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HomeSemon Knudsen

Semon Knudsen

1970 Mercury Cougar El Gato
History

1970 Mercury ‘El Gato’ Cougar raises intriguing questions

February 18, 2026 Steve 2

(EXPANDED FROM 1/23/2024) Bill McGuire’s (2021b) story about the Mercury El Gato got me thinking about Ford’s conflicted design direction in the early-70s. The concept car hinted at what the 1969-70 Cougar might have looked […]

1969 Ford design film clay model
History

Late-1960s Ford car design film shows US automakers losing it

August 13, 2025 Steve 9

(EXPANDED FROM 4/28/2023) A late-1960s Ford promotional film offers a fascinating glimpse into the car and truck designs being worked on at the time. Perhaps more than intended, The Design Makers — Inside Ford Design, […]

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 […]

1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV
Links

Knudsen’s favored 1972 Mark IV design borrowed from the Eldorado

April 16, 2025 Steve 10

(EXPANDED FROM 8/5/2022) A few years ago Dean’s Garage posted a fascinating story about the battle over the 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV’s styling. Jim and Cheryl Farrell (2022) described how a design proposal championed […]

1971 Mercury Cougar XR7
Media Analysis

Collectible Automobile sheds little light on why 1971 Mercury Cougar was ugly

August 6, 2024 Steve 17

When I saw that the 1971 Mercury Cougar was on the cover of the latest Collectible Automobile issue, I was particularly curious about one thing: Did Semon Knudsen have much influence on the car’s huge […]

1970 Ford Thunderbird front
Quotes

David Halberstam: Why Bunkie Knudsen ‘never had a chance at Ford’

June 22, 2021 Steve 4

“Bunkie Knudsen never had a chance at Ford. It was not that he lacked the skill to handle the job; indeed, that was something that almost never came up. It was that Ford was so […]

  • 2006-7 Dodge Charger
    2006-2010 Dodge Charger: A cartoonish attempt at rip-roaring nostalgia
    June 5, 2026 6
  • 1950 Nash Rambler hood ornament
    Speedreaders.info is a rare source of book reviews, but quality varies
    June 3, 2026 0
  • 1958 Lincoln
    1958-60 Lincoln: Failing to beat GM at its own game
    June 2, 2026 16
  • 1957 Nash Ambassador
    Three videos: The death of car culture, rich people’s cars and the 1957 Nash
    May 29, 2026 6
  • 1963 Mercury Marauder
    1963 Mercury Marauder: Ford tries to do a premium-priced car on the cheap
    May 27, 2026 11
  • Did 1964 Ramblers share more parts between size classes than competitors?
    May 26, 2026 1
  • Patrick Foster shows how International Harvester failed to adapt
    May 13, 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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