Automotive History Central

The Automotive Histories cover a wide range of subjects: brands, personalities, design, technology, whatever catches our fancy in a Goldilocks format: not too long and arcane, but not too short of facts and insight.

Design:

An Illustrated History of Automotive Aerodynamics:  Part1 Part 2 Part 3 Part IV: Drag Area Matters

How The 1960 Corvair Started A Global Design Revolution

Pinifarina’s Revolutionary Florida: The Most Influential Design Since 1955

Hidden Headlights: Part1Part 2

The Short Life Of The Two Door Station Wagon

Trying To Make (Business Coupe) Sense Of The Gremlin

The Rear Door Dilemma

How The 1939 Lincoln Zephyr Ushered In A Design Revolution Thanks To A Hot Radiator

Domestic Car Histories

The First Wave Of Domestic Compacts: The Pioneers Take The Arrows

Mid-Size Madness: What Would You Have Chosen In ’65?

Ford Ranger: Auld Lang Syne – Ford Says Goodbye To The Ranger

Saturn’s Early Years: Corporate Camelot

Chevrolet Cor-Nova 1985 (NUMMI): Lessons Not Learned

GM’s 1947 Cadet: Radically Advanced And Aborted Small Car

Cadillac Catera: Caddy’s Dead Duck

The GM B-Body: A Love Song In B Major

1958 Jeep FC-150 Minivan Prototype and the Jeep FC-150 and FC-170 Forward Control Trucks

Domestic Industry Histories:

How GM Nickled And Dimed Americans (And Itself) To Death: Undersized Tires

That “Special Time”: The US Auto Industry During The Korean War

Celebrating V-J Day: When Cars Came Home From The War

Crosley: America’s Homegrown Kei Car

Chrysler’s Bi-Polar History: Crashes 1 – 5 and  Crashes 6 – 9

The Canadian Studebaker Plant: The Last Studebaker Ever Rolled Off The Lines Here

Ford’s Deja Vu Moment: How Donald Petersen Saved Ford In The Eighties

International Brands Histories:

Hans Ledwinkas’s Revolutionary Tatras

The World’s Greatest Wagons: Peugeot 203, 304, 404, 504, 505

Panhard: Back To The Future

The Volvo Duett: Probably The Most Practical Car In The World

Tempo Three Wheelers: From Motorized Wheelbarrows To Speed Record Holder To Immortality In India

Saab: The Eulogy (at TTAC)

The Short Wild Ride Of The Yugo in America

Lloyd: Sorry, No Full Liters

DKW Schnellaster: The Mother Of All Mini-Vans?

The History Of The Swedish A-Traktor: Regional Car Culture Explained

The Hyundai Origin Myth Revealed: There’s A Ford in Your Pony

Alfasud Sprint: The Scirocco’s Suicidal Kissing Cousin

The Wild Cars And Planes From Peronist Argentina

The Holden Sandman: The Aussies Blow The Pinto Cruising Wagon Away

VW Kubelwagen And Schwimmwagen: Germany’s WW2 Jeeps

Engines and Technologies:

The Legendary Buick Nailhead V8 And The Source Of Its Unusual Valve Arrangement

An X-Ray Look At GM’s X Frames (1957 – 1970)

Powerglide: A GM Greatest Hit Or Deadly Sin?

The Joys of Overdrive: The Borg-Warner Planetary Overdrive (1934 – 1972)

The Curious F-Head Engine

The Chevrolet “W” 348 Engine: First Of A Long Line Of Chevy Big blocks

Three Pot Stew: America’s Brief Fling With The Three-Cylinder Supermini

Rolls-Royce Mechanical Brake Booster/Servo: Used From 1919 through the Sixties

Diesel-Electric Submarines: Part 1 – World’s Biggest Hybrids Part 2: Acceleration From Zero To ??

Popular Culture And The Car

The Pinto’s Brief Life As An Airplane

Chrysler’s Dream Cars from the Fifties:

Turning Dreams Into Semi-Reality: Dual Ghia and Ghia L 6.4

The Bad Dreams: Turboflyte and Imperial D’Elegance

Dreams For Sale: The Production Chrysler Ghias

1953 Chrysler Ghia D’Elegance

1951 Chrysler K310: The Beginning Of The Exner Era

Photography:

 

Victory Is Sweet: Vintage Drag Racing Pictures From Santa Maria (1958-1962)