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HomePremium-priced cars

Premium-priced cars

1957 Mercury Colony Park 4-door hardtop rear quarter (col.cov)
History

Mercury took station wagons to the outer limits in 1957-60

November 28, 2025 Steve 6

(EXPANDED FROM 4/6/2023) A “Story Ideas Bank” request by CJ asked for more coverage of station wagons, so let’s take a step in that direction with a look at the 1957-60 Mercury. The Ford Motor […]

1966 Oldsmobile 442
Data Dive

Did smaller cars cannibalize GM’s premium-priced big cars in the 1960s?

November 25, 2025 Steve 31

(EXPANDED FROM 12/1/2023) The introduction of compacts for Pontiac, Oldsmobile and Buick represented a major change for these General Motors’ premium-priced brands. Did they help sales grow in a changing marketplace? Or did smaller cars […]

1968 Chrysler New Yorker 2-door hardtop
Design Notes

1968 Chrysler New Yorker: The peak of ‘peak Chrysler?’

November 14, 2025 Steve 22

(EXPANDED FROM 7/8/2022) Paul Niedermeyer (2021) has called the 1965 Chrysler New Yorker “the last great Chrysler.” He argued that this particular vintage “represents a pinnacle: never again would the New Yorker attain this degree […]

1961 Chrysler New Yorker convertible
Design Notes

Chrysler brand looked the least weird of automaker’s 1961 line

October 20, 2025 Steve 12

(EXPANDED FROM 6/13/2022) While the 1961 Chrysler was hardly a stylistic masterpiece, it strikes me as being the least weird of the automaker’s lineup. The Plymouth suffered from a bizarre shark-faced fascia and the Imperial’s […]

1935 Pierce-Arrow
Links

Hudson’s radical WWII concepts and Pierce-Arrow’s downmarket pivot

October 14, 2025 Steve 20

(EXPANDED FROM 8/15/2023) I wanted to more significantly expand on my discussion about two articles posted at the Automotive History Preservation Society’s virtual library. Alas, I can no longer access either story. I can still […]

Links

Ralph Kalal’s take on Packard raises useful questions but can be dogmatic

October 3, 2025 Steve 6

(EXPANDED FROM 3/15/2024) Ralph Kalal’s articles on Packard history have had a boomlet of interest among Indie Auto readers, so now could be a good time to expand on a review I wrote last year. […]

1955 Packard hood
Design Notes

1955 Packard styling too closely copied Cadillac’s to rebuild its cachet

September 24, 2025 Steve 35

(EXPANDED FROM 1/20/2023) This essay has generated more blowback than almost any other post at Indie Auto. In a way I find that surprising because it makes what strikes me as a fairly mundane point: […]

1953 Chrysler Town & Country rear quarter
Gallery

1953 Chrysler Town & Country was the granddaddy of today’s large SUVs

August 28, 2025 Steve 0

The 1953 Chrysler Town & Country wagon was one of the more obscure cars of the early postwar period, but it was essentially the granddaddy of today’s large sport-utility vehicles. Not the only one, but […]

1972 Ford Thunderbird
Design Notes

How did Bunkie Knudsen influence the 1972 Ford Thunderbird?

August 8, 2025 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 8/12/2022) For 1972 the Ford Thunderbird brochure tried to get extra fancy with see-through paper. And on inside pages the text gushed that the only way to change the car was to “Make […]

19465 Hudson
History

1946 Hudson shows what made automaker so important — and vulnerable

August 4, 2025 Steve 15

(EXPANDED FROM 4/22/2023) This story received an unusual amount of pushback in the comment thread when it was originally posted two years ago. A focus of reader criticism was my argument that Hudson’s demise had […]

Posts pagination

« 1 2 3 … 8 »
  • 1965 Studebaker Cruiser proposal
    Car Life speculates about why Studebaker shut down its South Bend plant
    July 17, 2026 8
  • 1956 Lincoln
    The 1956 Lincoln’s styling proved to be a one-year wonder
    July 17, 2026 18
  • 1975 Mercedes-Benz 450 SL
    1975 Mercedes-Benz 450 SL lacked the taut brilliance of its predecessor
    July 14, 2026 6
  • 1988 Oldsmobile Toronado
    Did GM go too far in downsizing the 1986 Riviera, Toronado and Eldorado?
    July 10, 2026 16
  • J. 'Kelly' Flory Jr.
    J. ‘Kelly’ Flory Jr.’s American Cars series is pricey but valuable
    July 10, 2026 4
  • 1968 Pontiac Firebird green convertible
    1967-72 Pontiac Firebird shows limits of ad illustrations
    July 7, 2026 10
  • Miscellaneous ramblings about being on the road
    June 25, 2026 5
  • 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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