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HomePersonal coupes

Personal coupes

1969 Ford Thunderbird 4-door Landau
Gallery

Was 1969 the beginning of the end for the Ford Thunderbird four-door Landau?

September 6, 2024 Steve 4

When I decided to write about the 1969 Ford Thunderbird four-door Landau, I suspected that Indie Auto readers would find my resulting article controversial. That’s because this body style has sustained a fair amount of […]

1971 Mercury Cougar XR7
Media Analysis

Collectible Automobile sheds little light on why 1971 Mercury Cougar was ugly

August 6, 2024 Steve 17

When I saw that the 1971 Mercury Cougar was on the cover of the latest Collectible Automobile issue, I was particularly curious about one thing: Did Semon Knudsen have much influence on the car’s huge […]

1962 Ford Galaxie 500
Data Dive

Did the 1960-64 big Ford sell so poorly because of cannibalization?

July 30, 2024 Steve 16

Aaron Severson (2009) has argued that when Ford added the Falcon and Fairlane in the early-60s, they did well initially but “total sales during that period remained almost flat.” In other words, the brand suffered […]

1980 Chrysler Cordoba
Letters to the Editor

Reader defends Lee Iacocca and the second-generation Chrysler Cordoba

July 24, 2024 Steve 20

Indie Auto reader RI stopped by to respond to our story, “Four ways Lee Iacocca contributed to the decline of Ford and Chrysler.” You suggest above that Chrysler wasted money on the 1980 Cordoba/Mirada, when […]

1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk
Letters to the Editor

11th-generation Studebaker owner calls his car ‘innovative’ and ‘patriotic’

June 27, 2024 Steve 5

DB stopped by to respond to our article, “The Studebaker Hawk reached its high point in 1957 — and fell rather quickly.” Well, I’m glad you gentleman have it all sorted out now. Whatever the […]

1991 Avanti 4-door touring sedan
Design Notes

1990-91 Avanti four-door sedan points to the road Studebaker could have taken

June 24, 2024 Steve 8

We have had a burst of discussion in a comment thread about the Avanti four-door sedan (go here), so let’s take a quick look at that tragic car. In its dying years Studebaker had developed […]

Letters to the Editor

Ninety-year-old reader would buy another two-seater Thunderbird

May 29, 2024 Steve 0

EG stopped by to respond to our article, “Car and Driver playfully roasts a 1964 Ford Thunderbird convertible.” I have owned nine Thunderbirds. The best one was the two seater. They should have fired the […]

1971 Oldsmobile Toronado and Cutlass
Design Notes

Did General Motors need to panic with the 1971 Oldsmobile Toronado?

May 27, 2024 Steve 9

The 1971 Oldsmobile Toronado arguably represented the first time that General Motors executives panicked in response to weak sales from a car styled under head designer William Mitchell. Whereas the first-generation Toronado was a remarkably […]

1964 Ford Thunderbird convertible
Editor's Note

Reader apparently doesn’t like something about our 1964 Thunderbird story

May 7, 2024 Steve 2

A reader I’ll call G stopped by to respond to our story, “Car and Driver playfully roasts a 1964 Ford Thunderbird convertible.” G wrote: “Supremely tired of hearing today’s auto ‘authorities’ comment on classic cars […]

1967 Cadillac Eldorado
Links

Even Motor Trend complained about the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado’s brakes

May 1, 2024 Steve 11

Motor Trend was hardly known as the toughest of the car-buff magazines, but it nevertheless complained about inadequate brakes on the 1967 Cadillac Eldorado. A road test found that the Eldorado’s stopping distances from 60 […]

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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