Indie Auto

GM’s discontinuing of the Chevrolet Malibu is criticized as short sighted

by Steve in Current Events 8

Fast Company’s David Zipper (2024) took General Motors to task for announcing that General Motors would discontinue the Chevrolet Malibu in November. With the long-running nameplate’s demise, GM will no longer sell an affordable sedan in the United States. Of course, GM is just following in the footsteps of Ford and Stellantis. Zipper [...]

Would Hudson have been Packard’s best merger partner?

May 15, 2024 14

(EXPANDED FROM 10/13/2021) A decade ago Curbside Classic commentator Steve (2014) offered one of the more thoughtful merger scenarios for Packard: He concluded that Hudson would have been the best choice. I think that [...]

Why did American Motors fire Wells Rich and Greene in 1972?

May 14, 2024 0

The recent death of ad pioneer Mary Wells Lawrence got me wondering how long her fledgling ad agency Wells Rich and Greene worked with American Motors. The short answer: from 1967 to 1972. This ad agency and automaker [...]

Reader disagrees that 1966-67 Plymouth Satellite was anonymous looking

by Steve in Letters to the Editor 1

AN stopped by to respond to our article, “1966-67 Plymouth Satellite was most anonymous-looking car of its era.” I completely disagree with the premise of the article, “1966-67 Plymouth Satellite most anomyous-looking car of its era.” I generally prefer aerodynamic cars, but I really like the 1966-67 Satellites, particularly the 1966 and to [...]

Automobile in American Life and Society is valuable but badly needs updating

May 10, 2024 1

(EXPANDED FROM 12/6/2021) Our discussions about Ford Motor Company internal politics drew me to reread some oral histories at a website called the Automobile in American Life and Society. Interviews with George Walker, [...]

Why did the Ford Motor Company’s styling go downhill in the 1970s?

May 8, 2024 10

We’ve had an interesting discussion in a comment thread about Ford Motor Company styling in the 1970s (go here), so I wanted bring some additional information and ideas to the table. This will be a fairly quick story, but my hope is that [...]

What if the 1970 Lincoln Continental hadn’t slavishly copied Cadillac?

by Steve in Fake Design 36

J. P. Cavanaugh’s (2024) recent ode to the 1969 Lincoln Continental got me thinking: What if the 1970 redesign returned to the more compact size of the groundbreaking 1961-63 models? What might that have looked like? And how might a downsized Continental have done in the marketplace? Before getting into the particulars I should add that the [...]

Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories

October 14, 2022 76

This is a centralized place for readers to offer specific story ideas to Indie Auto. Any ideas are welcome, from potential feature stories to book reviews. I have started off by posting suggestions from readers [...]