History of Autopmobiles
Automobiles in the 1950's The purpose of this paper is to provide a clear picture ofautomobiles in the 1950's and the impact the automobile had on American society. The 1950's were a time of economic growth for America, where income exceededcar prices and vision was limited only by one's imagination. President Eisenhower and hisadministration were friendly to big business for the first time since Herbert Hoover. Forexample, new highways were built by Eisenhower administration in 1956. The automotiveindustry in general was determined to make up for lost time. Immediately after the war,America began switching from coal to oil in a big way. In 1949 consumption was 5.8million a year and went up to 16.4 million just before the oil crisis of 1973. Thesegas-guzzling giants had incredible horsepower. Cars, already too big for basic space needsand ease of parking, became bigger and lower slung so that the slightest bump couldsmash the oil pan, muffler, or gas tank. Gasoline was cheap and plentiful in the 1950's,even if you were going across the country. The National Defense Highway Act of 1956developed a 41,000-mile interstate highway system that encouraged travel. The country's motels recorded $850 million in receipts in
The first cars with twin-paired headlamps (four head lamps) were the Lincoln and Cadillacmodels. The first British salooncar with disc brakes all-round was the Daimler Majestic. " Imported from Germany, they began to become moreand more popular by the late 1950s. "The Volkswagen Beetle set new standards of cheap reliability,overtaking the Model T as the most popular car ever produced--more than 20 million weresold by the early 1980s. "It's a neweconomic era," said one newspaper. As mentioned earlier, disc brakes were developed. Ford set up a SociologicalDepartment that set up English classes at the Ford factory. Throughout this paper many different automobiles have been mentioned, yet thereare some left out, like the Crosley, and the Chevy. Seats were made with foam filling that could be moldedinto the wanted shape, with hand-stitched leather hides with matching wood veneers totrim the dashboard and door cappings. In one short decade, herheadquarters moved from the kitchen to the car. There isprobably no better example of an automaker's rise in fortunes in the 1950s than Chrysler. This Triumph TR2 sales brochureevokes laurel wreaths, checkered flags, and bravado-a glamorous, innocent world whenmen were men, cars were cars, and the girl in the passenger seat always wore a headscarfand pearls. By the end ofthe 1930's, all steel bodies had become virtually universal, and, by the end of the 1950'sthe economic advantages of mass-production meant that the craft of coachbuilding becamelimited to the restoration of vintage vehicles and the production of exclusive cars. It was referred toas 'The People's Car.
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