by Mike Davis | Apr 25, 2011
A memorial service for David E. Davis, who passed away on March 27, will be held later this week — more details at the end of this remembrance by TheDetroitBureau.com Contributing Editor Mike Davis (no relation). Since the passing many years ago of “Uncle” Tom...
by Mike Davis | Jan 5, 2011
Editor’s Note: As TheDetroitBureau.com reported, this week, Ford’s long-struggling Mercury brand officially ceased to exist as the New Year rolled in. But whether it should have been sent to the automotive rust heap is a matter of debate. While most folks were happy...
by Mike Davis | Dec 13, 2010
You’d never know it today, when more than half the new vehicles sold are classified as trucks, and therefore command proper attention from both the media and the regulators, but half a century ago, the media and the general public paid little attention to the...
by Mike Davis | Dec 8, 2010
To: Lido A. Iacocca, Beverly Hills, CA From: Mike Davis, Detroit Re: Thanks! Dear Lee – Your Old Gray Mare ain’t what she used to be, many long years ago. When, as vice president of Ford Motor Company and general manager of the Ford Division, you introduced the first...
by Mike Davis | Sep 8, 2010
My father, a second-generation veteran journalist, admonished me as a youth, “Never believe what you read in a newspaper.” It certainly seems doubtful that you can believe what you read in the website-posted specifications for some automobiles, or even such regulated...
by Mike Davis | Sep 1, 2010
No, “UVs” in the headline is not a typo, and it doesn’t mean Ultra Violet, as in sunrays, either. But I confess I’m not sure whether to call Ford’s new Explorer an SUV (“Sport Utility Vehicle” as it has been for the last 20 years) or CUV (“Crossover Utility Vehicle,”...
by Mike Davis | Aug 26, 2010
The police car market in the United States amounts to around 75,000 units a year, and Ford’s Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, CVPI, the mainstay of police fleets for years, has managed to command 60% or more of that market since Chevrolet ended domestic rear-wheel...
by Mike Davis | Aug 20, 2010
Note: This is the kind of column our friend Jerry Flint might have written, though his would have been far more irreverent, eloquent and passionate. We’ll miss you, Jerry. (Click Here for a remembrance of Jerry Flint.) I was at a luncheon of dinosaurs the other day,...
by Mike Davis | Aug 18, 2010
It’s not mentioned in the Constitution or Bill or Rights, but are there any American motorists—except in densely urban areas– who doubt that free parking for their cars is a fundamental right? Of course not, if there were, they’d be bounced out of town on a...
by Mike Davis | Aug 12, 2010
Among the more than 5,000 nameplates of automobiles that have come and gone in America over more than a century, one of the lesser known – except to its fans – is that of the Wills Sainte Claire. The make’s symbol on its radiator face as well as its...
by Mike Davis | Jun 8, 2010
Since last winter, when the imported Ford Transit Connect small delivery van was proclaimed as the 2010 North American Truck of the Year, little has been heard about it as a mainstream product. Yes, Ford announced Natural Gas and Electric versions of the TC, which got...
by Mike Davis | Jun 3, 2010
The demise of Mercury was a long time coming. To understand it, you have to know a lot about the car’s history, and how things work inside Ford Motor Company. First the history: During the 1930s, so-called “medium-priced” brands like Buick and Dodge flourished....
