Indie Auto
header-advert
  • Home
  • About
    • Introduction
    • Editor’s Notes
    • Story Ideas Bank
    • Why All The Data?
    • Fake Stuff
    • About Those Photos
    • Talk Legal To Me
    • Privacy Policy
  • All Our Features
    • Ad Nauseam
    • Bird Chatter
    • Calendar
    • Current Events
    • Data Dives
    • Design Notes
    • Drive-By Musings
    • Fake Designs
    • Gallery
    • Histories
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Links
    • Literature
    • Media Analysis
    • Multimedia
    • Our Sponsors
    • Photo Essays
    • Quotes
    • Random Shots
    • Satire
  • Look It Up
    • In Auto Paedia
    • By author
    • By automaker or brand
    • By time period
    • By topic
    • By vehicle type
  • Readings
    • General Reference
    • Specific Brands & Automakers
    • Auto Culture, Policy & Business Strategy
    • Bibliography
    • Where To Buy Your Books
    • Recently-Posted Readings
  • Links
    • Bibliography of Links
  • Contact
    • Emails & Newsletter
    • Rejected Comments
  • Donate
HomeMotor Trend

Motor Trend

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 […]

1977 Chevrolet wagons
Media Analysis

Was a non-woody Malibu wagon the Chevelle’s ‘top hauler’ in 1977?

August 21, 2024 Steve 3

A recent Collectible Automobile Facebook item (2024) stated that for 1977 the “pseudo-‘woody’ Malibu Estate models” were dropped and “the plain-sided Malibu Classic station wagon became the top hauler on the Chevrolet Chevelle roster.” I […]

1968 AMC Javelin
Media Analysis

Why did Patrick Foster settle for fanboy fluff in his 1968-70 AMC Javelin story?

June 3, 2024 Steve 4

I had high hopes when I saw that the August issue of Collectible Automobile included a story about the 1968-70 AMC Javelin. Patrick Foster has been studying American Motors’ history for decades, so I expected […]

1971 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight
Links

Oldsmobile’s John Beltz sounded like a rather cautious GM executive

May 29, 2024 Steve 9

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 […]

1967 Cadillac Eldorado
Links

Even Motor Trend complained about the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado’s brakes

May 1, 2024 Steve 11

Motor Trend was hardly known as the toughest of the car-buff magazines, but it nevertheless complained about inadequate brakes on the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado. A road test found that the Eldorado’s stopping distances from 60 […]

1970 Dodge Challenger
Links

Car and Driver does better than Motor Trend in assessing 1970 Dodge Challenger

March 20, 2024 Steve 5

Motor Trend‘s road test of the 1970 Dodge Challenger was largely laudatory, noting that “Dodge has had a few years to observe what’s been going on in the pony car field and has incorporated many […]

1964 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser
Links

1964 Oldsmobile Vista-Cruiser was a clever way to downsize the big American wagon

March 8, 2024 Steve 5

Motor Trend lauded the 1964 Oldsmobile Vista-Cruiser and Buick Sports Wagon for being as roomy as a full-sized wagon even though they were based on General Motors’ mid-sized body. Indeed, cargo room was 6.4 cubic […]

1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and drivetrain
Design Notes

1966 Oldsmobile Toronado: Just another shiny thing from General Motors

January 19, 2024 Steve 20

(EXPANDED FROM 6/18/2021) In selecting the 1966 Oldmobile Toronado as its Car of the Year, Motor Trend (2005) took out its pom-poms and gushed that “never in the 14-year history of this award has the […]

Porsche 914
Design Notes

Porsche 914 reflected an interesting theory that didn’t work as well in practice

December 27, 2023 Steve 6

Mid-engine sports cars were trendy in the late-1960s, so in theory it made sense that Porsche would come out with one given its background with rear engines. It also made sense that the maker of […]

2023 Tesla Cybertruck
Design Notes

Is Tesla Cybertruck a brilliant breakthrough or a gimmick?

December 6, 2023 Steve 7

(EXPANDED FROM 3/12/2021) When Tesla’s Cybertruck was unveiled a few years ago, Electrek commentator Benjamin Winters (2021) dismissed the design as “objectively bad.” When he received pushback, Winters countered by arguing that “I’m an industrial […]

Posts pagination

« 1 … 4 5 6 »
  • 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
Society of Automotive Historian award to Indie Auto

Recent Comments

  • Randerson on 1972 Buick Skylark Custom represented the end of an era
  • Randerson on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • RONALD D SIEBER on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • kim in lanark on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • kim in lanark on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • Scampman on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • samuel a simpson on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • Geeber on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • Don on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • kim in lanark on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • Philco Ford on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • Adam B on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • Geeber on 1972 Buick Skylark Custom represented the end of an era
  • Steve on Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
  • Steve on 1972 Buick Skylark Custom represented the end of an era

Archives

Categories

Tags

1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s American Motors Auto culture Auto history media Auto media Automotive News Automotive Views Business strategies Chevrolet Compact cars Curbside Classic Design Design excesses Dodge Electric vehicles Engineering Fake advertising Ford Ford Motor Co. Full-sized cars General Motors Journalism standards Luxury cars Management culture Marketing Mid-sized cars Parody Patrick R. Foster Plymouth Premium-priced cars Public policies Rambler Reader comments Richard M. Langworth Stellantis Studebaker
Follow Us
  • Facebook
  • RSS Feed
Search
Archives
Categories
Help keep the lights on
Quinault at night

Copyright © 2022 Olympia, Earth Media, LLC | All rights reserved