Along the Mustang Trail: The 1961 Ford Falcon Futura While the 1965 Mustang was an overnight success, its basic theme was developed in a series of steps that started with the 1961 Falcon Futura. Following a debut at the New York Auto Show a few weeks earlier, the Falcon Futura received its official dealer rollout on April 20, 1961. Ford was presenting the Futura as the “compact cousin to the Thunderbird” in the sales materials, but the real inspiration was easy enough to sort out. Here was Ford’s answer to the Corvair Monza, introduced as a mid-season model one year earlier. Adding a bucket seat interior and a bit of exterior bright trim to the standard Corvair, Chevrolet had produced a winner—and the product people in Dearborn, Lee Iacocca included, were quick to recognize it. On the outside, there was little to distinguish the new model from a standard Falcon: just three chrome bullets on the rear quarter panels, Futura emblems on the front fenders, and full wheel covers borrowed from the accessory catalog. And that was it. The selling story was in the cabin, which sported thick bucket seats in front, matching upholstery in the rear, and a center console with a bright metal lid (non-locking) and trim. There was one body style, the two-door post sedan, but the snazzy all-vinyl interior was offered in five colors: white, black, turquoise, blue, and red, which Ford called Thunderbird Red. A stand-alone model rather than an option package, the Futura was priced at $2,162 versus $1,914 for the standard Falcon two-door. In current dollars it doesn’t look like much, but that $248 represented a 13 percent markup—and a tidy profit margin, too, no doubt. The Peanuts comic strip characters of Charles Schulz promoted the Falcon line that year, with Lucy and Schroeder pitching the Futura. Presented as a “luxury compact” with little if any sporting pretention, the Futura offered just one performance option: the Falcon Special Six with 170 cubic inches, 101 hp and 156 lb-ft of torque for $37.40. The standard 144 CID Falcon Six offered just 85 hp, while either could be combined with the standard three-speed manual gearbox with column shift, or the two-speed Fordomatic, also column shift, for $163.10. In retrospect the Futura was a modest start, but it was a start—and sales were brisk. Despite the late introduction, more than 44,000 were sold the first year. For ’62 the Futura received additional upgrades, including an exclusive Thunderbird-inspired roofline and an optional Dagenham four-speed transmission imported from Ford UK. In ’63 came the Futura Sprint with V8 power, a pillarless hardtop, and a convertible. Step by step, Ford was advancing to the Mustang. The post Along the Mustang Trail: The 1961 Ford Falcon Futura appeared first on Mac's Motor City Garage. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/along-the-mustang-trail-the-1961-ford-falcon-futura/ #falconfutura #ford #falconsix #autoshow #yorkauto #corvairmonza #newyork #leeiacocca #thunderbirdred #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

MCG Executive Briefing for October 30, 2026 At $1.82 million, this 1955 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing was a top seller at the Artcurial Paris sale. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing. Today’s headlines: + Toyota Motor reports that global vehicle ​sales and production fell for ‌a third straight month in September, dragged down by significant slumps in China and the Middle East. More at World Auto Forum. + According to iSeeCars, used EV sales rose 9.8 percent year-over-year in September, compared to a 4.9 percent increase for hybrids and a 0.3% gain for ICE vehicles. More at CBT News. + Ford has produced 5,000 unicastings at its Shelbyville, Kentucky technical center for testing in advance of production of the 2027 Fathom EV pickup at the Louisville plant. More at Autoblog. + Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves is likely to try for a fifth win at Indy in 2027 driving for Meyer-Shank Racing, team co-owner Michael Shank reports. More at Racer. + The city of Los Angeles has installed the first 25 of 125 surveillance cameras to capture vehicles speeding and will issue warnings for the first 60 days before writing tickets. More at The Drive. + General Motors will pay $220 million to settle allegations that it illegally sold drivers’ private behavior and location data to brokers, who then sold the information to insurers. More at ET Auto. + The list of best-selling luxury vehicles in the U.S. for 2026 is dominated by SUVs from Lexus, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, with no American brands cracking the top 10. More at Car and Driver. + The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has opened an investigation into camshaft and lifter failures