Design Notes
Year: 2015
Drive-By Musings
The perils of a four-way
Curbside Classic recently posted an unusually detailed discussion in a comment thread about why a merger did not occur between Hudson, Nash, Packard and Studebaker (Shafer, 2015). While the speculation is interesting, I’d question the underlying assumption […]
Design Notes
Tesla Model S’s rear styling is a fine mess
The Tesla Model S is an interesting mix of clean sheet metal surfaces dressed up with complex detailing. The taillight treatment is the car’s least successful design element — it’s gimmicky rather than elegant. Part of […]
History
When GM was king and 10 million was blue sky
Keith Crain’s prevously-mentioned Automotive News column illustrates how dramatically expectations have changed about industry volume. In 2014 sales hit 16.5 million units. That was only good for ninth place in the record books. Crain (2014) noted that […]
Random Shots
Media Analysis
Automotive News muffles the alarm
Keith Crain is the closest thing the American auto industry has to a minister of groupthink, so it is worth noting when the editor-in-chief of Automotive News furrows his brow. In a late-December column he criticized […]
Readings
Jeep: The History of America’s Greatest Vehicle
In a vague sense this book is an update of The Story of Jeep (Foster, 1998). However, like Patrick R. Foster’s other recent books, Jeep: America’s Greatest Vehicle, is much more graphically oriented. While not quite as large […]