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1980s
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Donald Trump took a shovel to John DeLorean’s estate
“DeLorean spends the rest of his life in and out of court. He declares bankruptcy in 1999. His Bedminster estate is purchased by a Connecticut-based golf-course development partnership, who within two years will sell it […]
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Jose Delgadillo: Yesterday’s big Cadillac is today’s big truck?
“Today I put on 75 miles driving around the South Bay. What did I see on the road? Expedition after Expedition, Suburban XLs, Escalades, Full size, quad cab pick ups of every marque and plenty […]
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2022 Jeep Wagoneer: Turning generic into a big grand deal
The marketing wizards are trying to present the 2022 Wagoneer as a big grand deal; a triumphant return of a legendary nameplate. The only problem is that the forthcoming new Jeep is as generic as […]
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Patrick Foster shows how International Harvester failed to adapt
International Harvester is the post-war U.S. automaker that has received the least attention from historians. Thus, Patrick Foster’s book, International Harvester: The Complete Story, is a particularly welcome addition. The format is similar to his […]
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Critique of automotive ‘atrocities’ snarks with the best — and worst
Automotive Atrocities! illustrates an increasingly popular genre: the car gallery. Authors take a theme — in this case cars that are supposedly infamous — and offer a few pages of info McNuggets. Repeat enough times […]
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Ford should not have killed the Thunderbird nameplate
“The Thunderbird is a storied Franchise with more equity than many other old nameplates. Why Ford allows T-Bird awareness to seep away from American consciousness while Chevy introduces its 8th Corvette is beyond me. By […]
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Standard Catalog of Imported Cars, 1946-1990
I was inclined to get the more recent edition of the Standard Catalog of Imported Cars: 1946-2002 (Covello, 2001) until I read Amazon.com reader reviews. I don’t tend to take these reviews very seriously but noticed an […]
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CO2 emissions: Automakers still partying like it’s 1975
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 […]