Daimler-Benz
Mercedes-Benz W123: Back when form really did follow function
(EXPANDED FROM 10/9/2020) When I think of Mercedes-Benz, the car that comes most quickly to mind is the W123. Introduced in 1976, this was the automaker’s entry-level offering up through 1982, when the smaller W201 […]
Is the decline in distinctive national approaches to car design a bad thing?
Karl Ludvigsen (2022) has posted on his Substack newsletter the text of a speech he delivered back in 1989. Included in his remarks is a question that is still important: “will national characteristics continue to […]
How the greenhouse on US cars has evolved from the late-40s to present
(UPDATED FROM 3/1/2020) Greenhouses have not typically changed as frequently as other parts of the American automobile’s external styling, but they go a long way toward summing up the dominant design approach of a given […]
Leo Levine was an aggressive p.r. guy for Mercedes
“Levine prolifically wined and dined the trade press, but he also took what he considered any disrespect for the brand personally. (And if he didn’t take it personally, he certainly acted as if he did.) […]
1981-82 DeLorean illustrates Detroit’s failure to understand the rise of imports
(UPDATED 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 time […]
Infiniti’s dog leg is gone — all hail the floating roof!
Infiniti’s new design direction has a “good news and bad news” quality. The good news is that the dog-leg rear pillar is being retired. Automotive News reporter Hans Greimel (2020) recently wrote that the reason […]
CO2 emissions: Automakers still partying like it’s 1975
The U.S. automobile industry has shown admirable ingenuity in developing new technologies to reduce the greenhouse gases produced by its cars and trucks. The problem is that a religious devotion to bigger, glitzier and more […]
Are boutique brands worth the trouble?
When Volkswagen decided to discontinue its “new” Beetle, it did not have to deal with logistical issues such as remodeling showrooms like Toyota had to do when the Scion brand was phased out. That’s because […]