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HomeGeorge Hamlin

George Hamlin

1955 Packard hood
Design Notes

1955 Packard styling too closely copied Cadillac’s to rebuild its cachet

September 24, 2025 Steve 35

(EXPANDED FROM 1/20/2023) This essay has generated more blowback than almost any other post at Indie Auto. In a way I find that surprising because it makes what strikes me as a fairly mundane point: […]

1956 Packard Executive
History

Did the 1956 Packard Executive represent a strategic shift?

May 29, 2025 Steve 23

(EXPANDED FROM 2/1/2022) Back in 2021 Patrick Foster suggested that a 1956 1/2 Packard model called the Executive could have “saved” the brand if it had been introduced a year or so earlier. In contrast, […]

1956 Packard plant
Literature

1956 Packard booklet hints at how James Nance got too big for his britches

March 24, 2025 Steve 11

(EXPANDED FROM 11/1/2021) A 1956 Packard booklet hints at how its head James Nance got too big for his britches. A marketing piece titled, “Story of a Living Legend and the world in which it […]

1956 Ugly Car of Year
Design Notes

1956 Ugly Car of the Year Award: Indies get desperate

December 31, 2024 Steve 17

(EXPANDED FROM 11/25/2022) For 1956 the Big Three were on relatively good behavior. Only two of their products was outrageous enough to be nominated for Indie Auto’s Ugly Car of the Year Award. All the […]

Fake Design

1957-58 Plymouth: Suddenly it could have been 1962!

December 6, 2024 Steve 13

(EXPANDED FROM 1/7/2022) When writing about the 1953-54 Plymouth, I wondered whether there could have been a compromise between the practicality of Chrysler head K. T. Keller and the trendiness of his successor, Tex Colbert. Let’s apply that question to […]

1963 Cadillac Coupe de Ville
Design Notes

1963 Cadillac: The car that mainstreamed the brougham look

August 23, 2024 Steve 16

(EXPANDED FROM 12/16/2022) Pointing to the exact moment that the brougham look gained traction in the U.S. is an inexact science. For one thing, this design approach, which mimicked the classic look of luxury cars […]

1953 Plymouth
Fake Design

Six myths about the misunderstood 1953-54 Plymouth

July 19, 2024 Steve 20

(EXPANDED FROM 5/20/2022) Let’s take the time to unpack six myths about one of the most misunderstood post-war American cars — the 1953-54 Plymouth. This an important exercise because it brings to light some key […]

1953 Hudson hood emblem
History

Would Hudson have been Packard’s best merger partner?

May 15, 2024 Steve 15

(EXPANDED FROM 10/13/2021) A decade ago Curbside Classic commentator Steve (2014) offered one of the more thoughtful merger scenarios for Packard: He concluded that Hudson would have been the best choice. I think that Steve’s […]

1955 Nash
History

Would American Motors under George Mason have done more poorly in the late-50s?

April 9, 2024 Steve 3

Kim in Lanark makes a useful point in arguing that if American Motors had “kept the Nash and Hudson nameplates any longer, the AMC executives could drive their 1959 Nashes and Hudsons to bankruptcy court.” […]

1957 Lincoln four-door hardtop
History

Could the 1956-57 Lincoln have saved a dying Packard?

April 4, 2024 Steve 11

(EXPANDED FROM 7/30/2021) Stéphane Dumas has been displaying his broad knowledge of web-based sources of automotive history for quite a few years. As a case in point, back in 2015 Dumas posted a comment over at […]

Posts pagination

1 2 »
  • 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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