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Plymouth
Letters to the Editor
Paul Niedermeyer updates his thinking on origins of 1962 Plymouth and Dodge
Paul Niedermeyer stopped by Indie Auto to share his current thinking about the downsizing of the 1962 Plymouth and Dodge. This is a response to a story we ran almost two years ago entitled, “Did […]
Auto Paedia
Brand management: The tail that now wags U.S. auto industry
(UPDATED FROM 8/21/2020) Peter DeLorenzo (2018) has argued that brand management “is now the Number 1 priority in this business.” The reason is that a “democratization of technology and luxury” has leveled the playing field. […]
History
1963-66 Dodge Dart was arguably as important as the Ford Mustang
One of the most underrated cars of the 1960s was the 1963-66 Dodge Dart. This “senior” compact anticipated the size of the contemporary family sedan during a time when the American auto industry was fixated […]
Data Dive
Why V8 engines were less important in the 1950s than commonly believed
(EXPANDED FROM 10/22/2021) One of the most pervasive myths in US automotive history is that a V8 engine became essential to an automaker’s success in the first half of the 1950s. This narrative is summed […]
Links
How far should AMC have gone to save the Hudson, Nash and Rambler brands?
Stephen Pellegrino has sparked a debate about the value of automotive brands by arguing that Hudson, Nash and Rambler were worth saving. His punchline is that “brand names mean something, and the intangibles they represent […]
History
1970 Plymouth Barracuda should have been like an Australian Valiant Charger
(EXPANDED FROM 6/3/2022) The 1970 Plymouth Barracuda and its sibling the Dodge Challenger proved to be a costly mistake that epitomized Detroit’s slowness in responding to changing times. Indeed, the Chrysler Corporation’s early-1970s pony cars […]
History
1962-64 Plymouth: The odd case of prescience interruptus
(EXPANDED FROM 8/28/2020) The 1962-64 Plymouth is one of the most prescient U.S. cars of the 1960s. Aside from the 1953 Plymouth, the 1962 redesign represented the first serious effort by a Big Three automaker […]
Fake Design
1970 Pontiac Firebird: Time to go on a diet
(EXPANDED FROM 11/26/2021) The 1971-73 Ford Mustang has been criticized for growing too big and fat (e.g., Mueller, 2010). However, Ford didn’t act in isolation. All of the pony cars bloated out when they were […]
Data Dive
Late-60s fastbacks: Not ready for prime time?
(EXPANDED FROM 13/23/2022) Today fastbacks are so common that you can even find them on family sedans. That’s a big shift from the late-1960s, when fastbacks were restricted to a few sporty coupes. “The very […]