in Ford’s 7.3-liter Godzilla V8 truck engine. More at Hemmings. + Top sellers at Artcurial Motorcars’ 2026 Automobiles sur les Champs auction in Paris included a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing once owned by raging legend Klaus Ludwig. More at Old Cars. + At last weekend’s Talladega Cup race, NASCAR warned most of the teams in the field to increase their speeds as they employed aggressive fuel-saving race strategies. More at Motorsport.com. Photo courtesy of Artcurial. Review the previous MCG Executive Briefing from October 26 here. Join Mac’s Motor City Garage on Facebook and X to receive notices when every new story is published. The post MCG Executive Briefing for October 30, 2026 appeared first on Mac's Motor City Garage. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/mcg-executive-briefing-for-october-30-2026/ #executivebriefing #mcgexecutive #october #auto #artcurial #middleeast #september #autoforum #toyotamotor #worldauto #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Henry Ford’s First 4-Cylinder Production Car: The 1904-06 Model B The Ford Motor Company’s long and distinguished history with four-cylinder engines starts here: With the 1904-06 Model B. Even before he founded the Ford Motor Company in June of 1903, Henry Ford recognized the potential of the four-cylinder engine, as witnessed by his powerful 999 and Arrow race cars, both constructed in 1902 with gigantic 1,156 cubic-inch fours. However, the first four-cylinder Ford to actually see production was the Model B, introduced in October of 1904. Another Model B distinction: This was the first production Ford with its engine located up front behind a vertical radiator, instead of under the seat. (See our feature on the original 1903 Ford Model A here.) With a bore and stroke of 4.25 by 5.00 inches and a displacement of 284 cubic inches, large by modern four-cylinder standards, the Model B was rated at 24 horsepower. The four gray iron cylinders were cast individually, fitted with stamped copper cooling jackets, and bolted to a common cast-aluminum crankcase, which also housed the camshaft for the L-head valve mechanism. While this engine didn’t share much with the Model T four that arrived a few years later, it was state-of-the-art for 1904. The chassis was up to date as well with a 92-inch wheelbase, a unit planetary transission, and enclosed shaft drive. Top speed was a sporty 40 mph. While some historians have described the Model B as a failure, that assertion may be worth another look. Approximately 500 were produced, around 444 of them in 1905, or around 28 percent of the company’s total production that year (1,599 cars). However, with its list price of $2,000, more than twice as much as the two-cylinder Models C and F, the Model B accounted for nearly half the company’s revenue, helping to fuel the company’s remarkable expansion. The Model B was phased out early in 1906 once the original 500-car production schedule—worked out by Henry Ford and John Dodge in late 1904—was met. Now the company was shifting its focus to the two-cylinder, false-front Model F, the six-cylinder Model K, and a daring new four-cylinder car of advanced design, the Model N. That was the end of the Model B, though the name was revived with the 1932 Model B, the four-cylinder replacement for the Model A. (Lead photo courtesy of The Henry Ford.) The post Henry Ford’s First 4-Cylinder Production Car: The 1904-06 Model B appeared first on Mac's Motor City Garage. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/henry-fords-first-4-cylinder-production-ca-the-1904-06-model-b/ #fordmotor #model #henryford #motorcompany #first #even #june #anothermodel #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

The Car of a Hundred Surprises: 1955 Dodge With a complete design makeover for 1955, the Dodge division at Chrysler was full of surprises. A hundred of them, according to the carmaker. When Chrysler chief of design Virgil Exner laid the groundwork for the Forward Look, the game-changing exterior design for the corporation’s five product lines in 1955, he split the work into two sections. Personally taking charge of Chrysler, DeSoto, and Imperial, he assigned his protégé Maury Baldwin to style the Plymouth and Dodge brands, working under Dodge/Plymouth studio manager Henry King. For the ’55 Dodge, Baldwin faced a special challenge, as Dodge was to share its body shell with Plymouth, with the addition of five extra inches between the firewall and front spindles to stretch the wheelbase to 120 inches. To give Dodge its necessary distinction, he devised a twin-nostril nose with elaborate chrome grillework and heavily lidded headlamp surrounds. The rear quarters were sharpened up and fitted with “tandem jet” dual tail lamp assemblies, while the stainless hood and