Indie Auto
header-advert
  • Home
  • About
    • Introduction
    • Editor’s Notes
    • Story Ideas Bank
    • Why All The Data?
    • Fake Stuff
    • About Those Photos
    • Talk Legal To Me
    • Privacy Policy
  • All Our Features
    • Ad Nauseam
    • Bird Chatter
    • Calendar
    • Current Events
    • Data Dives
    • Design Notes
    • Drive-By Musings
    • Fake Designs
    • Gallery
    • Histories
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Links
    • Literature
    • Media Analysis
    • Multimedia
    • Our Sponsors
    • Photo Essays
    • Quotes
    • Random Shots
    • Satire
  • Look It Up
    • In Auto Paedia
    • By author
    • By automaker or brand
    • By time period
    • By topic
    • By vehicle type
  • Readings
    • General Reference
    • Specific Brands & Automakers
    • Auto Culture, Policy & Business Strategy
    • Bibliography
    • Where To Buy Your Books
    • Recently-Posted Readings
  • Links
    • Bibliography of Links
  • Contact
    • Emails & Newsletter
    • Rejected Comments
  • Donate
HomeFull-sized cars

Full-sized cars

1969 an 1977 Plymouth Fury
History

1969-77 Plymouth: Fuselage wasn’t so bad compared to anti-fuselage

May 3, 2024 Steve 13

(EXPANDED FROM 5/13/2022) Ponderous styling of the so-called “fuselage” Plymouths has been pointed to as the biggest reason why sales were smaller than the well-regarded platform it replaced (e.g., auto editors of Consumer Guide, 2022). Output for […]

1970 Lincoln Continental
Fake Design

What if the 1970 Lincoln Continental hadn’t slavishly copied Cadillac?

April 19, 2024 Steve 47

J. P. Cavanaugh’s (2024) recent ode to the 1969 Lincoln Continental got me thinking: What if the 1970 redesign returned to the more compact size of the groundbreaking 1961-63 models? What might that have looked […]

Data Dive

The 1965-73 Ford LTD may not have impacted Mercury very much

April 11, 2024 Steve 10

(EXPANDED FROM 1/28/2022) Indie Auto commentator Geeber recently discussed how premium-priced big cars did better than their lower-priced brethren as the 1970s progressed. His comment, which is worth reading in full (go here), spurred me […]

1972 Ford LTD Brougham 2-door hardtop
Media Analysis

Collectible Automobile’s take on the decline of big cars gets partway there

March 28, 2024 Steve 8

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 […]

1972 Chrysler New Yorkers
Data Dive

The 1969-73 Chrysler wasn’t a disaster, but it wasn’t a success

March 12, 2024 Steve 16

(EXPANDED FROM 10/21/2022) A few years ago J P Cavanaugh (2020) received pushback from some Curbside Classic commentators for calling the fuselage Chryslers a “Deadly Sin.” As a case in point, Moparlee (2020) wrote, “I […]

1969 Pontiac red convertible
Literature

1965-71 Pontiac ads tried to dazzle with hip sophistication

February 15, 2024 Steve 11

When updating the 1966 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme story I found myself lingering over the illustrations in Pontiac brochures. The images, which were produced by the legendary team of Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman, tended to […]

1956 Ford Country Sedan
Design Notes

1956 Ford Country Sedan wagon: The once and future Explorer

February 13, 2024 Steve 5

(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 […]

1963 Mercury Marauder
Gallery

1963 Mercury Marauder: Ford tries to do a premium-priced car on the cheap

January 30, 2024 Steve 11

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 […]

1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and drivetrain
Design Notes

1966 Oldsmobile Toronado: Just another shiny thing from General Motors

January 19, 2024 Steve 20

(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 […]

1963 Ford Galaxie
Links

Might Detroit have embraced front-wheel drive earlier if McNamara had stayed at Ford?

January 16, 2024 Steve 2

The Chrysler Corporation’s decision to shrink its big Plymouth and Dodge for 1962 occurred at a tumultuous time — the U.S. auto industry was reportedly considering even more dramatic changes due to soaring sales of […]

Posts pagination

« 1 … 5 6 7 … 9 »
  • Why did American Motors fire Wells Rich and Greene in 1972?
    March 6, 2026 6
  • 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
  • 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
Society of Automotive Historian award to Indie Auto

Recent Comments

  • Scampman on Splashy new cars often were the biggest disasters during the postwar period
  • Steve on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • kim in lanark on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • Lori H. on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • kim in lanark on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • Don on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • Steve on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • Troy on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • Steve on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • Philco Ford on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • Hondadriver on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • stewdi on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • kim in lanark on Reader questions Chrysler’s future as it passes 100th anniversary
  • Scampman on Was the 1967-68 Chevrolet C10 the ‘first modern pickup’?
  • stewdi on Four lingering questions about Aaron Severson’s take on the 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk

Archives

Categories

Tags

1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s American Motors Auto culture Auto history media Auto media Automotive News Automotive Views Business strategies Chevrolet Compact cars Curbside Classic Design Design excesses Dodge Electric vehicles Engineering Fake advertising Ford Ford Motor Co. Full-sized cars General Motors Journalism standards Luxury cars Management culture Marketing Mid-sized cars Parody Patrick R. Foster Plymouth Premium-priced cars Public policies Rambler Reader comments Richard M. Langworth Stellantis Studebaker
Follow Us
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed
Search
Archives
Categories
Help keep the lights on
Quinault at night

Copyright © 2022 Olympia, Earth Media, LLC | All rights reserved