Our Sponsors
Year: 2023
Letters to the Editor
Reader offers his perspective on why Packard died
Indie Auto has received a pair of comments from a reader we will call D.B. His first comment was in response to our story, “The 1955 Packard’s styling was an evolutionary dead end.” D.B.’s second […]
Design Notes
U.S. cars often suffered from weak styling continuity and boxy shapes in 1970-80s
Our discussion about the Volkswagen Scirocco (go here) got me to thinking about my car design biases. Two of them heavily influence how I write about automotive history: My harshest criticisms have been leveled at […]
Our Sponsors
Links
Brazilian Volkswagens show automaker’s struggle for a post-Beetle look
Paul Niedermeyer’s (2023) recently reposted story about Volkwagens of Brazil offers a helpful addendum to our Scirocco discussion. The automaker’s Brazilian arm went the farthest in giving the Beetle chassis a variety of more modern […]
Media Analysis
Popular Mechanics published amusingly wrong predictions about 1968 cars
The June 1967 issue of Popular Mechanics may have been published only a few months prior to the beginning of the 1968 model year for U.S. cars, but it had a few amusingly wrong predictions. […]
Design Notes
First-generation Scirocco was trendy but didn’t look like a Volkswagen
The Volkswagen Scirocco’s styling was greeted with considerable acclaim when it came to the United States in 1975. For example, Road & Track called the pronounced wedge shape “exciting to look at” and displayed “crisp […]
Our Sponsors
Quotes
Gordon Buehrig on why the 1936-37 Cord 810/812 was unsuccessful
In the comment thread of a recent story about the Cord 810/812, we debated why this iconic car was not successful in the marketplace (go here). To add to that discussion, below is a quote […]
Photo Essay
Rat Kool Garage doubles as a rather quirky car museum
(EXPANDED FROM 10/16/2020) Head out of Raymond, Washington on Route 6 (Wikipedia, 2020) and you cannot miss seeing an unusual assortment of old cars parked in front of the Rat Kool Garage & Customs. Among […]