side trim combinations were designed to support two-tone and even three-tone paint schemes. Custom Royal Four-Door Sedan And so it is that today, the Dodge is seen by some as the busiest and most decorated of the five ’55 Forward Look designs. That’s in relative terms, of course, as by 1955 industry standards, the Dodge fits right in. It doesn’t seem overdone at all. And at Dodge, the new styling performed the same service as at the other four Chrysler divisions: It turned the brands around, moving them from the rear of the field to the front in Motor City styling trends. Coronet Two-Door Suburban When the corporation marketed the Forward Look theme with the tagline “the hundred- million dollar look,” that was a bit of an understatement. Chrysler had bet the farm on the ’55 makeover, engineering a $250 million, 100-year loan from the Prudential Insurance Company in early 1954. Part of the funding went to development and tooling for the new exteriors, and the rest to factory modernization and the purchase of the 12 Briggs Manufacturing plants where Chrysler body parts were stamped and assembled. The $35 million buyout had been forced in late ’52 when Briggs decided to vacate the automotive business. Custom Royal Lancer Hardtop Coupe The two-and-three-tone color combinations remain striking even now, especially on the Custom Royal Lancer, top of the line at the division (above). Dodge’s interior and instrument panel were standouts, too. The model line included the Royal and baseline Coronet with a price spread of $2,194 to $2974, facing off against Mercury and Pontiac. Engine choices ranged from the old 230 CID flathead six to a Red Ram hemi V8 with 270 cubes and 193 hp, all available with Chrysler’s Powerflite transmission. In the Custom Royal Lancer line that year was one extra-special model designed (allegedly) for women, the dolled-up La Femme. (See our feature here.) Overall, it’s fair to say that with the Forward Look, Dodge was now presenting a very different face to the public. One of many Dodge slogans that year was “the car of a hundred surprises,” and for traditional buyers of Dodge’s heretofore conservative products, that probably rang true when they walked into the showrooms. The makeover at Dodge was a thundering success, just as it was at the other four Chrysler divisions. Sales shot up 79 percent to more than 273,000 cars for Dodge, while the Chrysler Corporation grossed $3.45 billion in ’55, an all-time record to that point. But in the coming years, the carmaker rode out a famous series of ups and downs. The $250 million Prudential loan was restructured multiple times and never was fully paid off. The remainder was struck from the books with the 2009 bankruptcy. Lawrence Welk and his Custom Royal Lancer Convertible The post The Car of a Hundred Surprises: 1955 Dodge appeared first on Mac's Motor City Garage. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/the-car-of-a-hundred-surprises-1955-dodge/ #dodge #hundredsurprises #customroyal #forwardlook #chrysler #royallancer #car #plymouth #maurybaldwin #virgilexner #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

MCG Executive Briefing for October 26, 2026 To celebrate its 125th anniversary, Cadillac is offering a special edition Escalade priced at $239,000. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing. Today’s headlines: + Volkswagen could develop its own body-on-frame truck platform for the U.S. market if it cannot reach a partnership agreement with Ford or another automaker, executives say. More at CBT News. + The share price of Volvo Cars plunged 24 percent after the automaker reported an operating loss of $563.7 million in the third quarter driven by a deep sales decline in China. More at CNBC. + When the Plymouth, Minnesota city council canceled its Flock surveillance camera contract and the company refused to acknowledge it, the city government had them unplugged. More at The Drive. + IndyCar has released its full 17-race schedule for the 2027 season, including an event in Barcelona, Spain, which will host the first IndyCar race in Europe since 2007. More at Motorsport.com. + General Motors has cancelled its long-term deal to purchase rare-earth magnets for EVs from VAC of Germany after it constructed a $500 million plant in South Carolina. More at World Auto Forum. + Volkswagen is offering its China-market Jetta M6 EV sedan, a joint venture between VW and FAW, with nearly 290 miles of government-rated range for less than $US12,000. More at Electrek. + Corvette executive chief engineer Tony Roma says General Motors intends to keep the C9 Corvette relatively affordable and not let the price climb into supercar territory. More at Autoblog. + Audi has named Jeff Zhang, most recently chief of Chery International’s Chery brand, as president of Audi