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HomeFord

Ford

1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
History

Was the 1966 Olds Cutlass Supreme the first mid-sized brougham model?

March 5, 2026 Steve 21

(EXPANDED FROM 2/14/2024) This is one of Indie Auto’s more hotly debated stories. Here I question Paul Niedermeyer’s (2024) contention that the 1966-67 Cutlass Supreme brought the “Great Brougham Epoch” to the mid-sized field. “With […]

1970 Mercury Cougar El Gato
History

1970 Mercury ‘El Gato’ Cougar raises intriguing questions

February 18, 2026 Steve 2

(EXPANDED FROM 1/23/2024) Bill McGuire’s (2021b) story about the Mercury El Gato got me thinking about Ford’s conflicted design direction in the early-70s. The concept car hinted at what the 1969-70 Cougar might have looked […]

1969 Ford LTD
Literature

1969 Ford LTD attacked GM’s hierarchy of brands in multiple ways

February 12, 2026 Steve 10

(EXPANDED FROM 7/5/2023) The LTD was one of the Ford Motor Company’s biggest successes in the 1970s because it attacked General Motors’ hierarchy of brands in multiple ways. After failing to beat the popular Impala […]

1970 Buick Riviera
Design Notes

The 11 worst single-year redesigns of postwar American cars

January 16, 2026 Steve 36

(EXPANDED FROM 7/14/2023) I grant you that top-whatever rankings can be clickbaity, but I decided to do this story for a specific reason. In the postwar years Detroit tended to assume that rapid-fire restylings were […]

1964 Dodge Dart GT convertible
History

1963-66 Dodge Dart was arguably as important as the Ford Mustang

January 13, 2026 Steve 7

(EXPANDED FROM 10/26/2023) One of the most underrated cars of the 1960s was the 1963-66 Dodge Dart. This “family” compact anticipated the size of the contemporary family sedan during a time when the American auto […]

1971 Ford Maverick coupe models
Ad Nauseam

What would an honest ad for the 1971 Ford Maverick have said?

January 2, 2026 Steve 2

(EXPANDED FROM 5/4/2023) When it was time to develop the print advertising for the 1971 Ford Maverick, the copyrighting team was told to be extra honest. In other words, come up with an approach similar […]

1973 Valiant VJ Charger
History

1970 Plymouth Barracuda should have been like an Australian Valiant Charger

December 26, 2025 Steve 16

(EXPANDED FROM 9/29/2023) The 1970 Plymouth Barracuda and its sibling the Dodge Challenger proved to be a costly mistake that epitomized Detroit’s slowness in responding to changing times. Indeed, the Chrysler Corporation’s early-1970s pony cars […]

1974 Chevrolet Camaro
Links

What predictions Jim Dunne got wrong in the first half of 1972

November 19, 2025 Steve 9

(UPDATED FROM 10/30/2023) Popular Science had a mixed record in making predictions about the auto industry during the postwar period. We have already discussed the magazine’s misfires in 1967 and 1970. Now let’s take a […]

1951 Ford convertible
Data Dive

Was the 1949-51 Ford the end of the sensibly-sized ‘standard’ American car?

November 12, 2025 Steve 7

(EXPANDED FROM 4/26/2023) Reasonable people can debate when the Big Three automakers stopped building sensibly-sized cars during the postwar period. For example, one might point to the 1956 Ford because it was only slightly larger […]

1983 Ford Thunderbird
Drive-By Musings

What were Detroit’s top-five most iconic vehicle designs from 1980-2000?

October 31, 2025 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 1/2/2024) A few years ago Michael Karesh (2023) of TrueDelta asked, “Which cars (model and year) from the Detroit Three since 1980 do you feel qualify as design icons?” I would invite you […]

Posts pagination

1 2 … 12 »
  • 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme
    Was the 1966 Olds Cutlass Supreme the first mid-sized brougham model?
    March 5, 2026 21
  • 1976 Plymouth Volare 2-door coupe
    Splashy new cars often were the biggest disasters during the postwar period
    March 3, 2026 1
  • Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
    March 2, 2026 12
  • 1968 Chevrolet C10 pickup
    Was the 1967-68 Chevrolet C10 the ‘first modern pickup’?
    February 27, 2026 7
  • 1941 Studebaker Commander 2-door coupe
    1941 Studebaker Commander: Ending its big cars on a high note
    February 26, 2026 11
  • 1961 De Soto
    Video histories of DeSoto and American Motors aren’t as good as books
    February 24, 2026 3
  • 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk front with hood open
    Four lingering questions about Aaron Severson’s take on the 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk
    February 20, 2026 6
  • Thank yous, power outages and format changes
    October 31, 2025 0
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 134
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