The 1974 Ambassador’s ZiL-like styling shows how AMC had succumbed to “GM envy” in the 1970s. This car was so big and ugly that it was doomed to failure. Yet American Motors wasted scarce resources […]
George Romney may have been one of the U.S. auto industry’s best post-war leaders, but he made eight big mistakes while leading AMC from 1954-62. Some of his bad moves were costly enough to almost […]
(EXPANDED 10/28/2022) A few years ago Richard M. Langworth argued that Ford’s aggressive attempt to overtake Chevrolet in 1954 received more blame “than it deserved” in undercutting the viability of independent automakers (2019, p. 16). […]
As usual, this year’s LeMay annual car show offered an eclectic mix of cars and trucks. In addition to the nonprofit organization’s private collection, owners displayed their own vehicles. And if you timed it right, […]
The most strikingly quality of American Motors’ car designs developed in the mid-60s was how quickly the automaker ditched the Rambler look in favor of styling mostly indistinguishable from the Big Three. This was a […]
The necessity of industry consolidation has long been a popular idea among auto executives and pundits. The basic argument has been that the automotive industry — both in the U.S. as well as globally — […]
“AMC could be regarded as the mother of ‘flexabile manufacturing’ due to the wide variety of products, with limited facilities to build them. I took a tour of Kenosha assembly in 75. As I recall, […]
The Pacific Northwest is lucky to have a nationally prominent automotive museum. America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington is worth an occasional visit because of its interesting variety of vehicles. However, I spend more time with […]
(EXPANDED ON 9/30/2022) Once upon a time Robert Murray (2018) posted at Curbside Classic a photograph of his 1958 Packard two-door hardtop during restoration. The shot showed the rear fenders without the tacked-on fins. Commentator […]
“The Rambler will never get credit for all it did. It never will. And the reason it won’t is because those who followed me, as (Patrick) Foster (1993) points out in his book, didn’t believe […]
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