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Year: 2023
Media Analysis
Review of Thomas Bonsall’s Edsel book mischaracterized Robert McNamara
Indie Auto appreciates when readers give us a heads up about interesting content elsewhere on the web. In a recent comment, John Sutter pointed to an eye-opening review of Thomas E. Bonsall’s (2002) book, Disaster […]
Photo Essay
Why don’t more people customize the paint schemes on their vehicles?
This BMW reminded me of how rarely automobiles in the United States display customized paint schemes. The only time I can remember when this has been a mass-market phenomenon was during the surfer van boomlet […]
Fake Design
1970 Pontiac Firebird: Time to go on a diet
(EXPANDED FROM 11/26/2021) The 1971-73 Ford Mustang has been criticized for growing too big and fat (e.g., Mueller, 2010). However, Ford didn’t act in isolation. All of the pony cars bloated out when they were […]
Quotes
Ed Cole has big news about Chevy’s Vega-based Wankel ‘Mustang killer’
In its April 1974 issue, Popular Science shed light on a Chevrolet Vega-based sporty coupe that was slated to compete with the subcompact Ford Mustang II. The unnamed car’s main claim to fame would be […]
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Literature
When did U.S. automobile ads start to display more racial diversity?
(EXPANDED FROM 8/25/2021) A few years ago Paul Niedermeyer (2021) wondered whether a 1961 Oldsmobile marketing image displayed people of color. The short answer is “no,” which we will talk about later in this story. […]
Links
Hudson’s radical WWII concepts and Pierce-Arrow’s downmarket pivot
The other day I intended to take a quick cruise through the Automotive History Preservation Society’s virtual library. Instead, I ended up spending a meaningful amount of time reading articles that had been reposted from […]
Media Analysis
Is Patrick Foster right that AMC’s biggest mistake was not buying Jeep earlier?
A recent Hemmings column by Patrick Foster (2023) argues that American Motors’ biggest mistake was not buying Willys Motors — the maker of Jeep sport-utility vehicles — way back in the early-60s. Indeed, he went […]
Photo Essay
Still motion: A haunting encounter with a 1940s Chevy truck
(EXPANDED FROM 11/20/2020) The National Park Service is renovating the Kestner homestead near Lake Quinault. However, one item is being left to nature’s whims — a circa 1941-46 Chevrolet panel truck once used in a […]