China, with Rolf Michl appointed chief operating officer, More at Automotive World. + To celebrate the 125th anniversary since its founding, Cadillac is offering the Escalade in an Anniversary Collector Series limited to 252 copies with a base price of $239,000. More at Car and Driver. + Brad Keselowski, driver and co-owner at RFK Racing, offered to buy the team in its entirety, but the offer was decined by the other owners, the NASCAR Cup veteran confirmed. More at Business Sports Journal. Photo courtesy of General Motors. Review the previous MCG Executive Briefing from October 23 here. Join Mac’s Motor City Garage on Facebook and X to receive notices when every new story is published. The post MCG Executive Briefing for October 26, 2026 appeared first on Mac's Motor City Garage. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/mcg-executive-briefing-for-october-26-2026/ #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Fuel Cell Dreams: The 1959 DeSoto Cella I While the brand was not long for this world in 1959, DeSoto unveiled a remarkably forward-looking concept vehicle, the hydrogen-powered Cella I. By January of 1959, there was already talk around the executive offices at Chrysler about eliminating the DeSoto brand, and as we know, the division was killed off once and for all on November 30, 1960. But that didn’t stop the debut of this remarkably forward-leaning vehicle, a pet project of DeSoto chief engineer A.E. “Kim” Kimberly (shown above). The father of the DeSoto Adventurer, among his accomplishments, Kimberly called the idea car the Cella I, after its advanced form of propulsion: a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell. To call the DeSoto fuel-cell propulsion system advanced is probably off the mark. Theoretical could be a more accurate term. While the concept was first demonstrated back in 1842 by Sir William Grove, fuel-cell power as we know it didn’t begin to take off until a century later with the work of British scientist Francis Thomas Bacon. Licensing his work, Pratt & Whiney formed the UTC Power division in 1958 to develop the fuel-cell technology eventually used by NASA. Allis-Chalmers successfully demonstrated a fuel-cell tractor in 1959, and today that vehicle is in the Smithsonian. However, it appears that the Chrysler Corporation did not have a working fuel-cell development program. Accordingly, the publicity materials prepared for the Cella I were vague in the extreme, describing the power source as simply “an electrochemical principle, based on new scientific developments.” In a nutshell: The H2-O2 fuel-cell unit (never pictured, but it apparently fit under the hood) would drive four electric motors, one for each wheel, driven by stub axles and universal joints. Thus four-wheel drive was achieved without need of a transmission or differential, and regenerative braking was described as part of the package. However, there is no record of any attempts at a working prototype. The Cella I existed only in renderings and as a 3/8 scale model. The proposed cockpit for the Cella I included DeSoto’s then-current swivel bucket seats, a yoke-style steering control, and a periscopic rear-view mirror that eliminated the need for a backlite. Electric power for the heater and defroster were supplied by the fuel cell, which also powered a small refrigerator for snacks and beverages. The two rear-facing passengers could view a swing-out television or listen to a stereo audio system. The Cella I made its first appearance to the public at the Chicago Auto Show on January 22, 1960, where it was described in the press release as “an idea car which might be seem within a generation.” While DeSoto would soon be out of business, there are a few hydogen fuel-cell vehicles in limited production today, most notably the Toyota Mirai. The post Fuel Cell Dreams: The 1959 DeSoto Cella I appeared first on Mac's Motor City Garage. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/fuel-cell-dreams-the-1959-desoto-cella-i/ #fuelcell #thomasbacon #williamgrove #desoto #francisthomas #sirwilliam #power #utcpower #chryslercorporation #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Motordom’s Masterpiece: Cadillac for 1958 With characteristic Cadillac swagger, the GM luxury brand described its 1958 edition as “Motordom’s Masterpiece.” In the glory years of the Motor City styling studios, annual facelifts were sort of a mixed bag. They’re not really done anymore, and they’re not really missed. Often, yearly restyles were no more than change for the sake of change, not necessarily aesthetic improvements. They were performed in the service of planned obsolescence and all that, luring buyers into the showrooms to keep up with the Joneses. However, there were exceptions here and there. The 1958 Cadillac restyle had an actual