GM’s Cobblepot: The 1971-1977 Chevy Vega
In the popular TV series, Gotham (it's a prequel to the Batman story) there's an episode called "Everyone Has His Cobblepot" - a reference to something embarrassing in one's past.
The Chevy...
To Update Or Not to Update?
As modern cars pass the event horizon of cost and complexity (and so, hassle) it's tempting to go retro and buy an older car - one without computers, black boxes, touchscreen inputs...
Great Engines of Yesterday
Modern car engines are hard to fault... objectively. They start immediately - even when it's 15 degrees out. They rarely stall out - leaving you dead in the water in the...
The Last Thunderbird
All of us know - or have heard about - the apparently healthy, successful person who one day just drops dead unexpectedly.
In a way, this is the story of the Thunderbird....
Some Things To Know About Muscle Cars… Before You Buy One
Owning an old muscle car can be a lot of fun. But it's not all fun - and you ought to know what you're getting yourself into before you get yourself into...
1948 Tucker Torpedo
Preston Tucker has been described as a hopelessly naive genius, a con man . . . or some combination of both.
The evidence suggests he genuinely wanted to build cars - not filch people's...
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...
Third Tier Classics (Get ‘Em While You Still Can)
Some of you may have caught my recent article about the almost muscle cars of the mid-late 1970s (see here, if not). Cars like the Chevy Monza (and its Buick/Pontiac/Oldsmobile-badged twins),...
The Almost Muscle Car: Chevy Monza, 1975-1980
The '70s (and early '80s) were Weird Years for the car industry. The muscle car era of the '60s was fading fast, but the fumes still lingered… what would come next?...
Blame Nixon
The American automobile industry has loved Uncle long time now. But it was not always so - at least, not to the extent we've come to accept as normal. There was a...