(EXPANDED FROM 1/1/2020) The Tacoma, Washington area has two car museums that are often confused. America’s Car Museum is located downtown in a fairly new building whereas the LeMay Collections at Marymount is eight miles […]
(EXPANDED FROM 9/16/2021) The failure of the fourth-generation Chevrolet Camaro and Firebird wasn’t supposed to happen. General Motors’ F-body siblings had a much more modern — and arguably more stylish — design than their sole competitor, […]
(EXPANDED FROM 1/24/2024) Last year Paul Niedermeyer (2024a) discussed the decline of premium-priced big cars in the late-1950s. One of the points of contention in the comment thread was the degree to which these cars […]
(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 […]
Business reporters for national newspapers tend to be at their best when they provide detailed, play-by-play coverage of major events in the U.S. auto industry. Unfortunately, they haven’t been as good in analyzing why things […]
(UPDATED FROM 3/30/2023) Newly declassified intelligence documents show how a crash program by American automakers to switch to eggcrate grilles for their 1972-73 models thwarted a space alien invasion. The strategy worked so well that […]
(EXPANDED FROM 3/3/2023) The 1956 Mercury represented the end — at least for the next four years — of Edsel Ford’s original conception of the brand. Since it was introduced 1939, Mercury had been positioned […]
(EXPANDED FROM 15/8/2023) General Motors’ 1973 mid-sized cars were a major focus of our discussion about William Mitchell’s tenure as head of design. Thus, I thought it would be a good time to expand on […]
William Mitchell was vice president of design at General Motors from December 1958 through July 1977 (Wikipedia, 2025). I have previously raised the question of whether he stayed in his position too long (go here). […]
Indie Auto commentator Peter Wilding (2025) raised a good point when noting that he “never understood the idea of deliberately decontenting a car to be able to advertise a lower price, when hardly anyone actually […]
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