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HomeOral history

Oral history

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Links

Stan Mott’s life of creative risk taking could get you thinking

March 31, 2022 Steve 4

Dean’s Garage has posted an autobiographical essay by Stan Mott (2022) in the wake of his recent death at the age of 89. His story illustrates how the creative spirit that draws designers to the […]

1977 Cadillac Eldorado interior
Quotes

Retired GM designer mused about gender and penny-pinching

February 2, 2022 Steve 0

“What distressed most of us was that we could never be identified as just designers. We were always the ‘la femmes,’ or we were the female designers, and that — we were designers, and men […]

Quotes

John Najjar on how the 1958 Lincoln and Continental were designed

January 26, 2022 Steve 5

“Our mission with Ben Mills [division general manager] and Will Scott [division plant planner] was to develop a 1958 Lincoln. Then, in that era, bigger is better, longer is better, wider is better, shock the […]

Quotes

Virgil Exner Jr. on his father’s approach to tailfins

December 28, 2021 Steve 0

“He liked the cleanliness of the idea. He liked the aerodyna­mics of the idea, and in his mind they were genuinely aerodynamic. Later on, Chrysler proved that in wind tunnel tests. They ran cross-wind tests […]

1953 Studebaker Commander 2-door coupe
History

Five (arguably) unresolved mysteries of postwar independent automakers

April 2, 2021 Steve 24

(EXPANDED ON 1/27/2023) Many books, magazine articles and blog posts have been written about the independent automakers’ struggle to survive in the 1950s. Even so, I have come across a number of unresolved mysteries relevant […]

Quotes
Quotes

Robert Bourke: Studebaker V8 ‘was a catastrophe’

January 8, 2021 Steve 1

“. . . 1950/’51 — was the first time that Studebaker had a V-8 engine, and it was a catastrophe. They had a terrible time. They kept eating up camshafts and millions of dollars. Studebaker never […]

Quotes
Quotes

You didn’t mess with spy photographer Jim Dunne

August 25, 2019 Steve 0

“’He could be really helpful, but he could also be hyper-competitive,’ added John McElroy, who often had Dunne on his TV show, Autoline:Detroit. ‘He was hyper-competitive and never wanted anyone muscling in on his gig,’ […]

Posts pagination

« 1 2
  • 1962 Ford Galaxie 500
    Did the 1960-64 big Ford sell so poorly because of cannibalization?
    October 16, 2026 37
  • 1969 Ford Thunderbird 4-door Landau
    Was 1969 the beginning of the end for the Ford Thunderbird four-door Landau?
    October 14, 2026 7
  • Is Jaguar smart to run away from its design heritage?
    October 8, 2026 21
  • AMC Pacer clay model
    Why does Joe Ligo’s PBS series sanewash AMC’s mid-70s recklessness?
    October 6, 2026 21
  • 2026 Ram pickups
    A pyrrhic regulatory rollback and how poorly the 1978 Matador coupe sold
    October 2, 2026 12
  • 1962 Chrysler 300
    Did the 1962-65 Chrysler 300 ‘dilute’ the letter series?
    September 29, 2026 12
  • 1968 Ford Mustang
    Three rules led to a stultifying level of conformity in 1960s U.S. car design
    September 24, 2026 12
  • 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 146
Society of Automotive Historian award to Indie Auto

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