Cars

Adam Kaplan

Many of the car companies at the time were Ford, General Motors, Chevrolet, Cadillac and many others that are still around today. Some that are not around today include Hudson, Studebaker, Nash and Kaiser. The prices of cars during the 50s ranged from $1,732 to $4,711! Some of the names of the car colors at the time were Tampa Turqouise, Fantasy Yellow, Parisian Blue, Emberglow and Tango Red. The cars of the 1950s were lower, longer, and wider than previous years. Many of the automobiles of the time were designed by stylists who took their influence from the planes and trains and other means of transportation during that time. The long demand for cars caused by the Depression and World War II exploded into excess in the decade of the '50's. Tail pins, chrome wheels and chrome fenders were the norm. The 1950s also saw some of the most beautiful and some of the most outlandish cars ever made. With the advent of the jet age in the 1950's came technological and design breakthroughs in the automobile. One of those was the speed with which the automobile, despite complicated compound curves and forms, could be manufactured. The jet set lifestyle had captured the hearts of the American public and car designers of the time used this fascination to turn out ordinarily plain-looking family cars to come out with wings, turbines and after-burner tail lights. By 1958 around 68 million cars and trucks were used. There was more than one for every house in the US. American car makers focused on style, not safety. In 1956, the style director of General Motors said, "Safe cars appeal only to squares, and there ain't any squares no more." Along with new cars came new landscape. The Highway Act of 1956 implemented the construction of forty-one thousand miles of freeways which would be built over 10 years. Highway deaths were over forty thousand a year by the late fifties. During the 1950s seat belts were and option for an extra cost but rarely purchased.