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Design excesses
Drive-By Musings
1970 Mercury Montego had a last-of-the-wine quality
In a number of respects the 1970 Mercury Montego exuded a last-of-the-wine vibe. For one thing, it was the final reskinning of the mid-sized platform that the Ford Motor Company introduced in 1962. Let’s just […]
Design Notes
1971-73 Buick Riviera: The last stand against the broughamization of Detroit
(EXPANDED FROM 5/2/2022) Whatever else one might say about the 1971-73 Buick Riviera, its styling did represent a heroic level of resistance to the brougham look then sweeping through the U.S. auto industry. Instead of […]
Design Notes
The 1958 Packard went too far in styling, size and pricing
(EXPANDED ON 9/30/2022) Indie Auto doesn’t generally dwell on collectible cars, but a restoration of a 1958 Packard shed light on what I have found to be one of the bigger peculiarities of the postwar […]
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Photo Essay
Old-fashioned Skamania may have anticipated the automobile’s future
How small is the hamlet of Skamania? So small that its focal point appears to be a general store that doesn’t have much food, there is only one gas pump, and the restroom consists of […]
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Knudsen’s favored 1972 Mark IV design borrowed from the Eldorado
(EXPANDED FROM 8/5/2022) A few years ago Dean’s Garage posted a fascinating story about the battle over the 1972 Lincoln Continental Mark IV’s styling. Jim and Cheryl Farrell (2022) described how a design proposal championed […]
Design Notes
Early indications of Toyota embracing its inner Virgil Exner
(EXPANDED FROM 10/25/2021) The above photograph shows the beginning of Toyota’s embrace of sci-fi styling. In the foreground, the second-generation Sienna minivan (which was produced from 2003 to 2009) had simple but attractive styling (Wikipedia, […]
Design Notes
1963-66 Plymouth Valiant inched away from Virgil Exner’s styling quirks
(EXPANDED FROM 5/4/2022) One of my stylistic pet peeves is the 1963-65 Plymouth Valiant’s front fenders, which had weird, hairpin-shaped character lines. They undercut what in many respects was one of the cleaner compact designs […]
Quotes
Virgil Exner Jr.’s oral history discusses Studebaker Lark and 1962 Chryslers
I checked out David Crippen’s (1989) oral history of Virgil Exner Jr. to see if he offered any useful factual details about two lingering historical debates — why the Studebaker Lark as well as the […]