(UPDATED FROM 1/6/2023) The 1956 Lincoln was one of the brand’s most-important postwar cars. Almost 54,000 cars left the factory — an all-time record not broken until 1966. The Ford Motor Company was clearly intending […]
(UPDATED FROM 7/17/2024) A few years ago I came across a 1975 Mercedes-Benz SL. In all honesty, I wasn’t nearly as enthused as when I photographed a previous-generation W113 model, with its iconic “pagoda” roof. […]
(UPDATED FROM 4/17/2024) Motorcade is among the more obscure magazines included in the Automotive History Preservation Society’s archives. A preview of the 1969 models may hint at why the magazine apparently did not survive the […]
(UPDATED FROM 7/26/2021) A few years ago Peter DeLorenzo (2021) argued that the auto industry had “reached the nadir of design. And it isn’t pretty.” The big reason why: Cars look so blandly similar that […]
(UPDATED FROM 4/24/2024) In an interview back in 2024 Wayne Kady was hesitant to name his favorite car design among those he had worked on during a 38-year stint at General Motors, saying that was […]
(UPDATED FROM 12/21/2023) Road & Track complained that for 1960 the Auto Union’s two-door hardtop was given a “crude ‘American’ touch, a clumsy wrap-around” windshield (Bond, 1959). That made this body style look even more […]
(EXPANDED FROM 6/7/2024) Curbside Classic commentator nlpnt (2024) argued a while back that the fuselage Chrysler’s best-looking body style was the wagon. Conversely, I would add that the two-door hardtop was the least aesthetically pleasing […]
(EXPANDED FROM 2/4/2022) The above image shows an early design proposal by Brooks Stevens for a redesigned AMC Ambassador planned for 1972-73. The car has vague similarities to mockups pictured in a Patrick Foster (2013) […]
(EXPANDED FROM 5/3/2024) Ponderous styling of the so-called “fuselage” Plymouths has been pointed to as the biggest reason why sales were smaller than the well-regarded platform it replaced (e.g., auto editors of Consumer Guide, 2022). Output for […]
(EXPANDED FROM 2/27/2024) The 1974-76 Ford Elite highlights one of the Ford Motor Company’s bigger mistakes of the 1970s. The automaker was too slow in entering the mid-sized personal coupe field. The Elite was a […]
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