The late Thomas E. Bonsall was one of the better American automotive historians, but some of his takes could be rather “old-school.” For example, in his book about the Edsel, he concluded that the 1958 […]
(EXPANDED FROM 3/20/2023) Back in 1963, advertising executive Fred Manley presented a slide show parody about how to improve Volkswagen’s legendary “Think small” ad. The “best practices” he presented look hilariously misguided when applied to […]
(EXPANDED FROM 6/19/2020) If I may be honest, a goodly portion of the auto history books on my bookshelf aren’t very good. Many amount to little more than pom-pom waving for a given automaker. Most […]
(EXPANDED FROM 12/8/2023) One of my lingering questions from a Collectible Automobile story about the Mercury Park Lane was why it didn’t sell better in 1968 (Biel, 2021). This was arguably the first year that […]
Brooks Stevens was a complicated character. For example, he championed ultra-simple car designs but also coined the term “planned obsolescence” to describe an industrial designer’s mission (Adamson, 2003; p. 129). One way that played out […]
With the Republicans likely to slash support for electric vehicles at every turn (Ferry, 2025), automakers will need to work much harder to market their wares in the next few years. What would be particularly […]
(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, […]
David E. Numm liked to remind himself that he was fairly comfortable — and that things could be much worse. At least he was assigned to be a copy writer for the Chevrolet Corvette rather […]
One of the laziest kinds of clickbait in the auto history media are posts of old advertisements, commercials and various types of marketing videos. All too often the text that accompanies the ads could be […]
(EXPANDED FROM 7/21/2023) General Motors had one of those “be careful what you ask for” problems. In 1962 the automaker captured three-fourths of the premium-priced, big-car market. This was a key reason why GM sold […]
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