Its unmistakable sound was once everywhere, in every city and along every highway in America: the rumbling roar of the Detroit Diesel 6-71 engine. We revisit that wonderful noise with a ride in a beautifully restored 1959 GMC tractor. Continue reading
Category Archives: Auto History
Video: Remembering Joe Isuzu
In the 1980s, Isuzu discovered a fresh and entertaining way to sell automobiles—with a series of commercials featuring an absurd, dissembling huckster named Joe Isuzu. Mac’s Motor City Garage takes a quick look back. Continue reading
Video: Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner Pitch a New Plymouth Muscle Car
In the late 1960s, Plymouth cracked the youth market wide open with a bold new marketing and branding strategy: Using familiar cartoon characters to sell muscle cars. See Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner battle it out here. Continue reading
Video: Mystery California Streamliner
Straight from the future—okay, more like the late 1930s, we’re guessing—comes the wonderfully weird streamlined automobile and trailer created by Angelo R. Noble. See them in action in this charming old newsreel. Continue reading
Triumph at Daytona: The 1964 Comet 100,000-Mile Durability Run
This slick 1964 film from Ford Motor Company tells the story of the legendary Mercury Comet 100,000-mile record run at Daytona. We weren’t there to see the spectacle, unfortunately, but here’s the next best thing. Continue reading
Video: 1934 French Grand Prix
Short and sweet, this wonderful little newsreel tells the story of the 1934 French Grand Prix at Montlhéry. There is no form of motor racing like this anywhere in the world today—watch and be enthralled. Continue reading
Lost Hot Rods: Five Sweet Model A Ford Roadsters
Here’s the latest in our Lost Hot Rods series: a group of five noteworthy Model A Ford roadsters from the golden age of rodding. These cars never found fame, as far as we know, but they look like winners to us. Have a look. Continue reading