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1970s
Quotes
Halberstam: Big Three’s ‘shared monopoly’ held back innovation for years
“The Big Three in the auto industry stood virtually alone, possessors of what was in effect a shared monopoly, for the price of entry was too great for any start-up company. In an environment like […]
Letters to the Editor
Reader offers additional reasons for ‘lower, longer and wider’ trend
Our “Auto Paedia” article about Detroit’s tendency to make its cars “lower, longer and wider” during the post-war period continues to generate an interesting discussion in the comment thread. One comment I would like to […]
Quotes
Bill Mitchell on how he wielded power like Harley Earl at GM
“Oh, he was powerful. God, I admired [him]. He just knocked the tar out of anybody. He’d get it fixed. If he couldn’t, he’d call New York and say, ‘Fix these…[.]’ Then, I inherited some […]
Satire
A story about George Romney’s family that draws upon all of AMC’s nameplates
The other day a commentator on a political blog joked that Mitt Romney’s parents “did a lot of rambling in those days, but oddly enough none ever served as an ambassador.” That led me to […]
Editor's Note
Shall we debate what is a ‘four-door pillared hardtop?’
Today Indie Auto received a comment that critiqued how we have distinguished between different types of four-door body styles. I had referred to the 1961 Lincoln Continental as a four-door hardtop sedan, but Bostwick9 insisted […]
Design Notes
How did Bunkie Knudsen influence the 1972 Ford Thunderbird?
One lingering question I have about Semon “Bunkie” Knudsen’s short tenure as Ford Motor Company president is what influence he had on the 1972 Ford Thunderbird’s design. Jim and Cheryl Farrell (2022) have written that […]
Media Analysis
Was AMC seriously considering a late-70s Gremlin wagon?
Dan Strohl (2022) has posted a photograph of what could have been a Gremlin wagon prototype. His story and comment thread offer a number of plausible ideas about what AMC had in mind, but I […]
Readings
Charles Hyde’s AMC book doesn’t get why automaker failed
(UPDATED FROM 10/16/2020) Charles K. Hyde’s history of American Motors and its constituent companies is a valuable scholarly addition to the literature. His book, Storied Independent Automakers: Nash, Hudson and American Motors, offers considerably more […]
Current Events
Auto industry analyst Maryann Keller was a key critic of ‘Detroit Mind’
I think it is important to acknowledge the death of automotive analyst Maryann Keller for two reasons. First, because she offered one of the most prescient perspectives on the U.S. auto industry’s decline. Second, because […]