Indie Auto

1981-82 DeLorean illustrates Detroit’s failure to understand the rise of imports

by Steve in The Best of Indie Auto 20

(UPDATED FROM 9/23/2022) The easiest way to sum up the spectacular failure of the DeLorean Motor Company is to say that its founder was exceptionally unlucky. I am hard pressed to think of a worse time for John Z. DeLorean to have begun production of his DMC-12 sports car than in early 1981. That was in the depths of a U.S. recession partly fueled by sky-high interest rates. Might DeLorean’s car have had a [...]

Bumpers are almost useless on newer automobiles

January 19, 2025 0

Remember the good old days when cars had meaningful bumpers? The repair costs for even a 2- or 3-mph parking lot ding is much higher than in the days when the feds required bumpers that withstood 5-mph impacts. A while back [...]

K. T. Keller predicted the end of late-50s styling excesses

January 17, 2025 4

K. T. Keller stepped down as Chrysler Corporation’s board chair in 1956 but he still weighed in on auto industry matters. For example, in a 1958 interview he made a rather pointed prediction that implied dissatisfaction with the [...]

Automotive News gets surprisingly negative on Tesla Cybertruck

by Steve in Media Analysis 2

Automotive News isn’t noted for tough-minded journalism, so I was surprised by the negative tone of a recent Tesla Cybertruck story. It started with the provocative headline: “Cyberflop? Tesla discounts Cybertruck as demand cools for Elon Musk’s F-150 fighter.” Reporter Laurence Iliff (2025) proceeded to trot out the usual data about the [...]

Brock Yates called postwar U.S. auto leaders ‘Grosse Pointe myopians’

January 15, 2025 0

(EXPANDED FROM 11/1/2018) “Grosse Pointe myopians” is a pejorative term that automotive journalist Brock Yates (2018) gave to the management class of domestic automakers in a groundbreaking essay published in the [...]

1968-70 Dodge Charger: Who should get credit?

January 14, 2025 10

(EXPANDED FROM 12/29/2023) This is another Indie Auto story that has received a fair amount of blowback. For example, one presumably former reader alleged that I was a “Chevy fanboy” because I called the 1968-70 [...]

The 1964-65 Lincoln Continental was a step backward rather than forward

by Steve in Design Notes 4

(EXPANDED FROM 4/13/2022) 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 been increased 4 inches over the 1963 model; and there is a gain of 2.5 inches in knee [...]

What do the fires of Los Angeles have to do with the auto industry?

January 10, 2025 7

As I write this, the weather at SeaTac International Airport near Seattle, Washington is cold, cloudy and sporadically rainy. That’s quite different from 1,000 miles south in Los Angeles, which is battling an unprecedented series of [...]

Lamm and Holls’s ‘A Century of Automotive Style’ is epic but uneven

January 9, 2025 2

(UPDATED FROM 3/23/2023) A Century of Automotive Style was first published in 1996, so it is a fairly old auto history book. Nevertheless, I would rank it as important enough to be updated. I say that wistfully because it may be a [...]

Why did Mitsubishi fail in the United States?

by Steve in Data Dive 22

(EXPANDED FROM 2/9/2024) There was good news and bad news about Mitsubishi’s U.S. sales in 2024. The good news: Sales were up 25 percent, led by its Mirage economy cars. The bad news: This was still far below all other entry-level Asian brands. That’s quite a fall for a brand that in 2000 ranked No. 4 behind Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The American [...]

Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories

October 14, 2022 121

This is a centralized place for readers to offer specific story ideas to Indie Auto. Any ideas are welcome, from potential feature stories to book reviews. I have started off by posting suggestions from readers [...]

1981-82 DeLorean illustrates Detroit’s failure to understand the rise of imports

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Bumpers are almost useless on newer automobiles

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K. T. Keller predicted the end of late-50s styling excesses

Automotive News gets surprisingly negative on Tesla Cybertruck

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Brock Yates called postwar U.S. auto leaders ‘Grosse Pointe myopians’

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1968-70 Dodge Charger: Who should get credit?

The 1964-65 Lincoln Continental was a step backward rather than forward

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What do the fires of Los Angeles have to do with the auto industry?

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Lamm and Holls’s ‘A Century of Automotive Style’ is epic but uneven

Why did Mitsubishi fail in the United States?

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Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories

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