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Private Investigations: Oscar Banker, the Automatic Safety Transmission, and the Art of Research PDF Print E-mail

Tags: Automatic Safety Transmission | General Motors | Hydra-Matic | technology | transmissions

Written by Aaron Severson   
Saturday, 10 July 2010 22:32

We're going to take a different approach for this week's article. Instead of presenting another history, we've decided to give you a look at the way we approach the research for these articles, and tackle a challenging comment posed by one of our readers: did inventor Oscar Banker design the 1937-1939 Oldsmobile/Buick Automatic Safety Transmission, the predecessor of Hydra-Matic?

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1974 Cadillac Miller Meteor ambulance Power Light
Last Updated on Tuesday, 31 August 2010 23:28
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Super-iority: Defining the Supercar and Muscle Car PDF Print E-mail

Tags: 1960s | 1970s | American cars | Supercars | terminology

Written by Aaron Severson   
Monday, 27 July 2009 12:34

One of the minor but contentious arguments among automotive enthusiasts and historians is the question of exactly what constitutes a muscle car. Since we'll be talking about several cars of this breed in the coming weeks, we thought we'd give you our take on this issue.

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1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass 442 nose low
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Another Empire Down Part 3: Wither Detroit? PDF Print E-mail

Tags: 2000s | bailout | Chrysler | Ford | General Motors | politics

Written by Aaron Severson   
Sunday, 07 December 2008 00:00

It will not have escaped even the casual observer that the companies formerly known as the Big Three automakers -- GM, Ford, and Chrysler -- are in bad, bad shape. GM lost $37 billion in 2007. Ford's operating losses were $2.7 billion overall, but they lost $5 billion on their automotive operations. Chrysler, which is now owned by Cerberus Capital Management, is not obliged to share their annual results (not being publicly held), but they aren't doing a lot better. As of this writing, the three companies are asking for at least $34 billion in federally guaranteed loans, a new bailout.

In this last installment of our series, we weigh in on the state of Detroit.

Click to read more about the current auto industry bailout

1930 Ford Model A Boyce MotoMeter
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Another Empire Down Part 2: The Road Back PDF Print E-mail

Tags: 1980s | American cars | bailout | Bob Lutz | Chrysler | front-wheel drive | Imperial | K-cars | Lee Iacocca | Mopar | politics

Written by Aaron Severson   
Sunday, 30 November 2008 00:00

In 1981, Chrysler had $1.2 billion in federally backed loans and an array of new products. Problem solved? Not exactly. In the third installment of our series on the Chrysler bailout, we examine the corporation's rocky road back to solvency -- and how it ended up on the ropes again less than a decade later.

Click to read more about the aftermath of the 1980 Chrysler bailout

1988 Dodge Aries badge
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