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1960s
Fake Design
What if the 1970 Lincoln Continental hadn’t slavishly copied Cadillac?
J. P. Cavanaugh’s (2024) recent ode to the 1969 Lincoln Continental got me thinking: What if the 1970 redesign returned to the more compact size of the groundbreaking 1961-63 models? What might that have looked […]
Readings
J. ‘Kelly’ Flory Jr.’s American Cars series is pricey but valuable
The most valuable books I have bought of late have been J. “Kelly” Flory Jr.’s American Cars reference guides. This multi-volume set provides wide-ranging information on U.S.-made cars during the postwar era. Flory’s series has […]
Links
Motorcade magazine’s ‘sneak peek’ of the 1969 models made up a whole lot of stuff
Motorcade is among the more obscure magazines included in the Automotive History Preservation Society’s digital archives. A supposed preview of the 1969 models may hint at why the magazine apparently did not survive the early-70s. […]
Data Dive
The 1965-73 Ford LTD may not have impacted Mercury very much
(EXPANDED FROM 1/28/2022) Indie Auto commentator Geeber recently discussed how premium-priced big cars did better than their lower-priced brethren as the 1970s progressed. His comment, which is worth reading in full (go here), spurred me […]
Links
Car and Driver says Ford Mustang will ‘murder’ the 1964 Plymouth Barracuda
A Car and Driver article on the just-introduced 1964 Plymouth Barracuda adopted an unusual format — a transcript of a conversation with a Chrysler official. When a road tester complained that the car’s underpinnings didn’t […]
History
Would American Motors under George Mason have done more poorly in the late-50s?
Kim in Lanark makes a useful point in arguing that if American Motors had “kept the Nash and Hudson nameplates any longer, the AMC executives could drive their 1959 Nashes and Hudsons to bankruptcy court.” […]
Links
Car Life tries not to yawn when road testing the 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle
Car Life wasn’t hugely excited about the 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle. Even so, the magazine tried to present the new nameplate in a positive light: “At this writing, Chevelle accounts for 18% of Chevrolet sales and […]
Media Analysis
Collectible Automobile’s take on the decline of big cars gets partway there
Collectible Automobile’s June 2024 issue does an unusually good job of discussing why low-priced big cars took a nosedive in sales during 1970-74. However, the magazine’s article by Sam Fiorani (2024) didn’t say much about […]
Links
Car and Driver gives Roy D. Chapin royal treatment in 1970 AMC Hornet story
Car and Driver under David E. Davis gave the royal treatment to American Motors’ head Roy D. Chapin Jr. A case in point was a story about the 1970 AMC Hornet, which treated Chapin’s marketing […]