(EXPANDED FROM 7/1/2021) The Jaguar XK-E was a remarkable car for a variety of reasons, but I would like to point out two qualities that have always been particularly appealing to me. For starters, the […]
“Before 1955 the compact cars, which had then included Rambler, Hudson Jet, and Volkswagen, were not outstanding sales successes. Their suggested list prices, and their actual retail prices, were comparatively high in relation to those […]
Ole stopped by to respond to the post, “Gordon Buehrig on Ford’s attitude about small cars circa 1960.” It wasn’t until the early-1960s that the entire European auto industry produced more cars than Chevrolet or […]
(EXPANDED FROM 8/2/2021) Some buyers of the 1977-79 Lincoln Mark V waited up to eight weeks to receive exclusive designer-series models . . . that turned out to have defective paint. At least that’s Jack […]
“The problem in the 1970s was not really the arrival of better, smaller, lighter Japanese cars; it was GM’s failure to respond in kind. Rather than hitting back with superior products, the company hid behind […]
(EXPANDED FROM 9/18/2020) “Detroit Mind” is the label Brock Yates gave to the worldview of U.S. automakers from the 1950s into the 1980s. This was epitomized by a focus on cars that were “too large, […]
(UPDATED FROM 6/26/2020) The Saab 99/900 proved to be the box that crushed the tiny Swedish carmaker. I grant you that this platform was hardly an immediate failure. Even so, the design of the 99 […]
“Proud, that’s what the industry is — proud of itself. And with reason. It proved its vitality, its flexibility. It proved that it responds to public demand, after all. Sure, there was a period of […]
“The US auto industry has been perhaps the best example of a sector falling into a rut and doling out progress at the minimum possible rate for at least 30 years. It’s criminal IMO that […]
Copyright © 2022 Olympia, Earth Media, LLC | All rights reserved