Curbside Classic Archives
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American Brands: GM 
American Brands: Ford 
American Brands: Chrysler 
American Brands: AMC, Jeep and All Others 
Automotive Histories and Misc. 
Asian Brands 
UK Brands 
Australian Brands 
European Brands 
Cars Of A Lifetime & Auto-Biography 
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Trucks, Pickups and Vans 
Design 
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Motorcycles, Trikes, Bicycles 
Engines, Transmissions and other Tech 
Tractors, Lawn Mowers, Off-Road Equipment 
RVs, Motorhomes, Trailers, Campers Privacy
Design Archive
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Automotive History And Design: 1957 Chrysler New Yorker Early Proposal – Imperial Intentions
Posted on June 3, 2024 | 18 CommentsBy 1957, the merits of GM’s body-sharing strategy had long been plain for all to see. For example, at the upper end of the market, Buick and Cadillac shared the […] -
Auto-Biography: The Art Center Years – Have You Designed a Ford Lately?
Posted on February 18, 2024 | 23 CommentsLast week’s post described a fifth-semester Art Center design assignment involving a domestic automaker investigating the use of a “not invented here” powertrain for use in several of their vehicle […] -
Auto-Biography: The Art Center Years – Wouldn’t You Really Rather Airbrush a Buick?
Posted on February 11, 2024 | 13 CommentsStrangely enough, two of the transportation design projects during my Art Center years involved assignments to develop a vehicle powered by an engine supplied by a different automaker. Remember, this […] -
COAL #14: More Volvo Imprinting – A Trip to Transpo 72
Posted on January 28, 2024 | 18 CommentsWhich car replaced the trusty Comet? I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you in suspense for another week. You see, the Caliente convertible’s last trip from Art Center back to […] -
Design Analysis: 1974 AMC Matador Coupe and X – Please Go All the Way
Posted on December 11, 2023 | 53 CommentsIt was July, 1972 when the Raspberries released their hit song about a girl asking her guy to, well… you know. -
Automotive & Design History: Mercedes-Benz W110/111/112 Fintails – Béla Barényi And The Elusive Pluckenheckflosse
Posted on December 2, 2023 | 102 Comments(first posted 12/2/2017) Italy, Summer 1981. My father is hustling his brother’s black Mercedes-Benz 220 S heckflosse along the autostrada at speed. Inside the car it’s three children […] -
William “Bill” L. Mitchell, GM’s Second VP of Styling – An Automobile Quarterly Profile by Strother MacMinn
Posted on November 22, 2023 | 45 Comments(first posted 11/22/2017) A short while ago, in a recent CC post the thought was raised that we are now living in a time of boring […] -
Concept Outtake: How the 1961 Cadillac Skegs Were Originally Conceived, And The Whipsawing of GM Design By Chrysler and Ford
Posted on October 11, 2023 | 78 Comments(first posted 10/11/2017) Although it’s a bit fussy, I’ve always had a soft spot for the 1961 Cadillac and its “skegs”. But until I stumbled into this […] -
Automotive History: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream – Cars Without Grilles
Posted on June 8, 2023 | 167 Comments(first posted 6/8/2017) We humans see faces in all sorts of things, we’re wired that way. We especially see faces in the fronts of our cars. Two […] -
Vintage Commentary: Influences – Chuck Jordan On The Art Of Cribbing
Posted on March 16, 2023 | 18 Comments‘Influences,’ ‘References,’ ‘Inspiration;’ all professional terms for what we at CC commonly refer to as cribbing. As time puts distance from a product’s release, a designer will occasionally admit what’s […] -
Vintage SIA Design History: “GM’s Far Out ’59s – When Imagination Ran Rampant”, Part 2
Posted on February 28, 2023 | 15 Comments(first posted 3/1/2017) Yesterday’s Part 1 of this two part series focused on the period of time before the “palace revolt” that led to a rethinking of the Earl-led concepts […] -
The Mod Top: Introducing The Car You Wear
Posted on February 4, 2023 | 84 Comments(first posted 10/5/2012) By 1969, flower power went mainstream…right up the Detroit River, even. Hoping to cash in on the latest fad, Chrysler unveiled one of the era’s more colorful […] -
Artificial Intelligence Classics: “Improvements” on some of my previous rides
Posted on December 7, 2022 | 15 CommentsThere is no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) generated art is a big thing right now. It can produce some amazing and creative images as well as some very weird […] -
Curbside Catechism: 1957 Aurora—Sins of the Father
Posted on November 27, 2022 | 83 Comments(first posted 11/27/2016) It is fitting that our feature car was designed by a Roman Catholic priest; ‘catholic’ (small c), means ‘universal’, and to the best of my knowledge no […] -
Design Analysis: Did The Lincoln Mark VI Have The Biggest Overhang Ratio Ever?