purpose behind it. Series 62 Extended Deck Sedan According to the preeminent historian Michael Lamm writing in Collectible Automobile (August 1997) the Cadillac styling team led by studio chief Ed Glowacke was more than pleased with the 1957 car. “We were all crazy about the 1957 Cadillac design,” stylist David Holls told Lamm. “We just loved it.” However, feedback from dealers and customers reflected a different opinion. In their view, the ’57 cars didn’t look big enough. The public felt they lacked physical presence—a critical factor among luxury car buyers at the time. So for the ’58 facelift, the stylists were directed to add more heft to their look. While the new car was barely one inch longer, it was made to look larger in every direction. Quad headlamps (first seen on the ’57 Eldorado Brougham) were adopted across the board and the grille was widened. Out back, the reverse-canted tailfins were flipped and stretched almost to the rear bumper to lengthen the profile. For Cadillac buyers who desired even more physical presence, an Extended Deck version of the Series 62 Hardtop Sedan was offered, which added another 8.5 inches to the trunk and quarter panels on the same 129.5-in wheelbase. It outsold the standard-deck version by a healthy margin. As this was simply a facelift, the X-frame chassis introduced in ’57 returned with no major changes. Air suspension, standard on the ’57 Eldorado Brougham, was now offered on all models as a $215 option, but fewer than 15 percent of Cadillac buyers checked that box. On the standard suspension cars, coil springs and trailing arms replaced the rear leaf springs of ’57. Output of the standard 365 CID V8 was boosted to 310 hp with a bump in compression ratio, while the dual four-barrel carburetors on the 335 hp Eldorado V8 were exchanged for three two-barrels. Sixty Special In these years, Cadillac towered over the rest of rest of the U.S. luxury car field, with sales more than double that of Lincoln, Imperial, and Packard combined. The brand’s advertising reflected that complete dominance with slogans that read like royal decrees. The 1958 Cadillac was “a crowning achievement from every standpoint,” according to Cadillac, anyway. Here, declared the sales catalog, was “Motordom’s Masterpiece.” Sales actually slipped in 1958 by 17 percent, a rare occurrence for Cadillac that was triggered by a recession, but Lincoln and Imperial suffered far worse while Packard breathed its last. Cadillac continued to rule over the premium car field. Eldorado Biarritz The post Motordom’s Masterpiece: Cadillac for 1958 appeared first on Mac's Motor City Garage. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/motordoms-masterpiece-cadillac-for-1958/ #cadillac #masterpiece #motordom #eldoradobrougham #extendeddeck #motorcity #lamm #decksedan #michaellamm #sales #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

MCG Executive Briefing for October 23, 2026 General Motors has laid out a bold product strategy that includes the use of AI to cut development time in half. Get all the latest auto industry news in the Executive Briefing. Today’s headlines: + General Motors reported quarterly revenue of $50 billion, its largest in history, on the strength of its profitable pickups and solid growth in its OnStar and Super Cruise business. More at Autoweek. + Battery-electric ​vehicle registrations in Europe rose 70 percent in ‌September, as high fuel prices, subsidies, and the availability of more affordable models led the growth. More at World Auto Forum. + According to Edmunds, nearly 30 percent of the trade-ins for new vehicles in the third quarter were underwater, meaning the negative equity was carried into the new loan. More at CBT News. + NASCAR issued a $50,000 fine to Cup Series driver Zane Smith after he rammed Carson Hocevar’s car during the post-race cool-down lap Sunday at Phoenix Raceway. More at AP News. + Tesla is aiming to start selling its Cybercab robotaxis to the public by the end of this year, despite a current federal requirement for manual driver controls on all vehicles. More at MSN News. + Stellantis subsidiary FCA US is recalling nearly 266,000 Ram vans over a potential loss of electric power steering assist due to water intrusion in the system wiring harness. More at Wards Auto. + Ford’s Mustang Mach-E electric crossover continues in 2027 with a standard long-range 88-kWh battery good for 320 miles, five trim levels, and a $39,995 starting price. More at Electrek. + Porsche has issued another recall with a “do not drive” warning for multiple 718 and 911 models equipped with centerlock wheels that could depart from the vehicle on the road. More at Autoblog. + General Motors has laid out a bold product strategy for the future that includes enhanced autonomous driving and the use of AI to cut vehicle development time in half. More at Car and Driver. + The Inception Racing sports car racing team will switch its IMSA GTD operation from Ferrari 296 GT3 race cars to Chevrolet and the Corvette Z06 GT3.R starting in 2027. More at Racer. Photo courtesy of General Motors. Review the previous MCG Executive Briefing from October 19 here. Join Mac’s Motor City Garage on Facebook and X to receive notices when every new story is published. The post MCG Executive Briefing for October 23, 2026 appeared first on Mac's Motor City Garage. