Our Sponsors
Compact cars
Drive-By Musings
How typical was car snobbery in postwar high schools?
Curbside Classic recently reposted a comment from a guy named Rob who had a “soul-crushing experience” driving a 1959 Rambler American to high school hangouts (Niedermeyer, 2023). For example, in 1968 he was turned down […]
Media Analysis
Accounts of Brooks Stevens’s Studebaker Sceptre and siblings can vary
Dean’s Garage has reposted a Hemmings story about a number of proposed Studebakers designed by Brooks Stevens. Daniel Strohl (2023) primarily focused on the Sceptre, a replacement for the ancient Hawk. I find the photographs […]
Current Events
Will history repeat itself by punishing automakers for their big SUV binge?
It’s an old trick in the U.S. auto industry to blame consumers for bad corporate behavior. Automotive News (2022) recently lent a helping hand by playing the victim card to justify the lack of improvement […]
History
It’s too bad that the late-70s big Chrysler didn’t become a stretched Volare
Jim Dunne predicted in the January 1977 issue of Popular Science that the compact platform used for the Plymouth Volare and Dodge Aspen would be stretched for the Chrysler Corporation’s next-generation big cars: “At least […]
Quotes
Could the 1960 Comet have saved the Edsel?
“Then, in a postscript — and as if adding insult to injury — the most successful Edsel of all, the Comet, was built as a Mercury. The Mercury Comet was virtually indistinguishable from the Edsel […]
Design Notes
1967-73 Mercury Cougar: A classic goes to hell
UPDATED FROM 7/9/2021) The 1967-73 Mercury Cougar is a tragic story of a classic design going to hell. The first-generation models, which were produced from 1967-68, were among the best-looking pony cars of the late-60s. […]
History
1957 Rambler Rebel was so close yet so far from legendary
American Motors head George Romney didn’t realize it at the time, but he was onto something when he okayed the production of the 1957 Rambler Rebel. This was intended as a limited-production model, perhaps primarily […]
Our Sponsors
Quotes
Did 1963 ‘size shakeout’ really return US automakers to normalcy?
“For the past three model years, the industry has been tossing trial balloons at the American car buyer in an effort to determine ‘how small is compact?’ or, in other terms, what sizes of automobiles […]