Car Design Evolution from 50’s to 60’s

Brit Spears offered the following reflection on the significance of the 1964 Ford Mustang in Wired magazine“The two Ford execs saw a vast market literally rolling before their eyes, and, according to legend, the notion of a sports car with a back seat was one of those ‘ah-hah’ moments.

”[i]The 1964 Ford Mustang was a ground breaking design in automotive history. A simple idea was the inspiration this game-changing idea. It’s unique style was unlike any other car ever seen and inspired generation after generation of automobile after it. In fact, it even created a whole new category of car, because there was no car released that could compare to it.

The 60’s were a time of great change in America, and the automotive industry is no exception to that great change.America in the fifties was fundamentally different than America in the sixties. These differences in the societies of the fifties and the sixties undoubtedly influenced the great change in the design of the cars between the two decades. The 50’s cars were a product of the post-war optimism of the successes of the second world war, the fear of a nuclear bomb based war due to the Americans knowledge of other countries engineering the bombs, and the orthodoxy of the people in America. Cars in the 60’s were a product of the rising sense of individualism in the people, the anti-government attitude, and the effects of the 60’s being an age of protest for America.

Since the automobiles of the fifties were a product of the fifties, the general life and the pride accompanied by the fear of the people of the 50’s must be laid out first, and then its influence on the curvy, and swooping, large styling of the cars of that time, and then how that time influenced the automobile itself.Next, the same has to be done with the sixties, and how the individualism of the people inspired the sharper, smaller style. and finally a conclusion must be made on why the changes in the cars came about, and what they symbolize in American culture as far as change during that time.Life in the 50’s is complicated, and quite contradictory in beliefs. On one hand, the People during the 1950s were very happy.

The Americans and the allied forces defeated Germany and the Axis Powers less than a decade prior, and the Americans were still riding the high of victory over their opposition. They felt that as a nation they had come together as a collective to aid in the defeat of the Axis Powers and win the war, and everyone American had the victory to be proud about. Winning the war also allowed America to become a world superpower. Many of the world’s most successful countries such as Germany were all economically devastated after the end of the war, which allowed America, who’s economy had grown over the war. To claim the top spot in global economics.

The Americans reaped the benefits of the new found success America had achieved and the citizens started to make more money.[ii]Cars in the 50’s were beautiful. The were dramatic, shiny, big, and robust. Much of the styling from the cars of this era was heavily influenced by fighter planes. Some of the styling is quite obvious, but other resemblances are more subtle. One of the most iconic design elements of the time was the tailfin.

The tail fin occurs when the beltline of the car raises at the back end. It was created by Harley Earl, an automotive designer. “It was an airplane, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. Earl had to stand thirty feet away because this twin engined fighter was still under security wraps. But this quick glimpse so excited earl that it spurred him to create something that would help shape American culture for much of the next two decades.

Earl beheld the P-38 and conceived the tailfin.”[iii]The Lockheed P-38 lightening a was an unorthodox, but beautiful, plane used in the second world war. Planes inspired many more design elements, like the wraparound front and rear windshield that came around the sides of the greenhouse of the car were very popular back then, but the inspiration of that design actually comes from the shape of a cockpit of a plane. The glass wraps around the side the same way it would on the cars. Many of the cars had a large, dramatic swage line the jutted out the sides of cars to have a miniature version of the wings of planes, which flowed nicely, visually in the design of a car, which is why that aspect was heavily used and still is today.Another design aspect, discreet, but significant were the bullet bumpers and the bomber taillights.

The bullet bumpers were on the front of cars, and on either end would have a pointed tip. These were made to resemble the noses of planes, as they were shaped just the same. The bomber taillights were on the rear ends of cars and were long tapered cylinders which almost looked like the shape bowling pins with a light on the end. These were made and called so after the shape of the bombs that were on the wings of planes that attacked with explosives shaped like the tail lights. But above all, the cars were extraordinarily flashy.

The Cars were very bright colors, some of the iconic blues, pinks, yellows and greens are indicative of the decade. And on many cars, one color was not enough. Two-tone cars were quite popular as well. Much of the overall look of the cars back then were due to the heavy use of chrome. The bright and shiny metal made heads turn when cars passed by.

Although much of the styling is attributed to world war 2 planes, the meaning behind these traits is much deeper. Harley Earl is credited for entirely creating and revolutionizing automotive styling. “Until he was twenty-five, Harley Earl designed and built custom-made cars for Hollywood stars like Fatty Arbuckle and Tom Mix. When his work came to the attention of the general manager of Cadillac, Earl was hired as a ‘consulting engineer’ for General Motors. The first car he designed for GM – the 1927 Le Salle – created such a sensation that he was appointed head of GM’s newly created Art and Color Section.” [iv] Harley’s work was so good, he ended up being the vice president of design at General Motors.

There he made many amazing innovations.“Harley Earl… responsible for fifty million vehicles…”[v] He forever changed and paved the path automotive styling for the future. “Larry Faloon, another retired GM designer and the departments unofficial historian, notes…Harley Earl grew up with this ‘built –in sense of showmanship.’”[vi] Harley even changed how cars were made.

