Welcome to Must Read, where we single out the best stories from around the automotive universe and beyond. Today we've got reports from The New York Times, Dangerroom, and Petrolicious.
When Cars Assume Ethnic Identities – The New York Times
This never occurred to me but, yes, of course this is a terrible name. You might as well have named it the "Jeep Trail of Tears." Great truck, though.
Or review Pontiac’s marketing copy, which proclaimed that “among the names of able Indian warriors known to the white race in America, that of Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas and accepted leader of the Algonquin family of tribes, stands pre-eminent.” Of course, the visage of the chief was appropriated as a hood ornament. Many other tribes were adopted as marketing tools. Long gone is the Jeep Comanche pickup truck, sold in the late 1980s, along with the Jeep Comanche Eliminator.
THE FIRST SKYLINE GT WAS BORN FROM RACING – Petrolicious
Apparently, and I can't verify this, the Skyline GT wasn't created just to make you feel awesome in Gran Turismo.
The 1960s were a fascinating period for Japanese cars. Manufacturers finally started to break away from simply copying British and American cars and began coming up with original designs. The very ethos and identity of the Japanese automobile was being formed year by year, and in the middle of all this dynamic experimentation was Prince (Nissan) who wanted to make their boxy Skyline sedan competitive in the Japan Grand Prix. This will to win created the first in a long line of world-beating Nissan Skylines.
Ancient U.S. Weapons Make A Surprise Reappearance In Syria –
If it ain't broke, use it to blow shit up. It is the Volvo 240 of large guns.
While the M40 makes a big comeback in the Middle East, dozens of other armies all over the world never stopped using it. The Danish and Australian armies have used the 106mm in Afghanistan with excellent results. It turns out that in many instances they have outperformed the expensive, high tech, anti-tank rockets like the TOW, the Javelin and others that were supposed to replace the M40 four decades ago.
Top photo: Jeep via