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/mcg-executive-briefing-for-october-23-2026/ #executivebriefing #mcgexecutive #generalmotors #october #auto #supercruise #driver #autoforum #car #motorcity #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

1949: Hudson’s Greatest Postwar Year In 1949, the Hudson Motor Car Company celebrated its 40th anniversary, and it also recorded its best-selling year of the postwar era. In the years following World War II, the USA’s independent automakers were suddenly in tall cotton. Before the war they had struggled to stay in business, but when auto production resumed in 1945-46, newly prosperous Americans were buying more cars than the major manufacturers could produce. In this sellers’ market, cars from the more marginal carmakers were suddenly in high demand. Hudson, one of Detroit’s oldest but smallest automakers, was especially well-positioned for this trend with its advanced Step-Down models introduced for 1948. One of the industry’s first true postwar designs, the Step-Downs were as good as anything the Detriot Three were producing, arguably better. (See our detailed feature on the Step-Down Hudsons here.) Founded in 1909, Hudson had recorded its best year in history back in 1929 when it produced more than 300,000 cars, but through the depression years it struggled to break the 100,000 mark. On the strength of the Step-Down models, In 1948 the company sold 117,000 cars, and in 1949 it set a postwar record: 159,210 vehicles. The number needs some perspective. While Hudson comfortably outsold fellow independents Nash, Studebaker, and Packard that year, the company’s total output was dwarfed by individual General Motors divisions including Pontiac (305,000) and Oldsmobile (288,000). Meanwhile, Ford and Chevrolet were each producing more than 1,000,000 cars per year. In a sea of killer whales, Hudson was a minnow. Short on capital and resources and lacking the economies of scale of the major automakers, Hudson’s very survival depended on doing more with less. Far less. Hudson’s product line for ’49 consisted of four models: the Super Six, Commodore Six, Super Eight, and Commodore Eight. All were based on the 124-in wheelbase Monobilt chassis, Hudson’s unique form of unit construction in which the frame rails passed outside the rear wheels. This layout gave the Step-Down Hudson its unnaturally wide seats and cabin, an attractive selling point in those days. Its tank-like construction and low center of gravity also drew high praise. The often bombastic Tom McCahill of Mechanix Illustrated wrote, “This is America’s best road car by far.” Two engines powered the Hudson line for 1949. Introduced the year before, the Super Six (above left) was a classic Detroit L-head with a bore and stroke of 3.56 x 4.38 inches, a displacement of 262 cubic inches and 121 hp. The Super Eight, an older straight-eight design, was actually slightly smaller in displacement with a 3.00 x 4.50-in bore and stroke and 254 cubic inches, but slightly greater output at 128 hp. Both were equipped with Hudson’s signature wet clutch, while the company’s Drive-Master automatic transmission was an extra-cost option. The famous 308 CID Hornet Six and victory in NASCAR would come a few years later. The lowest-priced model in the Hudson lineup, the Super Six, was by far the company’s best seller in ’49 at more than 91,000 units, more than 57 percent of the company’s total production. Sales of the straight-eight models lagged well behind. At $2,156 in a range that climbed to slightly more than $3,000, the Super Six was no doubt seen as the best value. Unfortunately, the success of ’49 would not continue much longer, as the major automakers now had their postwar designs on the market. Sales slipped to 121,408 in 1950, then recovered slightly in 1951, only to tumble to a mere 70,000 in 1952. Hudson’s handicaps at the time are well documented: The company lacked the resources to develop a modern, competitive V8, Monobilt construction severely limited the Step-Down’s restyling potential, and finally, the compact Jet failed to launch in the marketplace. Years later, automotive historian Richard Langworth interviewed executive Roy Chapin Jr., a board member and sales manager at Hudson, who estimated that the carmaker’s break-even point was around 75,000 cars per year. As it failed to meet that target, now the company’s balance sheets were upside down, recording a $10.4 million loss for 1953. Bowing to the inevitable, in April of 1954 the Hudson Motor Car Company merged with Nash to form American Motors. The post 1949: Hudson’s Greatest Postwar Year appeared first on Mac's Motor City Garage. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/1949-hudsons-greatest-postwar-year/ #hudson #supereight #six #worldwar #commodoreeight #motorcar #generalmotors #detriotthree #detroit #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit

