General Motors
Designer of 2020 GMC Sierra HD strived for a ‘pissed-off feel’
“I already had an idea of what I wanted to convey. A lot of inspirations were locomotives, really high-end and futuristic military equipment, NASA, and really high-tech objects. . . . The front end was […]
Alex Taylor III on why GM’s product cycles lengthened in the 1970s
“GM’s product development cycles in the 1960s, which had been among the shortest, were becoming among the longest in the industry, according to GM’s own in-house history. More content dictated by federal regulations was part […]
Reader offers additional reasons for ‘lower, longer and wider’ trend
Our “Auto Paedia” article about Detroit’s tendency to make its cars “lower, longer and wider” during the post-war period continues to generate an interesting discussion in the comment thread. One comment I would like to […]
Bill Mitchell on how he wielded power like Harley Earl at GM
“Oh, he was powerful. God, I admired [him]. He just knocked the tar out of anybody. He’d get it fixed. If he couldn’t, he’d call New York and say, ‘Fix these…[.]’ Then, I inherited some […]
Ed’s Auto Reviews offers a lite but fun take on automotive history
A kind reader recently informed me about Ed’s Auto Reviews. These are relatively short videos on YouTube that cover a broad range of auto history topics. For example, a recently posted episode called “Mistake of […]
Why the popularity of premium-priced U.S. car brands fell in the late-1950s
Peter’s letter to the editor last week about our 1958 Studebaker article has generated a robust discussion. Thank you to everyone who has participated. Part of Geeber’s comment in that thread addresses a broader topic: […]
Chrysler’s Lynn Townsend giveth and taketh on warranties
“Hard-eyed Townsend caught the industry with its pants down in 1962 when Chrysler suddenly offered its customers a five-year or 50,000-mile warranty on principal engine and power-train components on new cars. Industry practice at the […]
