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HomeAmerican Motors

American Motors

1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1
Data Dive

1960s marked the beginning of the fastback’s slow revival in the U.S.

August 12, 2025 Steve 4

(EXPANDED FROM 8/7/2023) Today fastbacks are so mainstream that you can find them on the most conservative family sedans. Indeed, the rakishness of their rooflines can be more extreme than even the sportiest American cars […]

1967 Pontiac Grand Parisienne
Media Analysis

Popular Science’s predictions for 1967 cars weren’t always on target

August 11, 2025 Steve 4

(UPDATED FROM 5/19/2021) The July 1966 issue of Popular Science breathlessly predicted what U.S. automakers had planned for the next model year. Even though introductions were only a few months away, a surprising number of […]

1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1
Photo Essay

Mid-1930s-to-70s design evolution shown at LeMay event

July 20, 2025 Steve 3

(EXPANDED FROM 1/1/2020) The Tacoma, Washington area has two car museums that are often confused. America’s Car Museum is located downtown in a fairly new building whereas the LeMay Collections at Marymount is eight miles […]

1986 Jeep Grand Wagoneer
Media Analysis

Could American Motors have survived if it ditched passenger cars for Jeeps?

July 18, 2025 Steve 8

In conjunction with his recent Public Broadcasting series on American Motors, Joe Ligo (2025) wrote a provocative article for Hagerty. He wondered whether AMC might have survived for at least a while longer if it […]

1968 AMC Ambassador SST 2-door
History

Why didn’t AMC’s 1967-68 mid-sized two-door hardtops sell better?

July 8, 2025 Steve 21

After writing the vlogging story last week, my YouTube feed was inundated with videos about late-60s American Motors cars. And I had to admit that the Rebel and Ambassador two-door hardtops looked fairly good. That […]

1967 Rambler Rebel SST convertible
History

Would AMC have done better if George Romney had stayed longer?

June 26, 2025 Steve 26

(EXPANDED FROM 6/11/2021) The comment thread in the previous post about George Romney (go here) has generated a robust discussion that deserves a substantive response. I thought the best way to do so would be […]

George Romney
Multimedia

George Romney talked about why he gambled on the Rambler

June 25, 2025 Steve 5

(EXPANDED FROM 5/31/2023) Joe Ligo’s six-part AMC series has completed its run on the Public Broadcasting Service and is now posted at AutoMoments on YouTube (go here). Documentaries such as this one can provide a […]

1983 AMC Eagle wagon
Drive-By Musings

Would anything have ‘saved’ American Motors?

June 16, 2025 Steve 16

RF stopped by to respond to our story, “Pat Foster barks up wrong tree by lauding an AMC Gremlin GT with a 360 V8.” Well, sort of. He seemed to be more interested in answering […]

1964 Studebaker Challenger
Quotes

Brooks Stevens’s rejection of brand continuity was bad for small automakers

June 14, 2025 Steve 3

Brooks Stevens was a complicated character. For example, he championed ultra-simple car designs but also coined the term “planned obsolescence” to describe an industrial designer’s mission (Adamson, 2003; p. 129). One way that played out […]

Elon Musk discusses climate change when introducing Tesla Model 3
Current Events

EVs need a George Romney to champion them in the next few years

June 13, 2025 Steve 17

With the Republicans likely to slash support for electric vehicles at every turn (Ferry, 2025), automakers will need to work much harder to market their wares in the next few years. What would be particularly […]

Posts pagination

« 1 … 4 5 6 … 18 »
  • Is Jaguar smart to run away from its design heritage?
    October 8, 2026 21
  • AMC Pacer clay model
    Why does Joe Ligo’s PBS series sanewash AMC’s mid-70s recklessness?
    October 6, 2026 20
  • 2026 Ram pickups
    A pyrrhic regulatory rollback and how poorly the 1978 Matador coupe sold
    October 2, 2026 12
  • 1962 Chrysler 300
    Did the 1962-65 Chrysler 300 ‘dilute’ the letter series?
    September 29, 2026 7
  • 1968 Ford Mustang
    Three rules led to a stultifying level of conformity in 1960s U.S. car design
    September 24, 2026 12
  • 1976ish Toyota Corolla
    Data on imports sheds light on their dramatic gains from 1964-80
    September 18, 2026 5
  • 1974 Chrysler New Yorker
    1974 Chrysler New Yorker was a tragedy that played out on four levels
    September 16, 2026 16
  • Internet problems reminded me of U.S. automakers in the 1970s
    May 2, 2026 1
  • 1956 Buick hood scoop
    Readers brainstorm ideas for future Indie Auto stories
    October 14, 2022 141
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