Year: 2020
2022 Jeep Wagoneer: Turning generic into a big grand deal
The marketing wizards are trying to present the 2022 Wagoneer as a big grand deal; a triumphant return of a legendary nameplate. The only problem is that the forthcoming new Jeep is as generic as […]
Art Fitzpatrick’s automotive art showcased at website
(UPDATED 1/8/2023) The website, Art Fitpatrick: Portraits of Cars, survived the illustrator’s death (Strohl, 2015). However, when I tested the link in early 2023 it did not work and I could not find an alternative […]
K. T. Keller predicted the end of late-50s styling excesses
“The present trend in cars has about another year or two to go. Then we’ll be back to design for function, and there’ll be more stress on utility. It takes more than styling to make […]
Hemmings highlights late-70s attack against U.S. bumper regulations
Hemmings got political recently by highlighting a 1978 attack against U.S. bumper regulations then on the books. In his “Four Links” feature, Daniel Strohl (2020) pointed to a story in a staunchly libertarian magazine called […]
Patrick Foster shows how International Harvester failed to adapt
International Harvester is the post-war U.S. automaker that has received the least attention from historians. Thus, Patrick Foster’s book, International Harvester: The Complete Story, is a particularly welcome addition. The format is similar to his […]
Prediction from 2015: High tech won’t be reliable
“The more electronic stuff automakers put into cars, the more and more people have to treat them like really big cell phones. Show of hands — who WANTS to visit their carrier store? That’s what […]