Category Archives: totems

How Painful Can a 5-mile-per-hour Collision Be?

Published January 24, 2019 in Warp & Woof How Painful Can a 5-mile-per-hour Collision Be? Wrestling with GEICO and Koons Body Shop William Sundwick This is a No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (NGDGU) story. One sunny, thoroughly pleasant, Sunday afternoon in October, near the end of the fall election campaign, I was eager to getContinue reading “How Painful Can a 5-mile-per-hour Collision Be?”

Warp & Woof, v.1.2

Published August 3, 2018 in Warp & Woof Warp & Woof v.1.2 Welcome to Warp & Woof, a blog from William Sundwick. Its purpose is to share with its readers some ways to navigate the philosophical, moral and aesthetic dimensions of life. It is not a scholarly blog, but the author hopes that his ownContinue reading “Warp & Woof, v.1.2”

Car Shopping, 2018

Published February 7, 2018 in Warp & Woof   Car Shopping, 2018   The Washington Auto Show   William Sundwick   My biggest challenge of the Washington Auto Show was meeting up with my wife. She beat me there by over twenty minutes – Metro from Capitol Hill was faster than traffic from Northern VirginiaContinue reading “Car Shopping, 2018”

Speed Culture: Why?

Published January 9, 2018 in Warp & Woof   Speed Culture: Why? William Sundwick Origins of Speed In the earliest days of the automobile, the “horseless carriage” era, all cars were mechanical curiosities. They were playthings for the rich and adventurous. None were particularly reliable, but many startups sought to sell something new and differentContinue reading “Speed Culture: Why?”

Selling an Old Name to a New Demographic

Published October 26, 2017 in Warp & Woof Selling an Old Name to a New Demographic Cadillac’s “Break Through” Campaign and the GM Malady William Sundwick Picture, if you can, the typical Cadillac of the 1990s. It was probably a De Ville or Fleetwood Brougham. Big, posh, a veritable land yacht. There was the elegantContinue reading “Selling an Old Name to a New Demographic”

What We Drove, and Why

Published October 18, 2017 in Warp & Woof  What We Drove, and Why One Family’s Car Culture, GM Style – 1950-1970 (Sundwick Automotive Photo Library, Part IV) William Sundwick We were not a typical family, even for Dearborn or Flint. Dad was a committed General Motors “lifer” – a salaried engineer, destined by the endContinue reading “What We Drove, and Why”

Exploring the Sundwick Automotive Photo Library: Part III

Published August 28, 2017 in Warp & Woof Exploring the Sundwick Automotive Photo Library: Part III – Imports in the Heart of the Auto Industry, Detroit-Flint, 1953-63 William Sundwick Beginning in the 1950s, before Detroit discovered “compacts,” there were dealer franchises in the heart of the auto industry, from Detroit to Flint, that sought toContinue reading “Exploring the Sundwick Automotive Photo Library: Part III”