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HomeDesign excesses

Design excesses

Citroen SM
Design Notes

Citroen SM: A surprisingly conventional next step

June 12, 2025 Steve 5

(EXPANDED FROM 12/4/2020) In a post on the Saab 99, we mentioned how in the late-60s and early-70s a handful of iconoclastic automakers tried to mainstream their basic designs. A case in point was Citroën. […]

Literature

Once upon a time, car wheels were 36-to-42 inches in diameter

June 9, 2025 Steve 5

(UPDATED FROM 1/3/2023) Indie Auto’s latest Sponsor of the Week is the legendary Auto & Debt magazine, whose June 2025 issue road tests the hot new 36-inch wheels. Of course, this is a fake ad […]

Parody ads about the auto industry and media
Our Sponsors

Auto & Debt magazine road tests the hot new 36-inch wheels!

June 8, 2025 Steve 1
1970 Mercury Cyclone
Drive-By Musings

1970 Mercury Montego had a last-of-the-wine quality

June 2, 2025 Steve 2

In a number of respects the 1970 Mercury Montego exuded a last-of-the-wine vibe. For one thing, it was the final reskinning of the mid-sized platform that the Ford Motor Company introduced in 1962. Let’s just […]

Design Notes

1971-73 Buick Riviera: The last stand against the broughamization of Detroit

May 15, 2025 Steve 24

(EXPANDED FROM 5/2/2022) Whatever else one might say about the 1971-73 Buick Riviera, its styling did represent a heroic level of resistance to the brougham look then sweeping through the U.S. auto industry. Instead of […]

1958 Packard
Design Notes

The 1958 Packard went too far in styling, size and pricing

May 6, 2025 Steve 17

(EXPANDED ON 9/30/2022) Indie Auto doesn’t generally dwell on collectible cars, but a restoration of a 1958 Packard shed light on what I have found to be one of the bigger peculiarities of the postwar […]

Parody ads about the auto industry and media
Our Sponsors

Subaru is trying to make a very big splash with new Outback design

April 22, 2025 Steve 0
Skamania General Store bus truck front quarter
Photo Essay

Old-fashioned Skamania may have anticipated the automobile’s future

April 20, 2025 Steve 0

How small is the hamlet of Skamania? So small that its focal point appears to be a general store that doesn’t have much food, there is only one gas pump, and the restroom consists of […]

1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV
Links

Knudsen’s favored 1972 Mark IV design borrowed from the Eldorado

April 16, 2025 Steve 7

(EXPANDED FROM 8/5/2022) A few years ago Dean’s Garage posted a fascinating story about the battle over the 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV’s styling. Jim and Cheryl Farrell (2022) described how a design proposal championed […]

Toyota Sienna and Venz
Design Notes

Early indications of Toyota embracing its inner Virgil Exner

April 14, 2025 Steve 6

(EXPANDED FROM 10/25/2021) The above photograph shows the beginning of Toyota’s embrace of sci-fi styling. In the foreground, the second-generation Sienna minivan (which was produced from 2003 to 2009) had simple but attractive styling (Wikipedia, […]

Posts pagination

1 2 … 20 »
  • 1964 Studebaker Challenger
    Brooks Stevens’s rejection of brand continuity was bad for small automakers
    June 14, 2025 0
  • EVs need a George Romney to champion them in the next few years
    June 13, 2025 15
  • Citroen SM
    Citroen SM: A surprisingly conventional next step
    June 12, 2025 5
  • 1936-37 Cord 810/812 tried to do too much at once
    June 11, 2025 10
  • 1963 Studebaker Daytona convertible
    Classic film shows human side of Studebaker’s end
    June 10, 2025 15
  • Once upon a time, car wheels were 36-to-42 inches in diameter
    June 9, 2025 5
  • Ram customized pickup
    What would you think if it was 1965 and you could magically see this truck?
    June 8, 2025 1
  • Brooks Stevens’s 1965 Studebaker Lark concept: Almost a baby Continental
    June 6, 2025 5
  • 1949 Packard Super Eight
    Packard kept a bigger foothold in the luxury-car field than commonly assumed
    June 5, 2025 9
  • Exner bio offers mostly positive take on controversial car designer
    Peter Grist views car designer Virgil Exner through rose-tinted glasses
    June 3, 2025 9
  • 1970 Mercury Cyclone
    1970 Mercury Montego had a last-of-the-wine quality
    June 2, 2025 2
  • A query, a thank you and an update on miscellaneous stuff
    April 4, 2025 0
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 124
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