Ron Kowalke has put together a handy source of data about American independents. As with other Standard Catalog volumes, this 400-page book has some data gaps.
This book can be exceptionally dense reading even for a reference guide, e.g., some pages are filled with wall-to-wall text lacking a single paragraph break.
Standard Catalog of Independents: The Struggle to Survive Among Giants
- Ron Kowalke, 1999
- Krause Publications, Iola, WI
“The Checker never claimed to be the vision or victim of automotive stylists, but rather, maintained a reputation as a utilitarian vehicle with a reputation for longevity, endurance and a lack of obsolescence. This is evidenced in Checker’s resistance to yearly appearance changes. Gradual improvements were made, though. The fact that that the basic design was offered for 22 years and grew old-fashioned can’t be denied. If the company had adopted a Ghia-designed Checker prototype of 1970, it’s likely the nameplate would have remained around for some time.” (p. 32)
“In 1929, Essex sales contributed handsomely to the over 300,000 Hudson total, and the company was third in the industry. In 1932, the Essex had freewheeling, a vee radiator, a six-cylinder engine by now beefed up to 70 bhp — and a new model designation called Terraplane. In 1933, the Essex name was dropped, and the car thereafter became known simply as the Terraplane.” (p. 82)
“That the Junior Packards (as these lesser-priced cars became known, the more expensive cars of course becoming the Seniors) resulted in a loss of prestige to the Packard luxury car image from which the company never recovered has been vigorously debated. But undoubtedly the Packard company could not have survived the Depression without this product line.” (p. 219)
Be the first to comment