Quotes
Somewhere on the Internet a top-design list is wrong
“Any failure to mention the 1953 Cadillac Eldorado convertible is reprehensible.” — Stephen Smith, The Daily Drive
1960s
Design Notes
Avanti: Looking forward, looking backward
A circa 1987 Avanti coupe still looks remarkably contemporary even though the basic design was roughly a quarter-century old when this car was built. This photograph highlight’s the Avanti’s Coke-bottle curves. I’d suggest that the […]
Media Analysis
Brock Yates’ death deserves deeper thinking
Stories about the death of long-time automotive journalist Brock Yates quite rightly emphasized his most popular exploits. For example, his creation of the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash illustrated Yates’ flare for publicity stunts at […]
Current Events
2015 Mustang: Faux pony car goes generic
With the 2015 redesign of the Mustang, Ford had the potential to reassert its leadership in what I have referred to as the faux pony car field. Instead, Ford took the cheap and easy way […]
History
When GM was king and 10 million was blue sky
Keith Crain’s prevously-mentioned Automotive News column illustrates how dramatically expectations have changed about industry volume. In 2014 sales hit 16.5 million units. That was only good for ninth place in the record books. Crain (2014) noted that […]
Readings
Jeep: The History of America’s Greatest Vehicle
In a vague sense this book is an update of The Story of Jeep (Foster, 1998). However, like Patrick R. Foster’s other recent books, Jeep: America’s Greatest Vehicle, is much more graphically oriented. While not quite as large […]
Random Shots
History
Honest passion for Bunkie’s beak?
The October issue of Collectible Automobile has a wide-ranging profile of Ford design chief Eugene Bordinat. Writers Jim and Cheryl Farrell (2014) include a number of provocative details about Ford President Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen’s role in […]
Design Notes
A curve from nowhere
The Jeep CJ may have one of the boxiest automotive bodies ever produced, but its front end is visually dominated by curves. Note how the rounded fender edge emerges from an exposed gap between two pieces […]
Current Events
Should VW’s design chief fear civilization’s end?
(UPDATED 12/15/2022) Volkswagen Group’s global design chief Walter de Silva is worried that optimizing aerodynamics in order to meet tightening emissions standards could hurt aesthetics and branding. In an Automotive News question-and-answer piece, he complained […]