
1970s


Scientists versus Chrysler on automotive air pollution in 1969
“The battle over air pollution caused by cars is far from over, despite statements issued by auto-industry public relations departments. Research at Ohio State University indicates that present automobile engines spew about 29 pounds of […]

Proposed 1972-73 design could have saved AMC from ill-fated 1974 Matador coupe
The above image apparently shows an early design proposal by Brooks Stevens for a reskinned AMC Ambassador planned for 1972-73. The design has a resemblance to mockups pictured in a Patrick Foster (2013) book. These […]

How come a car that goes 0-60 in 9.7 seconds is now so terrible?
Last summer a Jalopnik review of the Mazda MX-30 led to a debate in the comment thread about what is adequate acceleration. Writer Ken Saito (2021) had just concluded that the electric crossover’s 0-60 time […]

Retired GM designer mused about gender and penny-pinching
“What distressed most of us was that we could never be identified as just designers. We were always the ‘la femmes,’ or we were the female designers, and that — we were designers, and men […]

Mitsubishi tanked in U.S. due to ‘epic’ mismanagement and lack of vision
George Denzinger recently wrote a lengthy — and quite nuanced — comment that I would like to highlight on the front page as a letter to the editor. His missive was in response to the […]

Consultants led General Motors astray by calling for less brand autonomy
DECG50 has weighed in with an additional round of thoughtful analysis about product proliferation at General Motors in response to these (go here and here) posts. Steve, thanks for furthering the discussion and for the […]

Would GM have done better in the 1960s and 1970s under Alfred Sloan?
In our discussion about market segmentation, DECG50 asked an insightful question: Would General Motors have been more disciplined if Alfred Sloan still headed the automaker in the 1960s? “From what I understand, Sloan viewed GM […]

What is the right size for a Ford Mustang?
(UPDATED FROM 10/9/2020) Did Ford deviate too much from the original Ford Mustang’s size before finally getting it right once again in 2005? That year was pivotal because it was the first time in a quarter […]
