Cars and the Great Depression

Cars and the Great Depression

During the Great Depression when people could barely afford to put bread on the table, the auto industry was churning out luxury cars with innovative features. Electric wipers and front-wheel drive were just some of these features that were ahead of their time. Most of these cars sold for a mere $4,000-$5,000 which was much more than most people could afford at this time.

In the early 1930s car manufacturers added features to increase the comfort and safety of their products. Foot boards made alighting onto the vehicle much easier and cars had sunshades added to windshields as well as rear lights. Security glass was added to windshields and wipers were added as well.

The most obvious change to cars in the 1930s was the design. Gone was the steel box look of the Model T and replacing it was a more artistic variation. Flowing lines and sweeping fenders changed the way we look at cars.

Most of the new designs of the 1930s did not spring from the Big 3: Chrysler, Ford or GM. The smaller car designers poured their resources into new designs and style and, subsequently, suffered greatly from the depressed economy.  The Big 3 borrowed from their ideas and because of shear size, survived the depression.

General Motors introduced the idea of the face-lift for cars during the 1930s. Prior to this idea you could design your own car, adding different features along the way. Now a car was designed as a whole instead of piecing parts collectively.  

Cadillac would not have survived the Great Depression had it not been for General Motors. Large, expensive motor cars were seen as an extravagant display of wealth and no one wanted to take that kind of risk in the economic environment. Cadillac released the luxury V16 sedan called the Sixteen in 1930.

With glamorous new lines, the car became a symbol of hope for the future during the 1930s. Aerodynamics and streamlining had the added benefit of aiding in fuel costs.

Chrysler was the first in the auto industry to use aerodynamics and streamlining in their designs. The first model, the Airflow, was produced in 1934 and was the first of its kind in the world.

Ford Motor Company won a legal battle which would benefit all American auto producers. George B. Selden,  held a patent on a "road engine" giving him royalties paid by all American car companies. Ford overturned the patent and opened the road to the American auto industry.

Ford went on to improve the industry when, in 1934, he introduced the one piece V-8 engine allowing Ford's cars to outperform all competitors at that time. 

Source:

http://www.anythingaboutcars.com/1930scars.html

Cars Roar Through the Twenties

Cars Roar Through the Twenties

Days of the old Model T were gone and replaced by larger, faster and snazzier cars. 

By 1927 people were on the look out for new and innovative car designs and people were buying cars on time. This practice started the purchasing of expensive items on credit as an ongoing middle-class habit in the American economy.

Used cars began piling up on car dealers lots as the industry began to stagnate.

Despite all the money changing hands, the industry was undergoing a setback. The market was getting saturated with too many cars while the technology innovations were slowing down. The post-World War II cars included changes like the self-starter, the enclosed, all steel body, high-compression engine, hydraulic brakes, syncromesh transmission, and low-pressure balloon tires.

Quite a few of the innovations we know today were first conceptualized in the 1920s.  These include electric cars, four wheel drive, front wheel drive and hybrid fuel.

Advertisements became less focused on the basics like horsepower and features and began to make an emotional appeal to car buyers. Women were target with enticements like designer colors, luxurious interiors and the angle that cars had become easier to drive and maintain. Many cars in the 1920s featured flowing, sensual curves and dual tone color schemes, making them an art form like the  Arts and Crafts movement.

To cover the expense of the influx of autos, the federal government implemented a gas tax to pay for new roads and repairs to existing roads.  Insurance companies cashed in on the new fad by relating to car owners that their expensive item needed to be protected from damage and theft. Car insurance rates were quite high during this time.

Wealthy Americans purchased imports like Mercedes and Hispano-Suiza for an unprecedented $15 to $50k and American luxury cars like Cadillac and Packard were driven by other wealthy Americans and celebrities. 

Sources:

http://www.1920-30.com/automobiles/

Cars at the Turn of the Century and Beyond... by Omar-El-Safty

Cars first hit the road in the late 19^th century and after initial skepticism, the horseless carriage became extremely popular. Henry Ford put cars on the map with the Model T in 1908. The car was made affordable for the average Joe with Ford’s assembly line technology. By 1918 nearly half of all cars in America were Model T’s. Ford was producing finished cars about every ten seconds.

The great-grandfather of the automobile was the Fardier, a three-wheeled steam-powered contraption which went about two mph and was built in 1771 by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot under commission by the French minister of war. It was actually slower than a horse-drawn vehicle so it was scraped.

In 1873, Frenchman Amedee Bollee built a 12-passenger steam car but again was slower than natural “horse-power”. People were waiting for the internal combustion engine. This modern wonder came in Germany in 1889 through the work of Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. The 1.5 horsepower, two-cylinder gas engine with a four-speed transmission traveled at an astounding 10 miles per hour!

The bicycle actually spurred the desire for a new conveyance to take one person from place to place. The increasing production of the Model T led to great demand for the federal government to get involved in road development. Farmers were in need of ways to transport crops and this resulted in the Federal-Aid Road Act of 1916 in which funds were made available to state highway agencies to help with road improvements to get America moving. To this end, Henry Ford made the comment, "I will build a car for the great multitude.

We value our automobiles today more than any other modern convenience. We owe so much to their influence during the early part of the twentieth century. Cars boosted the economy and changed the American lifestyle. In rural areas, more highways were built and small business owners opened up shops to take advantage of the traffic. 

In rural areas, more highways were built and small business owners opened shop to take advantage of the traffic. In urban areas, traffic jams were a new annoyance but they also symbolized economic success and a sign that more people were buying and selling. The high productivity in cities and affordability of car meant continued economic growth in the early part of the 20^th century.

The idea of the open road and travel came into focus with the advent of the automobile. In Jack Kerouac’s novel, On the Road, the author suggested the use of a car “in order to free the downtrodden’s soul and mind.” 

With more people using cars, other transportation like public transit and railroads became much less popular because arrival times and destinations were not as precise as with their personal automobile. As a result traffic jams became something that the modern world has learned to live with as people moved to the city looking for better pay and working conditions.

Sources:

http://iron.lmc.gatech.edu/classes/djakacki3/jakackiwikif10/index.php/Automobiles_in_U.S.:_1900-1920_(Jonathan_Porter

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/automobile.htm

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcar3.htm

http://tchaunationalhistoryday.weebly.com/