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HomeGeneral Motors

General Motors

1970.5 AMC Gremlin
Drive-By Musings

How much did postwar automakers decontent cars to keep the price down?

February 10, 2025 Steve 6

Indie Auto commentator Peter Wilding (2025) raised a good point when noting that he “never understood the idea of deliberately decontenting a car to be able to advertise a lower price, when hardly anyone actually […]

1965 Pontiac Grand Prix
Links

Road Test columnist attacks Motor Trend for Car of Year awards to Pontiac

February 6, 2025 Steve 16

(EXPANDED FROM 6/26/2023) The June 1968 issue of Road Test magazine took its rival, Motor Trend, to task for anointing the Pontiac GTO as Car of the Year. Columnist Byron Bloch argued that the award […]

1958 Imperial
Design Notes

1958 Imperial: Virgil Exner’s best shot at Cadillac

February 5, 2025 Steve 8

(EXPANDED FROM 9/2/2022) The 1958 Imperial has received little attention by automotive historians even though it arguably represented the brand at its peak. Never again would Chrysler’s luxury car offer so many field-leading product innovations. […]

1965 Chevrolet Corvair
Media Analysis

Why hasn’t Consumer Guide Automotive fixed a discredited anti-Nader rant?

February 4, 2025 Steve 4

(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 […]

1967 GM mid-sized cars
Quotes

Maryann Keller: Postwar GM had ‘almost pathological resistance’ to change

February 1, 2025 Steve 4

Maryann Keller was one of the most astute automotive analysts of the last half century. A short passage in her 1993 book, Collision, arguably sums up as well as anyone the primary reason why General […]

1963 Studebaker Avanti
Fake Design

Was the 1963-64 Studebaker Avanti a fatal mistake?

January 31, 2025 Steve 36

(EXPANDED FROM 4/22/2022) The 1963-64 Studebaker Avanti has been described by historian Patrick Foster as “one of the most beautiful automobiles ever to grace the road” (2008, p. 138). Even so, the premium-priced sporty coupe […]

1970 Eldorado vs. 1971 Mark III
Multimedia

Lincoln Continental Mark III versus Cadillac Eldorado: Which one was better?

January 29, 2025 Steve 3

Adam Wade of Rare Classic Cars & Automotive History (2025) recently compared the Lincoln Continental Mark III and the first-generation Cadillac Eldorado. Although the Mark III had a much simpler and more derivative design, Wade […]

1957 Oldsmobile
Auto Paedia

How the greenhouse on US cars has evolved from the late-40s to present

January 28, 2025 Steve 0

(EXPANDED FROM 10/27/2021) Greenhouses have not typically changed as frequently as other parts of the American automobile’s external styling, but they go a long way toward summing up the dominant design approach of a given […]

1968 Chrysler 300
Literature

1965-69 Chrysler: Trying to sell prestige in a rapidly changing culture

January 24, 2025 Steve 16

(EXPANDED FROM 3/15/2023) The Chrysler brand during the second half of the 1960s was one of that automaker’s biggest success stories. We have discussed the design of its cars (e.g., go here and here), so […]

1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon Brougham 4-door sedan
Data Dive

How badly did the ‘aeroback’ hurt GM’s 1978-79 mid-sized sales?

January 23, 2025 Steve 7

(EXPANDED FROM 4/24/2023) Collectible Automobile suggested a while back that the “aeroback” styling of the 1978-79 Buick Century hurt its sales (Witzenburg, 2023). However, the article didn’t compare output with previous years or other General […]

Posts pagination

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  • 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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