Bird Chatter
1980s
Quotes
Designer Bill Robinson’s secret to his success
“. . . I always considered myself an average designer, because there were so many good designers. I was very successful because I knew that you had to sell the design to the manager and […]
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Groupthink
A tendency toward groupthink has been a chronic problem in the American automobile industry since the mid-50s. This was a key driver of the domestic automakers’ dramatic decline from the late-60s onward. More recently, foreign […]
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Auto industry consolidation: Putting profits ahead of robust competition
The necessity of industry consolidation has long been a popular idea among auto executives and pundits. The basic argument has been that the automotive industry — both in the U.S. as well as globally — […]
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Pillar (A-D)
Some of the American automobile’s more significant design changes have been reflected in the pillars of a greenhouse. For ease of discussion, pillars have been alphabetized. An A-pillar is on each side of a windshield. […]
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Calendar
LeMay car show offers a remarkable mix of vehicles
The Pacific Northwest is lucky to have a nationally prominent automotive museum. America’s Car Museum in Tacoma, Washington is worth an occasional visit because of its interesting variety of vehicles. However, I spend more time with […]
Design Notes
Citroen 2CV driver asks for a little patience
A while back we batted around the question of what would a modern simple car look like? The Volkswagen Beetle was used as a point of comparison,  but I suppose a Citroen 2CV could have also […]
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
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 […]