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A sleepy-eyed 1937 Cord 812
(UPDATED 10/17/2017) One of the retractable headlights on this is a 1937 Cord 812 Westchester four-door was half open when I last photographed the car at the LeMay Collections at Marymount. Go here for background […]
Design Notes
1955 Studebaker President hardtop hints at a road not taken
(EXPANDED FROM 12/1/2019) This may not be a very popular perspective, but I would suggest that the so-called Loewy coupes were at their best in 1955. Although the styling wasn’t nearly as clean as the […]
Auto Paedia
How the greenhouse on US cars has evolved from the late-40s to present
(UPDATED FROM 3/1/2020) Greenhouses have not typically changed as frequently as other parts of the American automobile’s external styling, but they go a long way toward summing up the dominant design approach of a given […]
Design Notes
Early indications of Toyota embracing its inner Virgil Exner
(EXPANDED FROM 4/11/2014) The above photograph shows the beginning of Toyota’s embrace of sci-fi styling. In the foreground, the second-generation Sienna minivan (which was produced from 2003 to 2009) has simple but attractive styling (Wikipedia, […]
Data Dive
The 1967-74 AMC Ambassador didn’t measure up in roominess or quality
(EXPANDED FROM 11/14/2015) A point of contention in a number of Curbside Classic comment threads has been whether the last-generation AMC Ambassador had as much interior room as the Big Three’s full-sized cars. The short answer: […]
Fake Design
1959 Studebaker: Throwing the baby out with the bath water
(EXPANDED FROM 5/22/2015) The 1959 Studebaker Lark’s design was initially so successful that it was described by historian Robert Ebert as a “miracle” (2013, p. 55). Studebaker-Packard Corporation, which was on the verge of liquidating […]
Fake Design
1965-69 Chevrolet Corvair: What if it had a front-engined companion?
(UPDATED ON 10/14/22) The second-generation Chevrolet Corvair was one of the best cars General Motors has ever built. Its styling was exceptionally clean for the mid-60s, which were dominated by fussy gingerbread designs. Meanwhile, the […]
Fake Design
1969-71 Chrysler: An Exner idea fumbled again
(EXPANDED 8/3/2022) The 1969-71 Chrysler was an unfortunate example of a promising design that went sideways because of a few bad decisions. The Chrysler was exceptionally clean and purposeful for an American premium-priced car of […]
Bird Chatter