John Beltz has been pointed to as one of the more forward-looking General Motors’ executives of the early-70s, but he came across as rather cautious in a lengthy Motor Trend (1970) interview. He was the […]
Industry coverage by journalists from outside the automotive media can be a mixed bag. They are less likely to succumb to the groupthink that can undercut reporting from the likes of Automotive News or a […]
Roger Sizemore had the feeling that Chrysler was going in the wrong direction. The product planners talked excitedly about selling at least 200,000 Plymouth Barracudas and Dodge Challengers annually. Yet the all-new 1970 pony cars […]
Recently published figures from Automotive News suggest that the dealership networks for U.S. automakers have changed dramatically since the early-1960s. For one thing, the Big Three’s total number of franchises — 19,249 as of January […]
(EXPANDED FROM 12/30/2022) A few years ago we had a debate in a comment thread about the importance of scale in the U.S. auto industry (go here). I thought I would add another layer to […]
Henry Goverti was a huge fan of the Thunderbird. He had owned three of them — and still drove a 1966 convertible to work in the summer. It had a certain flair that epitomized the […]
(EXPANDED FROM 6/18/2021) In selecting the 1966 Oldmobile Toronado as its Car of the Year, Motor Trend (2005) took out its pom-poms and gushed that “never in the 14-year history of this award has the […]
Our “Story Ideas Bank” sometimes morphs into debates about specific historical events. George Denzinger recently weighed in on the death of Oldsmobile. This is a thoughtful analysis so I am elevating it to the front page. […]
One could point to a number of car designs that represented the turning point where foreign automakers began to outshine Detroit in the late-60s and early-70s. The first-generation Jaguar XJ strikes me as particularly important. […]
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