Thirty years ago, the watchword of the auto industry was downsizing. Driven by high oil prices and ever-increasing emission standards, American automakers were forced to dramatically reduce the size and weight of their cars. Today, with spiraling oil prices and concerns about global warming, a new wave of downsizing can't be far off.

Downsizing can be risky. Customers have been indoctrinated for decades in the idea that bigger is better, and you have to be careful that smaller size isn't perceived as poorer value. Do it wrong, and you can end up with a sales disaster that could put you out of business.

Let's look at an early example of downsizing that succeeded: Pontiac's sporty 1969 Grand Prix.

You've probably heard it said that modern cars are designed as much in the wind tunnel as on the drawing board. This week, former GM designer Gary Smith, webmaster of the site Dean's Garage, takes a look at the insides GM's own wind tunnel. You can read about it here.

Dean's Garage is a very interesting site, with a lot of first-hand recollections from Gary and other automotive designers about their work and careers; last week, for instance, he presented some of the cartoons the GM design staff drew during his tenure there, like Andy Hansel's caricature of former Styling VP Irv Rybicki.

We think that primary histories like these are invaluable. Automotive designers are among the world's least-known artists; their work reaches millions of people, but many are little known outside the field, and when they retire or pass on, memory of their contributions quickly fades. (We should also mention that Gary has been very generous in helping us research some of our upcoming articles, putting us in touch with surviving designers to help sort out how certain designs came to be.)

If you're interested in the people behind the machinery, check out Dean's Garage -- we recommend it highly.