(UPDATED FROM 7/31/2020)
A few years ago Curbside Classic commentator Team Obsolete complained that stories written by Paul Niedermeyer “drift over like a cold dark cloud, displacing people’s sunny enthusiasm and dumps freezing rain and depression on everyone.” This is a problem because the purpose of an auto history website should be to “enjoy the classics, not pick them apart” (2019).
Busting myths rather than fawning over old cars
Niedermeyer’s response is worth reading in its entirety (go here), but I’d like to reprint a key passage:
“I have zero ambition to be associated with a web site that just fawns over old cars. That is deadly boring to me. I’m not doing this for the money, fame or glory. I just started writing about cars in the way I genuinely felt about them. If it isn’t stimulating intellectually to me, I don’t want to do it or be a part of it.
Everything humans have done and made has good and bad qualities; that’s the human experience. I fully accept the fact that the majority of humans prefer to extol the virtues of their favorite things/tribes, be that sports teams, politicians, women, cars, etc. It’s a tribal thing, to a large part. Black and white. We (at Curbside Classic) like the shades of gray.
I’ve always been a bit of an outsider. I’m not the typical old car guy, in case that wasn’t blatantly obvious. I’m only interested in pursuing a more nuanced and genuinely truthful understanding of cars and their history. So yes, that puts me at odds with the typical ‘old car enthusiast.’ But that’s how I am.
I can only hope that my approach sheds a bit of new light on automotive history. What I enjoy most of all is busting the myths around many old car histories. I need to dig and get at what I perceive as the real truth, at least for me. But that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.”
Auto history can do more than entertain
Niedermeyer’s perspective deserves greater visibility within the auto history field. All too often the larger media outlets treat the topic of old cars as infotainment for bored retirees.
Stories can be dominated by car porn: sweet-and-gauzy pictures of automobiles in sultry poses. Text tends to repeat conventional wisdom. As Indie Auto has pointed out, that conventional wisdom — or what we have referred to as groupthink — can be colored by factual errors and questionable assumptions.
Yes, studying auto history is fun. However, I don’t see it as just an idle pastime. As discussed further in the “Introduction,” historical research can help us apply the lessons of the past to chart a smarter course into the future.
Niedermeyer is among the relatively few auto history publishers who appear to have gotten that. This is the key reason why Curbside Classic has played an important role in reinvigorating a staid field.
Robust debate requires criticism
Reinvigorating automotive history cannot happen without robust debate. Debate can result in people feeling insulted. As Team Obsolete pointed out, one way this can occur is if a reader owns an old car that is being critiqued.
Another way people can feel insulted is when their writing is critiqued. This is a basic part of what Indie Auto does, such as through our media analysis as well as reviews of books and websites. My goal isn’t to put down anyone, but rather to apply journalistic and scholarly standards that help us deepen our understanding of the past, present and future.
Also see ‘Wheel spinning happens when car buffs and scholarly historians don’t collaborate’
As Niedermeyer pointed out, this may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Indeed, the websites that fawn over old cars are invariably the most popular. What smaller websites can do is help to broaden and deepen the conversation that, in time, might percolate into the “mainstream.” Or it might not.
I was a journalist early in my career. I found that my most impactful writing also tended to elicit the most complaints. That also seems to be the case at Indie Auto. It’s all in a day’s work.
NOTES:
This story was originally posted February 1, 2019 and updated on July 31, 2020 and July 20, 2023.
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
RE:SOURCES
- Team Obsolete; 2019. Commentator in “Talk K Outtake: An Historical Oddity.” Curbside Classic. Posted Jan. 15, 7:27 p.m.
- Niedermeyer, Paul; 2019. Commentator in “Ralf K Outtake: An Historical Oddity.” Curbside Classic. Posted Jan. 15, 9:48 p.m.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- oldcaradvertising.com: Edsel (1958, 1959, 1960)
Paul has done a great job with his site. It’s gotten even better after his brief hiatus. Critical analysis of the featured old cars is welcome by me. Even when new, those cars weren’t always well received or regarded. Take the ’59 Cadillac for example. The darling of some automotive hipsters and mid century modern fans. Ten years earlier the Cadillac debuted a advanced OHV engine that developed more power and provided more economy than it’s competitors. The chassis was competent as a road car, and early ’50’s models were raced at The Pan American road race and even at Le Mans! Ten years after that, it became “this thing!” A lot of moto journalists were quite disappointed, even some buyers. While the car can be seen as an icon of excess, or a monument to American “exuberance” it could also be seen as an overstyled pig. There’s plenty of room for discussion.