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1960s
Gallery
1960 Mercury took the wide look to an extreme
I am still practicing how to use my new photo-editing software, so here are a few images that illustrate an interesting moment in U.S. automobile design: This 1960 Mercury may be the most extreme example […]
Media Analysis
Bob Nixon interview left questions about 1974 AMC Matador and 1965 Marlin
(EXPANDED FROM 10/4/2014) We have previously critiqued American Motors designer Bob Nixon’s recollections about the Pacer (go here). Now let’s discuss his take on the 1974 Matador and 1965 Marlin. This portion of his Collectible […]
Readings
‘Industrial Strength Design’ offers lush but shaky take on Brooks Stevens
(EXPANDED FROM 6/14/2023) For good or ill, Brooks Stevens was one of the most influential independent U.S. auto design consultants of the postwar era. Despite some shaky analysis and factual lapses, the best book about […]
Design Notes
Richard Teague’s styling helped to kill American Motors
(EXPANDED FROM 3/19/2021) This story has received more reader pushback than almost any other single piece that I have published in Indie Auto. Even so, I think that it epitomizes what this blog is all […]
Media Analysis
Did Oldsmobile revolutionize the car industry?
(EXPANDED FROM 10/31/2022) The automotive media tends to treat orphaned American brands with extra enthusiastic pom-pom waving. An example of the genre is Mark J. McCourt’s (2020) Hemmings article about Oldsmobile. He breathlessly insisted that […]
History
How often did renaming a car fail to help it sell better?
(EXPANDED FROM 6/8/2022) A few years ago Karl Ludvigsen (2022) wondered whether some cars that were renamed should not have been. For example, he noted that Ford might have benefitted by keeping the Cortina name […]
Quotes
Rambler Marlin advocate reminded of his unerring judgment
C. L. Zinn II’s book, Javelin Photo Archive (2002), offered an anecdote that illustrated Vince Geraci’s enthusiasm for the Rambler Marlin. At the time Geraci managed American Motors’ Large Car Studio, which took the lead […]
History
What if GM and Ford were broken up in the 1960s?
(EXPANDED FROM 8/19/2022) The topic that has elicited the greatest blowback from Indie Auto readers has been my argument that the U.S. auto industry was less able to respond to a rising tide of imports […]
Data Dive
In 1960 Lincoln moved upmarket despite struggling sales
(EXPANDED FROM 8/9/2022) A few years ago Corey Lewis (2022) wrote that the 1960 Lincoln’s entry-level model was “rebranded as simply ‘Lincoln,’ to compete with the new base model Chrysler New Yorker (1960-1962) and Series […]