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
HomeOral history

Oral history

Port of Olympia boats in night fog
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
  • 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
Society of Automotive Historian award to Indie Auto

Recent Comments

  • Jeff Kennedy on Ford design in the 1970s was a real step down from the previous decade
  • Lori H. on 1954 Chevrolet was beginning of the end for GM’s brand hierarchy
  • Stéphane Dumas on Ford design in the 1970s was a real step down from the previous decade
  • Steve on 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible didn’t catch on
  • Philco Ford on 1954 Chevrolet was beginning of the end for GM’s brand hierarchy
  • Steve on 1954 Chevrolet was beginning of the end for GM’s brand hierarchy
  • Anthony Boddy on 1954 Chevrolet was beginning of the end for GM’s brand hierarchy
  • Albert Fredrick Godwin on 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix convertible didn’t catch on
  • Randerson on Bigger didn’t prove to be better for General Motors in late-70s and 80s
  • SCAMPMAN on Bigger didn’t prove to be better for General Motors in late-70s and 80s
  • SCAMPMAN on Bigger didn’t prove to be better for General Motors in late-70s and 80s
  • Terrance Smith on Even Motor Trend complained about the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado’s brakes
  • SCAMPMAN on 1954 Chevrolet was beginning of the end for GM’s brand hierarchy
  • BoBoston on Ford design in the 1970s was a real step down from the previous decade
  • Charles Jones on 1954 Chevrolet was beginning of the end for GM’s brand hierarchy

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