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Year: 2023
History
Defective 1977-79 Continental Mark V showed how Lincoln lost its way
(EXPANDED FROM 8/2/2021) Some buyers of the 1977-79 Lincoln Mark V waited up to eight weeks to receive exclusive designer-series models . . . that turned out to have defective paint. At least that’s Jack […]
Quotes
Gordon Buehrig on Ford’s attitude about small cars circa 1960
“Fred Hooven was a very good friend of mine and had a much bigger job at Ford than I did. He worked for Mike Ference. Henry Ford asked Ference — this was in 1960. He […]
Data Dive
Ford got crushed in 1960s mid-sized field despite early entrance
(EXPANDED FROM 2/12/2021) One of the most interesting aspects of the 1960s was the cat-and-mouse game the Ford Motor Company played with General Motors. Ford quite rightly adopted a new approach after its disastrous expansion […]
Satire
Declassified 1970s documents spark debate among auto historians
(EXPANDED FROM 4/2/2021) Newly declassified intelligence documents show how a crash program by American automakers to switch to eggcrate grilles for their 1972-73 models thwarted a space alien invasion. The strategy worked so well that […]
Ad Nauseam
What happened when a woman redid a 1967 Mercury ‘man’s car’ ad
Late one night a frustrated female ad copy writer came up with an alternative to a proposed print ad for the 1967 Mercury Cyclone GT. As you can quickly get by reading the ad (shown […]
History
1971 Plymouth Valiant sedan impressed media more than buying public
A Popular Science road test ranked the 1971 Plymouth Valiant four-door sedan above two of its newest rivals — the Ford Maverick and AMC Hornet (Norbye and Dunne, 1971). That wasn’t a fluke — the […]
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Readings
Lamm and Holls’s ‘A Century of Automotive Style’ is epic but uneven
(EXPANDED FROM 11/29/2021) A Century of Automotive Style is a fairly old auto history book, but I would rank it as important enough to deserve an updated edition. This collaboration between Michael Lamm and Dave […]
Links
Auto history web page leads me to new sources of information
A staff member from the Hampton Public Library in Iowa asked if I would give visibility to an auto history web page dug up by a student assistant named Katrina. The page includes an article […]