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Media Analysis
Making fun of automotive history
(UPDATED FROM 2/22/2014) Curbside Classic has always been far more willing to make fun of itself than larger media outlets. In doing so, the website has shown (perhaps inadvertently) how the media can be patronizing to auto history buffs. […]
Letters to the Editor
Reader finds our 1961-63 Lincoln article ‘most negative of them all’
Indie Auto reader WM stopped by to offer his reaction on our article, “1961-63 Lincoln Continental was not as iconic as often described.” Well of all the articles written about the 1960s Lincoln, this is […]
Letters to the Editor
Was the 1961 Dodge’s front end inspired by 1960 Ford Falcon’s?
MH dropped a note to Indie Auto about the 1961 Dodge, perhaps in response to our article, “Chrysler’s collapse in premium-priced field was a bigger deal than Edsel’s.” Not much is written about the 1961 […]
Editor's Note
Reader insists that 1971-73 Mercury Cougars were ‘awesome’
Our story, “1967-73 Mercury Cougar: A classic goes to hell,” apparently took the smile off the face of (former?) reader SL. He flatly declared, “The 1971-73 Cougars are awesome cars. All this talk about them […]
Design Notes
Why was the Studebaker Avanti’s windshield so odd?
(EXPANDED FROM 2/8/2022) Why was the futuristic-looking Studebaker Avanti given a tall, flat and small windshield? That windshield ranks with the 1964-66 Imperial in looking terribly mismatched with the rest of the car. The most […]
Readings
Richard Johnson showed what can happen when a journalist does auto history
(UPDATED FROM 2/19/2021) Histories written by practicing automotive journalists are usually engaging reads with lots of behind-the-scenes anecdotes. However, they can also be analytically superficial and grounded more in access than accountability journalism. In other […]
Quotes
Hal Sperlich: Detroit made bad small cars to prove buyers wouldn’t like them
“The small cars that Detroit had produced, [Hal Sperlich] believed, had been bad ones, reluctant efforts at best. If anything the companies had brought out inferior, unappealing small cars to prove their own thesis that […]
Current Events
What should a simple modern car look like?
(EXPANDED FROM 3/1/2020) Once upon a time a Truth About Cars commentator lauded the simplicity of the then-new Jeep Renegade. “Well, I for one am yearning for a simpler time, and this vehicle suggests that,” […]
Quotes
Gordon Buehrig on Ford’s attitude about small cars circa 1960
“Fred Hooven was a very good friend of mine and had a much bigger job at Ford than I did. He worked for Mike Ference. Henry Ford asked Ference — this was in 1960. He […]