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 […]
(UPDATED 11/18/2022) The original Ford Mustang was the automotive equivalent of The Beatles rock band. The American auto industry had never seen anything like it — a small sporty car that proved so popular that […]
The American auto industry’s religious devotion to bigger, glitzier and more powerful cars shifted into overdrive after World War II. This month’s front page shows a number of different facets of this phenomenon. Our top […]
(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 […]
When Chris Poole (2019, 2013) waxed nostalgic about 1965’s “groovy” cars, he also revived an ugly auto buff media practice of yore: Let’s vilify Ralph Nader! Poole is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. Poole blamed […]
The U.S. automobile industry has shown admirable ingenuity in developing new technologies to reduce the greenhouse gases produced by its cars and trucks. The problem is that a religious devotion to bigger, glitzier and more […]
Some light rain in the morning may have dampened participation in LeMay’s 41st Annual Show, but there was still plenty to see. As in past years, the event — which was held at the Marymount […]
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