Posted on October 26, 2022 | 128 Comments(first posted 6/22/2013) Like Jim Cavanaugh — or even more so, if that’s possible — I found the 1980 Mark VI to be rather pathetic: a rolling monument to bad […]
![Automotive History And Design: 1957 Chrysler New Yorker Early Proposal – Imperial Intentions By 1957, the merits of GM’s body-sharing strategy had long been plain for all to see. For example, at the upper end of the market, Buick and Cadillac shared the […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/0-1957-Chrysler-Mock-Up-Side.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![Auto-Biography: The Art Center Years – Have You Designed a Ford Lately? Last week’s post described a fifth-semester Art Center design assignment involving a domestic automaker investigating the use of a “not invented here” powertrain for use in several of their vehicle […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Captura-de-pantalla-2024-02-15-16.33.58.png?resize=115%2C115&quality=80&ssl=1)
![Auto-Biography: The Art Center Years – Wouldn’t You Really Rather Airbrush a Buick? Strangely enough, two of the transportation design projects during my Art Center years involved assignments to develop a vehicle powered by an engine supplied by a different automaker. Remember, this […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Captura-de-pantalla-2024-02-08-16.31.40.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![COAL #14: More Volvo Imprinting – A Trip to Transpo 72 Which car replaced the trusty Comet? I’m afraid I’ll have to leave you in suspense for another week. You see, the Caliente convertible’s last trip from Art Center back to […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/VESC-2.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)

![Automotive & Design History: Mercedes-Benz W110/111/112 Fintails – Béla Barényi And The Elusive Pluckenheckflosse (first posted 12/2/2017) Italy, Summer 1981. My father is hustling his brother’s black Mercedes-Benz 220 S heckflosse along the autostrada at speed. Inside the car it’s three children […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/orangecrash.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![William “Bill” L. Mitchell, GM’s Second VP of Styling – An Automobile Quarterly Profile by Strother MacMinn (first posted 11/22/2017) A short while ago, in a recent CC post the thought was raised that we are now living in a time of boring […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/RDKS-150044-FERR2-004-HR.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![Concept Outtake: How the 1961 Cadillac Skegs Were Originally Conceived, And The Whipsawing of GM Design By Chrysler and Ford (first posted 10/11/2017) Although it’s a bit fussy, I’ve always had a soft spot for the 1961 Cadillac and its “skegs”. But until I stumbled into this […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Cadillac-1961-concept.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![Automotive History: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream – Cars Without Grilles (first posted 6/8/2017) We humans see faces in all sorts of things, we’re wired that way. We especially see faces in the fronts of our cars. Two […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/squareback73.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![Vintage Commentary: Influences – Chuck Jordan On The Art Of Cribbing ‘Influences,’ ‘References,’ ‘Inspiration;’ all professional terms for what we at CC commonly refer to as cribbing. As time puts distance from a product’s release, a designer will occasionally admit what’s […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/influences-1a.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![Vintage SIA Design History: “GM’s Far Out ’59s – When Imagination Ran Rampant”, Part 2 (first posted 3/1/2017) Yesterday’s Part 1 of this two part series focused on the period of time before the “palace revolt” that led to a rethinking of the Earl-led concepts […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/SIA-GMsFarOut59s_01_1500.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![The Mod Top: Introducing The Car You Wear (first posted 10/5/2012) By 1969, flower power went mainstream…right up the Detroit River, even. Hoping to cash in on the latest fad, Chrysler unveiled one of the era’s more colorful […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/plymouth-barracuda_mod-top_ad-1_69.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![Artificial Intelligence Classics: “Improvements” on some of my previous rides There is no doubt that artificial intelligence (AI) generated art is a big thing right now. It can produce some amazing and creative images as well as some very weird […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Mercedes-220D-5.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![Curbside Catechism: 1957 Aurora—Sins of the Father (first posted 11/27/2016) It is fitting that our feature car was designed by a Roman Catholic priest; ‘catholic’ (small c), means ‘universal’, and to the best of my knowledge no […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1957-aurora-safety-car-4-1024x576.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)
![Design Analysis: Did The Lincoln Mark VI Have The Biggest Overhang Ratio Ever? (first posted 6/22/2013) Like Jim Cavanaugh — or even more so, if that’s possible — I found the 1980 Mark VI to be rather pathetic: a rolling monument to bad […]](https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Lincoln-Mark-6-Ad03.jpg?resize=115%2C115&quality=75&ssl=1)


