Cars of the 1950s
Would you have believed that when the fifties started, cars, which were basically powered by low-compression sixes that required tetraethyl lead for upper cylinder head lubrication, unless you used a light machine oil, and which looked more like ladder-frame bodies with fenders and quarter panels hung off them, would have ended the way it did?
At the end of the 50s, you had cars like the Chevy BelAir that used a small-block V8 and Cadillac was the “King of the Road,” so to speak, because it sported a big-block V-8 that cranked out a whopping 300 horsepower. For lovers of American classic cars, these fifties cars typified the optimistic era.
The Chevrolet Corvette Appears
Big changes came when Chevy unveiled the Corvette in ’53 and clay mockups of later cars like the Ford T-Bird were circulating in the design studios of Detroit. The 1955-56 T-Bird turned out to be one of the most interesting cars of the decade although it was really nothing special at heart (a Ford Custom 6 chassis), it still looked excellent and it was exactly what the marketing divisions had ordered. Indeed, it answered the call by many buyers for two-seaters, along with family roadsters. The need for the two-seat was established by the sheer numbers of vets who returned from Europe with visions of coupes dancing in their hearts.
The ‘Vette as well as the Thunderbird, though, led to a different need which was a call for performance. Not only did people want vehicles that looked as if they were exciting but in addition they desired automobiles which would perform. Few individuals probably know that even though the very first modern V8 powerplant was the 1932 Ford V8, the famous Chrysler hemi (hemispherical combustion chamber) debuted in ’51 and continued to be in the lineup until 1958. It was the powerplant from the well known 300M of the time. In actual fact, Chrysler and Dodge were hot competitors for Ford and General Motors and they did hold their own.
The first half of the decade, Detroit was playing catch-up, the latter half, they were creating cars that people did actually want. Features were transforming as quad headlights made their debut on the 1957/8 Cadillac and huge fins, reminiscent of the rudders and tails of the jet planes people held in awe, thus were blessed with the 1958/9 Caddy with its characteristic sizeable fins. Chevy tried with a single fin and later on in the 50s turned the fin on its side for the debut of the 1959s, but by ’60, the fin was starting to rapidly decline in size, it was about extinct – that is the huge fin – smaller fins continued making their appearances through the sixties and there were a couple that appeared in the 70s.
Late 1950s Saw Design Changes
Maybe the biggest change of course in design, and with it a new school of designers, was shown with the 1958 Chevrolet Bel Air. The quad headlights were there as was the small-block 289, and they were the minor changes. The major changes came in the lines where the tail became a smooth deck where the taillights didn’t look like an afterthought. Yes, Chevrolet did a fantastic job with the 1956 Bel Air/Nomad however the 1958 highlighted how things were beginning to change – smooth lines, quad headlights and rounded fenders and quarters.
Talk about an era of changes: from a slow six to a monster 8 and from autos where things were just hung on by committee to designs that were real, the fifties was a significant decade.
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