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HomeJohn Z. DeLorean

John Z. DeLorean

1963 Buick Riviera
History

1963-65 Buick Riviera shows GM’s struggle with personal coupes

December 14, 2023 Steve 17

(EXPANDED FROM 7/27/2022) The 1963-65 Buick Riviera was one of the more memorable designs of the 1960s. However, the car didn’t really look like a Buick. Nor did it sell very well — arguably due […]

1956 Continental Mark II
History

Who were the five worst leaders of postwar U.S. automakers?

October 6, 2023 Steve 38

(UPDATED FROM 5/7/2021) Warren Buffett has argued that the Number 1 problem a company can face is choosing the wrong chief executive officer. Buffett, who is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, has said that over the […]

1967 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible grille closeup
Design Notes

1967 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible didn’t catch on

September 1, 2023 Steve 8

I get most of my automotive photographs at an annual car show sponsored by the LeMay Collections in Marymount. One of my favorite cars at this year’s event, which was held last Saturday, was a […]

Quotes

What Bill Mitchell didn’t like about John Z. DeLorean

April 6, 2022 Steve 5

“I didn’t like his aloof egotism. He’d sit in a meeting and open his briefcase and brush his hair, and he’d dress floozy, you know, and he called us the establishment. He was a queer […]

1973 Chevrolet Malibu SS
Quotes

John Z. DeLorean: Downsizing GM cars for 1973 was opposed by Mitchell

March 18, 2022 Steve 17

“The K-Car program proposed a common body and chassis for all the GM cars in the intermediate and compact car classes. On the Chevrolet lines alone this meant building the Chevelle, Camaro and Nova, which […]

1970 Ford Thunderbird front
Quotes

David Halberstam: Why Bunkie Knudsen ‘never had a chance at Ford’

June 22, 2021 Steve 4

“Bunkie Knudsen never had a chance at Ford. It was not that he lacked the skill to handle the job; indeed, that was something that almost never came up. It was that Ford was so […]

Drive-by musings
Drive-By Musings

The good and bad of William Mitchell’s 1977 Pontiac Phantom

December 18, 2020 Steve 5

Dean’s Garage has a great discussion about William Mitchell’s swan song, the 1977 Pontiac Phantom (Smith, 2020). I must admit feeling rather ambivalent about this concept car. Although it strikes me as one of the […]

Quotes
Quotes

Donald Trump took a shovel to John DeLorean’s estate

November 13, 2020 Steve 1

“DeLorean spends the rest of his life in and out of court. He declares bankruptcy in 1999. His Bedminster estate is purchased by a Connecticut-based golf-course development partnership, who within two years will sell it […]

Billboard tells you where to find friends
Satire

How to reach out and touch someone

December 9, 2015 Steve 0

When John Z. DeLorean was head of Chevrolet in the early-70s he got rid of the brand’s massive billboard presence because it allegedly contributed to roadway blight (Wright, 1979). Like so many liberal crusades, that was […]

Current Events

Should VW’s design chief fear civilization’s end?

July 27, 2014 Steve 1

(UPDATED 12/15/2022) Volkswagen Group’s global design chief Walter de Silva is worried that optimizing aerodynamics in order to meet tightening emissions standards could hurt aesthetics and branding. In an Automotive News question-and-answer piece, he complained […]

Posts pagination

« 1 2
  • 1954 Chevrolet was beginning of the end for GM’s brand hierarchy
    April 21, 2026 17
  • 1980 Pontiac Phoenix 5-door hatch
    Bigger didn’t prove to be better for General Motors in late-70s and 80s
    April 17, 2026 39
  • 1963 Ford Galaxie
    Might Detroit have embraced front-wheel drive earlier if McNamara had stayed at Ford?
    April 16, 2026 7
  • Cheap dealer car
    How much do Trump policies have to hurt auto industry before it supports Dems?
    April 14, 2026 19
  • 1975 Ford Thunderbird
    Ford design in the 1970s was a real step down from the previous decade
    April 10, 2026 24
  • 1981 Chevrolet Monte Carlo
    The sad story about buying a 1981 Monte Carlo right out of college
    April 9, 2026 2
  • Why the 1968-69 Javelin was not Richard Teague’s best AMC sporty coupe
    April 6, 2026 9
  • Mitsubishi dealer in Spokane
    Indie Auto is moving — although you may barely notice
    April 8, 2026 4
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 136
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