A circa 2005 Ford GT made a rare appearance in the decidedly middle-class suburb of Olympia, Washington. In a moment the car would head for a freeway onramp. From the rear, the GT’s most noteworthy […]
In retrospect, Studebaker shouldn’t have assigned Brooks Stevens to restyle its Lark for 1964. He may have had a more mainstream design sensibility than Raymond Loewy, but Stevens was also the guy who coined the […]
(EXPANDED ON 1/27/2023) Many books, magazine articles and blog posts have been written about the independent automakers’ struggle to survive in the 1950s. Even so, I have come across a number of unresolved mysteries relevant […]
When viewed from 1951, Studebaker was the independent automaker most likely to succeed. The South Bend, Indiana-based automaker generated unusually high sales by inventing the family-sized compact. This allowed Studebaker to invest in both a V8 engine and an automatic transmission well before […]
“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). […]
“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’ […]
“Even some auto executives and engineers complain that media comparisons of off-road driving capabilities have put pressure on them to design ever taller vehicles with ever more expensive four-wheel-drive systems that almost nobody needs. In […]
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 […]
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