The whole process of sketching, drafting, clay modeling, and life-size models are all innovations of Harley’s. This method led to the creation of one of the most influential cars of all time. The Buick Y-Job, made in 1938 is one of the most renowned cars in all of history. It was “…his – and the world’s – first true concept car…”[vii] It was the first ever car to be streamlined. In a time like the 30’s where the automobile was so young, much of the focus for companies was the mechanical engineering aspect of the cars, not the visual engineering portion however, It was mind-blowing that someone had made such a creation.“The Y-Job also had such innovative and futuristic – and previously unseen – technology as a power convertible top, electric windows, hidden headlights, and many other features that decades later would be part of ordinary production cars.

”[viii] This car became the benchmark of cars to come, which followed suit by sporting those beautiful rounded off edges like the Y-Job, especially cars from the fifties. Harley earl was very much responsible for the many of the cars coming out in the 50’s and you can see his ideas expressed through the cars he helped design. The heavy influence from world war two planes was due to Harley. And it all started with a 1948 Cadillac where he first exhibited the use of tailfins.The tailfin, as he said was “…an extra receipt for their money in the form of visible prestige marking for an expensive car.

” [ix] As said before, the people in the 50’s were reaping the benefits of the economic growth America was facing. “…soon after the fighting stopped, first in America, then later in Europe, there was an out bust of post war optimism. …car designers quickly returned to work, and with new things such as jet aircraft to inspire them.”[x]This made people want to buy like crazy, and to buy flashy things to showcase their new found wealth. And the car were appealing to buyers because of the styling.“Most people came prepared to see a beautiful car – for Pontiac is always an outstanding beauty…performance and dependability are well known virtues too.

”[xi] This quote from a Pontiac advertisement shows that the emphasis on visual styling was greater than that of any other aspect of the car. And that people bought cars, not for the performance or resale value, but for the material value and how it looked. The victory of the war was still fresh in many minds, and there was a desire to portray that sense of victory as well. Although the people were happy about winning the war , there was an underlying fear which may have influenced the people, and therefore the designs.

Much of the fear was due to the seemingly imminent global nuclear warfare, after witnessing its astronomical power after the military dropped two nuclear bombs in Japan.The American people did not want to be on the receiving end of the destructive bombs. The highly military influenced styling is indicative of that fear. Not only were the American people afraid of another nuclear war, the were afraid that everything they had could slipped even faster than they had earned it. Many citizens in the 50’s lived during the great crash and depression, and experienced firsthand how quickly they could lose everything, and the rapid increase in wealth and income was comparable to that of the period before the great crash.This reminded people of the struggles of the depression, which led them to live in the new found success as much as they possibly could.

Which would explain the extravagance and visual luxury of these cars. Another societal characteristic of the decade was orthodoxy. People were very much alike as far as their beliefs and the things they wanted. Many people followed the same path, had the same sense of patriotism, and strived for the same things.

This characteristic shows up in the cars as well. Practically every car had tailfins, the wraparound windshield, and were dripping with chrome.The 60’s were different from the 50’s in may ways. Whereas in the 50’s, the people were unsettled, but kept those feelings inside, in the sixties, the people let those feelings show.

The 60’s became an age of protest for America. Those feelings of the post war optimism subsided an led to the change in how americans viewd their country. The Civil Rights Movement, probably the biggest protest in American history after the Revolution, became a forefront issue, which shows just how much America was really changing. The people weren’t afraid to go against the government, or break the law to get what they wanted. They weren’t afraid to be different.

This can even be seen in artists like Andy Warhol, who’s work was completely different than anything seen in the past. It was an age of breaking tradition.the cars of the 60’s were much different than the 50’s. It all started with the 1964 Mustang which revolutionized automotive styling. It was small, and sleek, with sharp lines and cuts. It was beautiful, and the template for later made cars in the era.

The mustang was inspired by the Chevrolet corsair, the ford thunderbird, and ford falcon, as the mustang was built on the same platform as the Falcon. The mustangs predecessors were small coupes, but still had some of the swoopy curves indicative of the 50's. The new kind of styling, which was the result of the mind of Donald E. Frey, one of the most recognized names in the car industry due to this creation.It was the inspiration behind the class of pony car, which were small, highly styled, with a back seat and a usable trunk. they were rear wheel driven, usually by a front mount big block V8.

and the Ford mustang best selling pony car ever, with over nine million sales. IN fact, when it came out "Ford figured it would sell around 100,000 in the first 12 months of production. It sold 10 times that number in the first 18." (Wired) everybody lined up to buy this "street sport machine" (hn.

big chalk.com, New ford sports car being built locally, bob thimas, L.A times, Aug 30, 1962, pro quest historical newspapers, pg B7) These astounding numbers influenced all the american companies to make their own version of the pony car, "and everyone was cranking out pony cars by 1967.General Motors introduced the Chevrolet Camaro and its kissing cousin, the Pontiac Firebird. Ford offered the more upscale Mercury Cougar. Chrysler released the Challenger.

Even AMC got into the act with the Javelin." And these cars sold just as fast as they were made. Anybody could go out and buy them because they were so affordable, and everybody had their preference about which pony car was the best, and there was plenty of street racing to determine a winner. This dispute became so prominent that a race caller the trams am was made just for pony cars, and the companies raced to hire the best drivers to ensure that they won the trans am race to show they were making the better car.