Random Shots
2010s
Random Shots
Quotes
Chris Bangle: 1960s supercars more distinctive than modern ones
“I’m not going to call (today’s high-priced sports cars) supercars, that is why I refer to them as supercar-ish. Besides Ferrari and McLaren you will find them scattered all around (the 2018 Geneva auto show). […]
Letters to the Editor
Preserving web-based automotive history is important
The following letter is from rivguy: This is a response to a four-year-old post (go here), and happily the Curbside Classic site is still alive and well. I discovered CC over six years ago. At […]
Quotes
Automotive News: Late-50s one of the best eras for U.S. car design
“But it was after he joined Chrysler in 1949 that (Virgil) Exner made his most lasting impression, with Chrysler’s ‘Forward Look.’ Exner couldn’t change Chrysler’s upright, dowdy cars fast enough. Featuring bodacious, streamlined bodies and tail fins, the ‘Forward Look’ […]
Current Events
How would you save the Chrysler brand?
Jalopnik recently took a walk on the clickbaity side by asking readers how they would save Chrysler: The brand. The post by Rory Carroll (2021) elicited the usual range of responses, from earnestly mundane to […]
Quotes
‘Doling out progress at the minimum possible rate’
“The US auto industry has been perhaps the best example of a sector falling into a rut and doling out progress at the minimum possible rate for at least 30 years. It’s criminal IMO that […]
Media Analysis
Automotive News stops dragging its knuckles on climate change
A recent Automotive News editorial (2020) flatly declared that the planet “is warming at a dangerous rate, and the global auto industry has a major role to play in fixing the problem.” Another unsigned editorial […]
Links
On the origins of the 1974 Riviera and 2021 Grand Wagoneer
Wayne Kady comments about the bustleback Buick: The April 2021 issue of Collectible Automobile has a letter from retired General Motors’ designer Wayne Kady. He described how GM’s head designer William Mitchell ordered him to […]
Design Notes
How Toyota ruined the Scion xB
When the Scion xB was redesigned for the 2008 model year, it was upsized from a subcompact to a compact. That added a foot in length, almost three inches in width and more than 600 […]