969 International was too little, too late to save brand’s big-truck ambitions

June 24, 2025 Steve 4

(EXPANDED FROM 5/12/2023) This post has received a burst of new attention, so I thought it would be a good time to expand it. I have argued what may not be very popular with fans […]

1965 Ford Taunus P4
History

Was Ford right to kill the front-wheel-drive 1963 Cardinal/Redwing?

June 19, 2025 Steve 14

(EXPANDED FROM 6/30/2023) Did Ford make the right move by pulling the plug on a U.S.-built subcompact slated to be introduced in the fall of 1962? The car, initially called the Cardinal but later renamed […]

1965 Studebaker Lark 4-door sedan
Fake Design

Brooks Stevens’s 1965 Studebaker Lark concept: Almost a baby Continental

June 6, 2025 Steve 5

(EXPANDED FROM 12/10/2021) Brooks Stevens apparently was convinced that he could come up with a new-generation Studebaker Lark design that would top the work of Raymond Loewy’s team, which was then working on an Avanti-inspired […]

1968 Chevrolet Corvette convertible
Ad Nauseam

A 1968 Chevrolet Corvette and a manly man. Alone.

May 23, 2025 Steve 0

David E. Numm liked to remind himself that he was fairly comfortable — and that things could be much worse. At least he was assigned to be a copy writer for the Chevrolet Corvette rather […]

1970 Ford LTD
Data Dive

Was the decontented Ford LTD ‘essentially like an Impala’?

May 21, 2025 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 8/29/2023) A few years ago Curbside Classic’s Paul Niedermeyer stopped by to critique our story, “1969 Ford LTD attacked GM’s hierarchy of brands in multiple ways.” He repeated the following quote from the […]

Circa 2002 Chrysler PT Cruiser
Gallery

2001-10 Chrysler PT Cruiser shows limitations of retro design

April 29, 2025 Steve 12

One of the qualities that distinguished the 2001-to-2010 Chrysler PT Cruiser from most other retro designs was that it wasn’t an homage to a specific car. That presumably gave designers more flexibility to improvise. However, […]

Quotes

Commentators explain how a fat Corvette stops space aliens

April 19, 2025 Steve 0

Some of the web’s most important writing is buried in auto blog comment sections. One of my all-time favorites is a soliloquy by Truth About Cars commentator Petezeiss (2014). In response to criticisms of the 2015 Corvette Z06’s weight gain, […]

1972 Chevrolet Camaro front quarter
Satire

Declassified 1970s documents spark debate among auto historians

April 1, 2025 Steve 4

(UPDATED FROM 3/30/2023) Newly declassified intelligence documents show how a crash program by American automakers to switch to eggcrate grilles for their 1972-73 models thwarted a space alien invasion. The strategy worked so well that […]

Posts pagination

« 1 … 3 4 5 … 11 »
  • 1962 Ford Galaxie 500
    Did the 1960-64 big Ford sell so poorly because of cannibalization?
    October 16, 2026 34
  • 1969 Ford Thunderbird 4-door Landau
    Was 1969 the beginning of the end for the Ford Thunderbird four-door Landau?
    October 14, 2026 7
  • Is Jaguar smart to run away from its design heritage?
    October 8, 2026 21
  • AMC Pacer clay model
    Why does Joe Ligo’s PBS series sanewash AMC’s mid-70s recklessness?
    October 6, 2026 20
  • 2026 Ram pickups
    A pyrrhic regulatory rollback and how poorly the 1978 Matador coupe sold
    October 2, 2026 12
  • 1962 Chrysler 300
    Did the 1962-65 Chrysler 300 ‘dilute’ the letter series?
    September 29, 2026 7
  • 1968 Ford Mustang
    Three rules led to a stultifying level of conformity in 1960s U.S. car design
    September 24, 2026 12
  • Internet problems reminded me of U.S. automakers in the 1970s
    May 2, 2026 1
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 146
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