(EXPANDED FROM 11/1/2018) “Grosse Pointe myopians” is a pejorative term that automotive journalist Brock Yates (2018) gave to the management class of U.S. automakers in an essay published in the April 1968 issue of Car […]
As I write this, the weather at SeaTac International Airport near Seattle, Washington is cold, cloudy and sporadically rainy. That’s quite different from 1,000 miles south in Los Angeles, which is battling an unprecedented series […]
(EXPANDED FROM 3/19/2021) This story has received more reader pushback than almost any other single piece that I have published in Indie Auto. Even so, I think that it epitomizes what this blog is all […]
(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 […]
When I saw that the 1971 Mercury Cougar was on the cover of the latest Collectible Automobile issue, I was particularly curious about one thing: Did Semon Knudsen have much influence on the car’s huge […]
A recent post on Ate Up With Motor’s Patreon page discusses the rise of the imports in the United States. Aaron Severson (2024) draws upon data he dug up from a report by the U.S. […]
John Beltz has been pointed to as one of the more forward-looking General Motors’ executives of the early-70s, but he came across as rather cautious in a lengthy Motor Trend (1970) interview. He was the […]
Industry coverage by journalists from outside the automotive media can be a mixed bag. They are less likely to succumb to the groupthink that can undercut reporting from the likes of Automotive News or a […]
(EXPANDED FROM 12/15/2022) James A. Ward’s Packard book, The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company, is dwarfed by Automobile Quarterly’s epic tome edited by Beverly Rae Kimes (2002) as well as Stuart R. Blond’s […]
Greg was mostly impressed with prototypes of the 1984 Chevrolet Corvette he inspected while helping to prepare an advertising campaign. The all-new design was much roomier than the previous model. That wasn’t an accident. General […]
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