Indie Auto

When should U.S. automakers have begun producing a domestic subcompact?

by Steve in History 43

(UPDATED FROM 8/1/2024) In 1959 imported cars captured 10 percent of the U.S. market. However, their popularity quickly subsided after the Big Three came out with an unprecedented wave of compacts beginning in 1960. The market penetration of imports fell by half to 5 percent in 1963 (Eden and Molot, 1996). One could reasonably excuse the [...]

James Ward offers more nuanced take on Packard’s fall than other auto histories

July 23, 2026 36

(EXPANDED FROM 2/26/2024) James A. Ward’s Packard book, The Fall of the Packard Motor Car Company, is dwarfed by Automobile Quarterly’s epic tome edited by Beverly Rae Kimes (2002) as well as Stuart R. Blond’s (2021) [...]

The XR-400 wouldn’t have ‘saved’ AMC but it pointed in a useful direction

July 22, 2026 6

(EXPANDED FROM 7/7/2023) A while back Stéphane Dumas quite rightly noted that another alternative to the 1964 Rambler Tarpon concept car was the XR-400. This was a 2+2 convertible proposed to American Motors in 1962 [...]

The 1956 Lincoln’s styling proved to be a one-year wonder

July 17, 2026 18

(UPDATED FROM 1/6/2023) The 1956 Lincoln was one of the brand’s most-important postwar cars. Almost 54,000 cars left the factory — an all-time record not broken until 1966. The Ford Motor Company was clearly intending to make a [...]

1975 Mercedes-Benz 450 SL lacked the taut brilliance of its predecessor

July 14, 2026 10

(UPDATED FROM 7/17/2024) A few years ago I came across a 1975 Mercedes-Benz SL. In all honesty, I wasn’t nearly as enthused as when I photographed a previous-generation W113 model, with its iconic “pagoda” roof. The R107 models, [...]

1967-72 Pontiac Firebird shows limits of ad illustrations

by Steve in Literature 10

(UPDATED FROM 78/2024/ Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman’s artwork in Pontiac’s advertising played an important role in the brand’s popularity during the 1960s. Others have done a thorough job of showcasing the team’s most iconic ads (e.g., Niedermeyer, 2015; Stroll, 2015). Thus, rather than duplicating efforts, I would like to offer a caveat about the [...]