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Year: 2022
Fake Design
1963-64 Studebaker Avanti: A classic failure
(EXPANDED FROM 1/1/2020) The Studebaker Avanti is arguably one of the most important American automotive designs of the 1960s. It has quite rightly been described by historian Patrick Foster as “one of the most beautiful automobiles […]
History
Four reasons why the AMC Gremlin was a bad idea
(UPDATED FROM 4/20/2022) The AMC Gremlin may be one of the most memorable cars of the 1970s, but it was a bad idea for four often-forgotten reasons. I grant you that what I am about […]
Quotes
So what exactly is a ‘muscle car,’ anyway?
“For this writer, the Pontiac GTO not only defines the genre (it was a mid-size or intermediate body), but also the beginning and end of the Muscle Car Era; 1964-1974. Some might argue that the […]
Design Notes
How Brooks Stevens’s designs for a postwar compact Willys evolved
Recently Bill McGuire (2017) of Mac’s Motor City Garage reposted a story that included photographs of a never-produced postwar Willys passenger car called the 6/70. He offered intriguing details about the car, which included independent front […]
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Design Notes
The 1964-65 Lincoln Continental was a step backward rather than forward
A brochure for the 1964 Lincoln Continental was almost apologetic in describing “significant improvements” to the car. “You will appreciate greater leg room, knee room and head room. In the rear compartment, leg room has […]
Design Notes
1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser is a monument to Ford’s failed ambitions
The Edsel and Lincoln were the Ford Motor Company’s most visible failures of the late-50s, but the Mercury was also an embarrassment. The ill-fated Turnpike Cruiser epitomized both the promise and futility of Ford’s ambitious […]
Quotes
What Bill Mitchell didn’t like about John Z. DeLorean
“I didn’t like his aloof egotism. He’d sit in a meeting and open his briefcase and brush his hair, and he’d dress floozy, you know, and he called us the establishment. He was a queer […]
Media Analysis
Successful automotive journalists need to master these two rules
(ORIGINALLY POSTED 5/24/2014) Many are called but few are chosen to be professional automotive writers. Some things you can’t control, like technological change and media consolidation. However, aspiring writers can increase their odds of success by […]