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What’s been lost as car drivers have become more insulated from outside
(EXPANDED FROM 5/21/2024) A drive through a lovely rural area in Oregon reminded me of a Volkswagen Cabrio commercial from decades ago. The spot did an unusually good job of showing the sensuousness of driving. […]
Drive-By Musings
Why does the U.S. have a far higher traffic-death rate than France?
In the late-1970s the U.S. and France had roughly similar traffic-death rates. However, in recent years the two countries have diverged to such as degree that by 2021 French people were three times less likely […]
Media Analysis
Automotive News does a poor job of assessing U.S. traffic death growth
In celebration of its 100-year anniversary, Automotive News has been running a series of news articles that “honor our legacy by connecting topics of today with our historical coverage as we look ahead to the […]
Quotes
How Ford responded to safety issues with the original Econoline van
Indie Auto reader James E. Duvall recently commented about how the Falcon-based Econoline van and truck had such a front-end weight bias that they could flip on their front end under intense braking unless there […]
Photo Essay
Automotive deaths: Where are our memorials?
(EXPANDED FROM 7/31/2020) I have driven past the above-shown memorial for so many years that I was surprised to see it gone last summer, presumably because of a road-improvement project. While making this stretch of […]
Quotes
Remembering the dark side of 1960-70s American ‘muscle cars’
“Don’t want to rain on the parade of a nice article, but reading about Duster 340’s always makes me sad. Back in 1970 a close friend skrimped and saved all his money from summer and […]
Media Analysis
Why hasn’t Consumer Guide Automotive fixed a discredited anti-Nader rant?
(EXPANDED FROM 11/1/2019) One way auto history websites can squeeze more profits from their content is to endlessly repost stories. That’s not a bad thing if the information is accurate, but it strikes me as […]
Random Shots
Bumpers are almost useless on newer automobiles
Remember the good old days when cars had meaningful bumpers? The repair costs for even a 2- or 3-mph parking lot ding is much higher than in the days when the feds required bumpers that […]
Random Shots
Would you prefer an agile car or a tank?
Jerry P. Hirshberg, Nissan’s retired president of North American design, once stated that when “Europeans think about safety, they think about a light, agile car” — much like the one pictured on the left. However, the […]