Cars That Broke Bad (Or just Broke)
Automotive good ideas gone bad range far and wide - whether it's a classic fail like the exploding Pintos of the early '70s - or a late-model train wreck like the Pontiac Aztek.
Here...
Retro Review: 1983-1984 Hurst Olds and 1985–1988 442
Oldsmobile had a long and distinguished history—and suffered a slow, painful death.
The process of mortification began in the early 1980s, when General Motors gutted the formerly independent engineering departments of each...
The K-Car Reconsidered
Lee Iaccoca gets blame - or credit - for the 1981-1989 Dodge Aires and Plymouth Reliant K-cars, but unlike the minivan, this one’s really not his fault.
He simply took the ball...
1986-1993 Cadillac Allante: They Got it Right … Too Late
It began with high hopes - and an audacious plan. Unfortunately, it belly-flopped badly... .
By the mid-1980s, Cadillac was still the "standard of the world" - if by "the world" one meant...
Worst Things About Old Cars
There’s a new reason for buying an old car. It’s not nostalgia, it’s not a love for classic lines - though those still come along for the ride. It’s a desire...
How Uncle Killed Pontiac
The French philosopher-economist Frederic Bastiat wrote about the unseen repercussions of government interfering with the market's natural progressions. In other words, what might have been. Perhaps the saddest four words in...
The Cost of a Time Machine
The good news first.
You can legally buy a brand-new car without a single air bag or any of the saaaaaaaaafety equipment mandated by the government since the late 1960s.
No back-up camera,...
Doomed: Chevy SSR, 2003-2006
When muscle cars were legislated off the roads, muscle trucks became a kind of end-run alternative. A way to offer the same basic gear in a form that did not have...
Trans Am Shaker Scoop Functional Conversion
I have just made my '76 Trans-Am's shaker scoop functional!
First, some background: While all second generation (1970-81) Trans-Ams (well, except the '80-'81 turbo models, which had an off-center hood blister) came with...
Stuff That’s Gone Away
I guess everyone gets to that point in life where they start to say, "I remember when... . " Here's some from me:
* Economy cars were rear-wheel-drive -
Today, only a handful...