“It’s enormous. The (original] Mini was the best-packaged car of all time(; the BMW Mini) is an example of how not to do it. The interior space is not much bigger than the old Mini, […]
“Cars and the car business infect some people’s blood, which is why that agglomeration of machinery and brains and money we call Detroit functions as a state of mind as much as an industry, not […]
Geeber recently wrote one of the best overviews I have ever seen about why Chrysler’s dealer networks became so dysfunctional. His comment (below) was in response to, “Lynn Townsend failed to solve Chrysler’s warfare between […]
Reader James E. Duvall offered a thoughtful take on our 1966-67 Chrysler B-Body story that deserves more prominence as a stand-alone letter. While I believe the Elwood Engel’s styling department was on-track and that Lynn […]
(EXPANDED FROM 1/1/2019) The 1962 Ford Galaxie was the long-reigning champion of the Generic Ford of the Century Award. This was a remarkable feat when you consider the stiff competition. However, year after year the […]
Below is a reader’s response to my critique of Lee Iacocca’s tenure at Chrysler (go here and here). Anybody can be a Monday morning quarterback. Yes to a degree I agree HOWEVER the minivan was […]
(UPDATED FROM 6/26/2020) The Saab 99/900 proved to be the box that crushed the tiny Swedish carmaker. I grant you that this platform was hardly an immediate failure. Even so, the design of the 99 […]
(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, […]
My essay about Lee Iacocca elicited some interesting pushback, so I would like to offer some follow-up thoughts. Some commentators have pushed back against my criticisms of Iacocca by pointing to things he did well. […]
Dick Teague nervously checked his fly and centered his tie as he heard the entourage of AMC executives march down the hallway toward his design studio. He’d made many presentations over two decades but had […]
Copyright © 2022 Olympia, Earth Media, LLC | All rights reserved