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HomePremium-priced cars

Premium-priced cars

1959 Ford Thunderbird
Gallery

1959 Ford Thunderbird was a gimmicky but hugely important car

August 26, 2026 Steve 11

(EXPANDED FROM 8/16/2024) I have never been very attracted to the 1958-60 Ford Thunderbird’s gimmicky styling. However, I still must admit that this is one of the most important cars of the postwar era. And […]

1965 Chrysler Newport
Design Notes

1965 Newport made Chrysler a contender in premium-priced, big-car field

August 4, 2026 Steve 14

(UPDATED FROM 10/13/2023) The 1965 Newport is an important car for Chrysler because it propelled the brand to record-breaking sales. That, in turn, made it a force to be reckoned with in the premium-priced, big-car […]

Ward Packard
Readings

James Ward offers more nuanced take on Packard’s fall than other auto histories

July 23, 2026 Steve 36

(EXPANDED FROM 2/26/2024) James A. Ward’s Packard book, The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company, is dwarfed by Automobile Quarterly’s epic tome edited by Beverly Rae Kimes (2002) as well as Stuart R. Blond’s […]

Data Dive

Did the odd styling of the 1969 Chrysler two-door hardtop hurt its sales?

June 25, 2026 Steve 6

(EXPANDED FROM 6/7/2024) Curbside Classic commentator nlpnt (2024) argued a while back that the fuselage Chrysler’s best-looking body style was the wagon. Conversely, I would add that the two-door hardtop was the least aesthetically pleasing […]

1963 Mercury Marauder
Gallery

1963 Mercury Marauder: Ford tries to do a premium-priced car on the cheap

May 27, 2026 Steve 11

(UPDATED FROM 1/30/2024) The 1963 Mercury Marauder “fastback” two-door hardtop represented the beginning of a new era for the Ford Motor Company. The utilitarian sensibilities of its former leader, Robert McNamara, were eclipsed by an […]

1966 Mercury Colony Park rear quarter
Design Notes

1966 Mercury Colony Park wagon was an unsung bright spot for the brand

May 11, 2026 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 10/7/2022) Mercury’s Colony Park never got much attention, but it saw steadily increasing sales through the second half of the 1960s. For example, in 1966 almost 19,000 of the top-of-line Mercury wagons were […]

1969 Pontiac red convertible
Literature

1965-71 Pontiac ads tried to dazzle with hip sophistication

April 24, 2026 Steve 26

(UPDATED FROM 2/15/2024) I am knee-deep in a final round of packing and house painting right now, so how about following up our 1967 Grand Prix convertible story with a deeper look at the illustrations […]

Readings

Thomas Bonsall’s Edsel book is nuanced but suffers from groupthink

March 17, 2026 Steve 15

(EXPANDED FROM 9/27/2021) Disaster in Dearborn: The Story of the Edsel is paradoxical. On the one hand, this is a serious history book. That’s the opposite of so many of the coffee table books that […]

1941 Studebaker Commander 2-door coupe
Design Notes

1941 Studebaker Commander: Ending its big cars on a high note

February 26, 2026 Steve 11

(EXPANDED FROM 10/1/2024) The 1941 Studebaker Commander is noteworthy partly because of its lovely art deco styling, but also because it represents close to the last of the automaker’s big premium-priced cars. In 1939 Studebaker […]

1961 De Soto
Multimedia

Video histories of DeSoto and American Motors aren’t as good as books

February 24, 2026 Steve 3

YouTube videos may bring auto history to a broader range of people, but they generally still aren’t as good as books. As a case in point, let’s take a look at a video about the […]

Posts pagination

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  • 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV
    Is David Kiley right that Ford should replace Lincoln with a new brand?
    September 2, 2026 8
  • 1972 Buick Skylark Custom grille
    1972 Buick Skylark Custom represented the end of an era
    September 1, 2026 4
  • 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
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