(EXPANDED FROM 2/19/2021) This story has seen a burst of renewed interest, so I have updated and expanded it — partly in response to reader comments. However, the punchline remains the same: that Virgil Exner’s […]
(EXPANDED FROM JUNE 2, 2023) Histories about the Stout Scarab tend to emphasize that it was the first production minivan (Peek, 2021; Wikipedia, 2023). However, this innovative 1930s car strikes me as also being the […]
(EXPANDED FROM 3/19/2021) This story has received more reader pushback than almost any other single piece that I have published in Indie Auto. Even so, I think that it epitomizes what this blog is all […]
(EXPANDED FROM 5/14/2021) A few years ago CJ and Geeber commented that the 1975 Dodge Charger would have worked better if it had been given the more distinctive design of the 1978 Magnum XE. That’s […]
(EXPANDED FROM 1/7/2022) When writing about the 1953-54 Plymouth, I wondered whether there could have been a compromise between the practicality of Chrysler head K. T. Keller and the trendiness of his successor, Tex Colbert. Let’s apply that question to […]
(EXPANDED FROM 4/18/2023) According to Ed Cray’s (1980) Chrome Colossus, in 1932 Cadillac was in danger of being discontinued when a young service manager named Nicholas Dreystadt crashed a General Motors’ executive committee meeting to […]
(EXPANDED FROM 4/2/2021) After Studebaker and Packard combined in 1954, Motor Trend anticipated the possibilities of the two automakers sharing resources. For example, the magazine imagined Studebaker’s lightweight cars getting Packard’s “monstrous new V8 engine, […]
Ford’s aggressive efforts to retake the top-selling crown from Chevrolet reached a crescendo in the 1957 model year, when it out-produced its rival by more than 170,000 units. Ford’s main advantage was a new body […]
The domestic luxury-car field saw output rise by a healthy 11 percent in 1968, but the Imperial went in the opposite direction — down by almost 13 points. At least on paper, the Imperial should […]
Jim Volgarino recently suggested in our “Story Ideas” bank that we take a closer look at the top automotive journalists of the past: “I think Tom McCahill began the long line of auto writers that […]
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