Emergency Room Engineering: 1962 Chevy II For a car that was rushed into production in a matter of months, the Chevy II enjoyed a long and successful life. Introduced on July 7, 1959, the 1960 Corvair was a fairly solid seller for General Motors with more than 250,000 units shipped that first year. But due to its innovative air-cooled, rear-engine design, the Corvair was an expensive car to manufacture, constantly struggling to meet its cost targets and generate a reasonable profit margin. Meanwhile, Ford took a very different approach with its entry in the compact class, the Falcon. With its extremely simple and conventional design, it was cheap and profitable to build, and the public liked it just fine. More than 435,000 Falcons were sent out the door in its first model year, outselling not only the Corvair but the Rambler American and Volkswagen Beetle in the USA. By December of 1959, the GM brass had seen enough. Chevrolet would take direct aim at the Falcon with a second entry in the compact class, the car we know as the Chevy II. As the story goes, a Falcon was parked in the center of the Chevy styling studio to serve as a target. The Chevy II’s development program ran at an emergency-room pace—barely 18 months from the first blank sheet of paper to the start of production in August of 1961. And while it’s not quite a clone of the Falcon, the similarities are remarkable. The Chevy II’s wheelbase was 110 inches and overall length was 183 inches—same as the Falcon, give or take an inch or two. The front suspension (above) was strikingly familiar as well, with a strut-rod lower control arms and coil springs perched atop the upper wishbones. This basic platform, known as the X-body inside the company, was not shared with any other GM product in its first generation. But there were some differences, and a few innovations, too. The Chevy II used a novel monoleaf rear suspension, and for ease of manufacturing, the unit-construction chassis was constructed in two halves that bolted together at the firewall with 14 fasteners. The new compact was also the first product to feature the Chevrolet division’s totally redesigned Powerglide automatic transmission, which the full-size cars would adopt the following year. (Read our Powerglide feature here.) There were two available Chevy II powerplants the first year: a 153 CID inline four and a `194 CID inline six. Both were variants of the third-generation Chevrolet straight six introduced on the bow-tie division’s big cars in ’63. (This inline engine family shared parts and tooling with the Chevy small-block V8.) The six found far more popularity than the four in the Chevy II, accounting for more than 80 percent of the deliveries in ’62. The Chevy II lineup for the inaugural year included three trim levels, starting with the bare-bones 100 series, above. At $2003, the base price was eight bucks more than the Corvair and $18 more than the Falcon. Next up was the 300 series, which added a little more chrome trim and upgraded interior fabrics. The top of the line was the 400 Nova, which boasted real carpeting inside and the inline six as standard. All three trim levels were available in two-door sedan, four-door sedan, and station wagon body styles; on the 400 Nova wagon, a third seat was available. The 400 Nova line also included a snazzy two-door hardtop sport coupe (top photo) and a convertible (below). For 1962, there was no Super Sport in the Chevy II lineup, no V8 engines or four-speed transmissions, either. All that would come a few years later as eventually, even big-block V8s became available in the platform’s third generation (1969-74). The Chevy II badge was retired for 1969, but the Nova name continued on for decades. It was last seen in the USA on a front-drive subcompact produced by the GM/Toyota NUMMI joint venture from 1985 through 1988. The post Emergency Room Engineering: 1962 Chevy II appeared first on Mac's Motor City Garage. https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/emergency-room-engineering-the-1962-chevy-ii/ #chevy #room #generalmotors #chevrolet #rambleramerican #volkswagenbeetle #cid #powerglide #rss #feeds #linksharing #qwibbit