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Year: 2024
Fake Design
Was the 1940-41 Lincoln Continental the all-time most influential U.S. halo car?
(EXPANDED FROM 2/14/2023) Since this is Presidents’ Day, let’s take another look at what I have suggested is the most influential halo car of all time built in the United States — the original Lincoln […]
Multimedia
VW Superbowl ad waxes nostalgic for the kind of cars it no longer makes
Volkswagen has received a good response to the ad it ran during the Superbowl last weekend. Titled “An American Love Story,” the 60-second ad and an extended version attempt to cultivate nostalgia for the brand’s […]
Literature
1965-71 Pontiac ads tried to dazzle with hip sophistication
When updating the 1966 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme story I found myself lingering over the illustrations in Pontiac brochures. The images, which were produced by the legendary team of Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman, tended to […]
History
Was the 1966 Olds Cutlass Supreme the first mid-sized brougham model?
(EXPANDED FROM 12/2/2022) Paul Niedermeyer (2014) has suggested that the 1966-67 Cutlass Supreme brought the “Great Brougham Epoch” to the mid-sized field. Oldsmobile’s top-end intermediate nameplate was one of the most iconic of an era […]
Links
Car and Driver playfully roasts a 1964 Ford Thunderbird convertible
Car and Driver’s road test of a 1964 Ford Thunderbird reminded me of what I enjoyed about the magazine in its heyday. Although it threw in a few bits of fawning praise, that struck me […]
Design Notes
1956 Ford Country Sedan wagon: The once and future Explorer
(EXPANDED FROM 1/25/2022) Nineteen-fifty-six was a pivotal year for Ford station wagons. This was essentially the last time that the brand would offer an old-fashioned, utilitarian wagon for more than three decades. When the Ford […]
Links
Bullet-nosed 1950 Studebaker was called futuristic when it was introduced
Last month Indie Auto made fun of articles written with artificial intelligence by running a fake piece about the 1950 Studebaker (go here). The infamous bullet-nosed car deserves more attention than that, so let’s take […]
Data Dive
Why did Mitsubishi fail in the United States?
(EXPANDED FROM 11/3/2022) Mitsubishi’s U.S. sales have somewhat stabilized in recent years, but they are still well below seven other entry-level Asian brands. That’s quite a fall for a brand that in the year 2000 […]
Current Events
Peter DeLorenzo launches a lazy attack against decarbonization mandates
Peter DeLorenzo has finally acknowledged that the decarbonization of the automotive fleet could be significantly driven by public-sector actions. However, he does so by spewing a bunch of lazy anti-government insults. Does this represent his […]