(EXPANDED FROM 12/31/2023) A few years ago FS complained that our article on the 1963 Rambler Classic was “poorly researched.” This strikes me as an important — if nerdy — debate, so let’s drill down. […]
(EXPANDED FROM 8/25/2023) The 1962-64 Plymouth is one of the most prescient U.S. cars of the 1960s. Aside from the 1953 Plymouth, the 1962 redesign represented the first serious effort by a Big Three automaker […]
(UPDATED FROM 1/16/2024) The Chrysler Corporation’s decision to shrink its big Plymouth and Dodge for 1962 occurred at a tumultuous time — the U.S. auto industry was reportedly considering even more dramatic changes due to […]
One of the biggest assumptions of U.S. automakers in the postwar period was that they desperately needed splashy new cars. Yet when I think about the biggest disasters of that era, they often involved expensive […]
(EXPANDED FROM 7/5/2023) The LTD was one of the Ford Motor Company’s biggest successes in the 1970s because it attacked General Motors’ hierarchy of brands in multiple ways. After failing to beat the popular Impala […]
(EXPANDED FROM 10/26/2023) One of the most underrated cars of the 1960s was the 1963-66 Dodge Dart. This “family” compact anticipated the size of the contemporary family sedan during a time when the American auto […]
(EXPANDED FROM 9/29/2023) The 1970 Plymouth Barracuda and its sibling the Dodge Challenger proved to be a costly mistake that epitomized Detroit’s slowness in responding to changing times. Indeed, the Chrysler Corporation’s early-1970s pony cars […]
(EXPANDED FROM 10/3/2023) Stephen Pellegrino has sparked a debate about the value of automotive brands by arguing that Hudson, Nash and Rambler were worth saving. His punchline is that “brand names mean something, and the […]
(EXPANDED FROM 8/21/2020) Patrick Foster (2024) illustrates how fanboy sentiment can undercut the quality of historical analysis by arguing that AMC should have offered a luxury spin-off of the 1974 Matador coupe — and that […]
From 1963 through 1968 model years Elwood Engel had a pretty good run as head designer at the Chrysler Corporation. However, he did come out with one dud — the 1967-69 Plymouth Barracuda notchback hunchback. […]
Copyright © 2022 Olympia, Earth Media, LLC | All rights reserved