Satire
If you had to pick one . . . ?
The year 1970 was a particularly good one if you fancied ‘rithmetic. Take this Ford Falcon Futura Club Coupe — it saves money in so many ways. Yet you don’t have to give up spaciousness […]
Ford
Media Analysis
Collectible Automobile’s take on the decline of big cars gets partway there
Collectible Automobile’s June 2024 issue does an unusually good job of discussing why low-priced big cars took a nosedive in sales during 1970-74. However, the magazine’s article by Sam Fiorani (2024) didn’t say much about […]
Links
Car and Driver gives Roy D. Chapin royal treatment in 1970 AMC Hornet story
Car and Driver under David E. Davis gave the royal treatment to American Motors’ head Roy D. Chapin Jr. A case in point was a story about the 1970 AMC Hornet, which treated Chapin’s marketing […]
Gallery
1974-76 Elite shows how Ford was late to the party with mid-sized personal coupes
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 cobbled-together design that […]
Links
Car and Driver playfully roasts a 1964 Ford Thunderbird convertible
Car and Driver’s road test of a 1964 Ford Thunderbird reminded me of what I enjoyed about the magazine in its heyday. Although it threw in a few bits of fawning praise, that struck me […]
Design Notes
1956 Ford Country Sedan wagon: The once and future Explorer
(EXPANDED FROM 1/25/2022) Nineteen-fifty-six was a pivotal year for Ford station wagons. This was essentially the last time that the brand would offer an old-fashioned, utilitarian wagon for more than three decades. When the Ford […]
Design Notes
Did Wayne Kady screw up the 1974-76 Buick Riviera?
(EXPANDED FROM 11/19/2021) In a recent story, Hagerty described Wayne Kady as “the most well-known unknown designer in the history of General Motors” (Seaman, 2024). Among the designs that the article shed light on is […]
Gallery
1963 Mercury Marauder: Ford tries to do a premium-priced car on the cheap
The 1963 Mercury Marauder “fastback” two-door hardtop represented the beginning of a new era for the Ford Motor Company. The utilitarian sensibilities of its former leader, Robert McNamara, were eclipsed by an emphasis on sporty […]
Data Dive
U.S. auto industry challenged by dramatic societal changes in postwar era
Constant Reader suggested in the “Story Ideas Bank” the following scenario: “You’re 25 & just bought your first new Chevy, at what ages and which models would be your moves up the Sloan Ladder?” That […]
Design Notes
1966 Oldsmobile Toronado: Just another shiny thing from General Motors
(EXPANDED FROM 6/18/2021) In selecting the 1966 Oldmobile Toronado as its Car of the Year, Motor Trend (2005) took out its pom-poms and gushed that “never in the 14-year history of this award has the […]