Random Shots
Year: 2014
Media Analysis
2015 Mustang: How obesity is justified
Except for relatively rare moments of downsizing, the dominant tendency in the American auto industry is toward bigger, glitzier and more powerful vehicles. Each time a car adds poundage, the automaker — usually with the […]
Drive-By Musings
Car design conformity was the norm even before regulations
Question-of-the-day features can often result in banal flame wars. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised that a “red meat” question by The Truth About Cars — is regulation ruining car design — generated a fairly […]
Design Notes
A frowny face
The 2010-to-present Volvo S60 has relatively distinctive taillights but they culminate in odd center brows. Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
Drive-By Musings
Saab hung onto two-stroke engine far too long
In the April edition of Collectible Automobile (2014), Patrick R. Foster noted that Saab was the last European automaker outside Warsaw Pact countries to produce two-stroke engines. The Swedish automaker switched to a modern four-stroke […]
Media Analysis
The truth about cut-and-spin journalism
We have previously discussed how the relentless pressure for content at 24/7 automotive websites can lead to basic errors (go here). A more subtle but common problem is cut-and-spin journalism. This is where a harried […]