Auto design
1965-66 AMC Marlin: How to fix beginner’s mistakes
The first-generation Marlin gets no respect, particularly compared to the two-seater AMX. The Marlin tends to be treated as one of American Motors’ biggest flops. Meanwhile, the AMX has been lauded as a valuable halo […]
Lucid: Weight and aerodynamics matter as much as advanced batteries
“Peter Rawlinson, who led design of the Tesla Model S and is now chief executive of the electric car start-up Lucid, likes to wow audiences by showing up at events dragging a rolling carry-on bag […]
Commentators explain how a fat Corvette stops space aliens
Some of the web’s most important writing is buried in auto blog comment sections. One of my all-time favorites is a soliloquy by Truth About Cars commentator Petezeiss (2014). In response to criticisms of the 2015 Corvette Z06’s weight gain, he […]
Hemmings highlights late-70s attack against U.S. bumper regulations
Hemmings got political recently by highlighting a 1978 attack against U.S. bumper regulations then on the books. In his “Four Links” feature, Daniel Strohl (2020) pointed to a story in a staunchly libertarian magazine called […]
What’s new for May
The American auto industry’s religious devotion to bigger, glitzier and more powerful cars shifted into overdrive after World War II. This month’s front page shows a number of different facets of this phenomenon. Our top […]
What’s new for March
The lead story on the 1971-78 Cadillac Eldorado illustrates what happens when automotive history sticks too closely to “just-the-facts” reporting. Collectible Automobile’s account of the second-generation personal coupe provides lots of useful background but sidesteps […]