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HomeJan P. Norbye

Jan P. Norbye

1971 Chrysler New Yorker
Fake Design

1969-71 Chrysler: An Exner idea fumbled again

July 29, 2025 Steve 30

(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 […]

Literature

Once upon a time, car wheels were 36-to-42 inches in diameter

June 9, 2025 Steve 5

(UPDATED FROM 1/3/2023) Indie Auto’s latest Sponsor of the Week is the legendary Auto & Debt magazine, whose June 2025 issue road tests the hot new 36-inch wheels. Of course, this is a fake ad […]

1972 Buick Riviera
Design Notes

1971-73 Buick Riviera: The last stand against the broughamization of Detroit

May 15, 2025 Steve 24

(EXPANDED FROM 5/2/2022) Whatever else one might say about the 1971-73 Buick Riviera, its styling did represent a heroic level of resistance to the brougham look then sweeping through the U.S. auto industry. Instead of […]

1970 Cadillac Eldorado
Gallery

Was the 1969-70 Eldorado the best-looking postwar Cadillac?

May 9, 2025 Steve 5

When I was expanding a John DeLorean book review the other day, I dug up a 1967 General Motors ad that included a photograph of a Cadillac Eldorado. That got me wondering: Was the 1967-70 […]

1988 Chrysler Fifth Avenue
History

It’s too bad that the late-70s big Chrysler were not based on Volare

April 21, 2025 Steve 34

(EXPANDED FROM 12/30/2022) This story operates on two levels. The first one is how the car-buff media could be wrong in its predictions about future products. The second level looks at how slow the Chrysler […]

1965 Plymouth Valiant
Design Notes

1963-66 Plymouth Valiant inched away from Virgil Exner’s styling quirks

April 2, 2025 Steve 8

(EXPANDED FROM 5/4/2022) One of my stylistic pet peeves is the 1963-65 Plymouth Valiant’s front fenders, which had weird, hairpin-shaped character lines. They undercut what in many respects was one of the cleaner compact designs […]

1968 Datsun 510 4-door sedan
Data Dive

Four-door subcompacts were not exotic in late-60s and early-70s

March 26, 2025 Steve 23

(EXPANDED FROM 8/3/2023) The rise of the four-door subcompact generated a robust debate at Indie Auto a few years ago (go here), so I did a data dive to bring some facts to the table. […]

Richard Langworth
Readings

Richard Langworth’s death raises questions about auto history’s future

March 19, 2025 Steve 0

Indie Auto reader Zachary Morecraft suggested in the “Story Idea Bank” that we do a piece on Richard M. Langworth, who died February 20 at the age of 83. Langworth was such a towering presence […]

Design Notes

1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme: Monument to a fading dream

March 17, 2025 Steve 15

(EXPANDED FROM 15/8/2023) General Motors’ 1973 mid-sized cars were a major focus of our discussion about William Mitchell’s tenure as head of design. Thus, I thought it would be a good time to expand on […]

1973 Pontiac Grand Am
Drive-By Musings

Let’s grade William Mitchell’s 1970s car designs

March 14, 2025 Steve 13

William Mitchell was vice president of design at General Motors from December 1958 through July 1977 (Wikipedia, 2025). I have previously raised the question of whether he stayed in his position too long (go here). […]

Posts pagination

« 1 2 3 … 5 »
  • 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV
    Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
    September 2, 2026 16
  • 1972 Buick Skylark Custom grille
    1972 Buick Skylark Custom represented the end of an era
    September 1, 2026 5
  • 1959 Ford Thunderbird
    1959 Ford Thunderbird was a gimmicky but hugely important car
    August 26, 2026 11
  • Compact cars became the neglected stepchildren of U.S. automakers
    August 21, 2026 21
  • 1980 AMC brochure cover with picture of American Center building
    AMC’s Roy D. Chapin Jr. succumbed to the illusion of bigness
    August 19, 2026 2
  • 1980 Ford Thunderbird and 1956 model
    Ford’s design talent in the 1970s wasn’t enough to halt a dramatic slide in sales
    August 14, 2026 13
  • 1973 Buick Riviera
    Why wasn’t the 1971 ‘boat-tail’ Buick Riviera shrunk to compact size?
    August 14, 2026 24
  • Internet problems reminded me of U.S. automakers in the 1970s
    May 2, 2026 1
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 141
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