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HomeFull-sized cars

Full-sized cars

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 […]

1953 Hudson Hornet
Media Analysis

Hudson article by Over-Drive Magazine reads like a human didn’t edit it

November 7, 2025 Steve 5

(EXPANDED FROM 10/27/2023) We haven’t checked in with our friends at Over-Drive Magazine lately, so what’s up? They continue to build a multi-faceted repository of information about American cars after initially trying to launch a […]

Links

A sampling of Jim Dunne’s 1970 predictions that didn’t happen

October 28, 2025 Steve 9

(UPDATED FROM 8/30/2023) Predicting the future of the U.S. auto industry has always been fraught with peril. Popular Science’s Detroit Editor Jim Dunne got a lot of things right in his reporting during 1970, but […]

1968 Plymouth VIP
History

1966-69 VIP: Why Plymouth couldn’t sell brougham

September 25, 2025 Steve 15

(EXPANDED FROM 3/7/2023) At least on paper, the VIP luxury series suggested that Plymouth was keeping up with the Chevrolet Caprice and Ford LTD in the late-60s. However, the car’s terrible sales suggest that something […]

1965 AMC Ambassador 990 convertible
Data Dive

Did the 1965-66 AMC Ambassador sell better when it had a unique snout?

September 19, 2025 Steve 4

In the “Story Ideas Bank” James Duvall suggested that Indie Auto look into whether the 1965-66 AMC Ambassador sold better when it had a unique snout. To be more specific, he asked: “Why didn’t the […]

Media Analysis

David Burrell’s take on the 1962 Dodge and Plymouth got only partway there

September 8, 2025 Steve 4

(EXPANDED FROM 5/11/2022) Back in 2019 David Burrell wrote one of the better overviews of the downsized 1962 Dodge and Plymouth. However, he went astray on some important details. Unlike some other historical accounts, Burrell (2019) […]

Ad Nauseam

How selling the 1977 Plymouth Gran Fury tried a man’s soul

August 29, 2025 Steve 2

Even when Daryl Bates was old and near death, he still vividly remembered that moment in 1976. Back then he was a pretty optimistic person, but this time he simply couldn’t shake off his funk. […]

1955 Plymouth Belvedere 2-door hardtop
Quotes

Motor Life had mixed reactions to 1955 Plymouth’s wrap-around windshield

August 9, 2025 Steve 3

(UPDATED FROM 7/20/2023) Motor Life hinted at the dangers of not slavishly following the styling trends of the largest U.S. automakers — and particularly General Motors. The 1955 Chrysler lineup did not adopt the vertical […]

1946 Hudson
History

1946 Hudson shows what made automaker so important — and vulnerable

August 4, 2025 Steve 15

(EXPANDED FROM 4/22/2023) This story received an unusual amount of pushback in the comment thread when it was originally posted two years ago. A focus of reader criticism was my argument that Hudson’s demise had […]

1969 Chrysler New Yorker front quarter
Fake Design

1969-71 Chrysler: An Exner idea fumbled again

July 29, 2025 Steve 28

(UPDATED FROM 8/3/2022) The 1969-71 Chrysler was an unfortunate example of a promising design that went sideways because of a few bad decisions. The styling was exceptionally clean and purposeful for an American premium-priced car […]

Posts pagination

« 1 2 3 … 9 »
  • 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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