Quotes
Chevrolet Camaro’s design has deteriorated over last 40 years
“Back in ’79 we were at a BBQ and the grill ran out of gas. The 5 gallon propane cylinder would NOT fit thru the trunk opening in my friend’s new Z-28. I see not much […]
General Motors
Current Events
2015 Mustang: Faux pony car goes generic
With the 2015 redesign of the Mustang, Ford had the potential to reassert its leadership in what I have referred to as the faux pony car field. Instead, Ford took the cheap and easy way […]
Design Notes
Requiem for quads
The taillights for the 2014-15 Chevrolet Camaro supposedly “took styling cues from the original first generation Camaro” (Wikipedia, 2015). Why dump the iconic quad taillights in favor of a look that is even more boringly generic than that of the 1967-68 Camaro? […]
History
When GM was king and 10 million was blue sky
Keith Crain’s prevously-mentioned Automotive News column illustrates how dramatically expectations have changed about industry volume. In 2014 sales hit 16.5 million units. That was only good for ninth place in the record books. Crain (2014) noted that […]
Drive-By Musings
And now it’s time for alphanumeric ridicule
The Truth About Cars Managing Editor Derek Kreindler (2014) recently pointed out that new Cadillac boss Johan De Nysschen is repeating what he did at his previous gig with Infiniti — moving the brand’s headquarters and changing […]
Random Shots
Quotes
But wasn’t Consumer Reports right?
“Consumer Reports‘ attitude toward cars, in general, can perhaps best be divined by its conclusion on the 1959 Cadillac Sixty Special in its 1959 new car issue: ‘An expenditure sufficient to buy this Cadillac will […]
Readings
Saab Cars: The Complete Story
Information is hard to find for minor imported brands such as Saab. Thus, any book on this automaker is helpful. Saab Cars is an oversized hard-cover book with a nice balance between text and large, full-color […]
Readings
The Complete History of General Motors 1908-1986
The format and journalistic tone of this oversized, hard-cover book is similar to that of the Complete History of Chrysler (1985). The text includes a mix of product information, business analysis and discussion about socio-political […]
Media Analysis
‘GM envy’ distorts how we view a once and future auto industry
What’s fascinating about the mega-merger hype is the degree to which it downplays obvious questions. Was not the over-consolidation of the U.S. auto industry after World War II a major reason for its subsequent humbling […]