Not every Mustang was a superstar. The Ford Mustang II is a bit of an odd bird when it comes to sports cars. Based on its brand name, it’s technically labeled a muscle car. However, its interior parts and lackluster engine make this classification dubious. While highly regarded in its … Read more
The 1980s can be defined in one word: us. For that’s the decade when Americans began to cast off the memory of the Watergate scandal and the lost Vietnam War of the 1970s. Consumerism, especially materialism, was in vogue and global trade brought the first cars from Yugoslavia, Brazil and … Read more
It was during the 1970s when automakers from Japan began to find a market among the big American cars of that era. As Toyota, Honda and Datsun (later Nissan) products began to take hold, American car manufacturers responded by producing several smaller models to counter the overseas invasion. Unfortunately, many … Read more
Years before the Volkswagen (VW) Microbus was associated with hippies, free love and protests against the Vietnam War, it served as a basic people hauler. It was just the second Volkswagen model built, following the Beetle to the market in 1950. Although this vehicle disappeared from the US market in … Read more
In the 1980s General Motors produced a mid-engine, two-seat sports car and named it the Pontiac Fiero. Just as the Corvette elevated Chevrolet, GM hoped the Fiero would do likewise for Pontiac. Its five-year model run started off strong, but quality problems and declining interest eventually killed what is now … Read more
A casual look at the automotive landscape over the past half-century and you will see how the Japanese automakers have penetrated the US market to become the automotive powerhouses that they are known as today. From humble beginnings in the late 1950s to its market strength today, companies such as … Read more
Once billed as “a different kind of car company,” Saturn was originally a standalone car company, one wholly owned by General Motors. Unlike GM’s other automotive brands including Chevrolet, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac, Saturn was managed separately at the start, but eventually was brought into the GM matrix, then later dissolved. … Read more
The Ford Taurus is a full-size sedan, once one of the most popular models in the blue oval’s arsenal. Changing consumer tastes and Ford’s reluctance to invest in an all-new model took its toll on sales. On March 1, 2019, the last Taurus rolled off of a Chicago assembly line. … Read more
The Hyundai Tiburon represents one of this Korean automaker’s earliest forays into the sport coupe segment. It was produced from 1997 to 2008, replacing the earlier Scoupe before it was succeeded by the Hyundai Veloster and later the Genesis Coupe. The Hyundai Tiburon is a favorite car for the tuner … Read more
Declining Cadillac sales in the 1990s forced General Motors to take a hard look at its luxury division and that marque’s model offerings. New models were soon conceived including an Evoq concept, a two-door roadster that made its debut at a 1999 Detroit auto show. Five years later the Cadillac … Read more