1950s Car Manufacturers

1950s Car Manufacturers classic cars including Buick, General Motors, Pontiac, Studebaker, Ford, Cadillac and more.

During the 1950s car sales in the United States broke the 6.5 million barrier.

This hunger for the motor vehicle was met by a thriving car manufacturing industry ready to meet the demands of a burgeoning market.

One of the biggest producers of motor vehicles during the 1950s were General Motors, a conglomerate with a group of major American car manufacturers under its umbrella.

General Motors advertised the cars produced by its various automobile producing companies during the 1950s with its travelling road show, the Motorama.

The 1950 Motorama showcased the latest cars from another famous name of the period, Cadillac, with the launch of the Cadillac Debutante.

The 1953 Motorama also put on show the Wildcat produced by Buick, Pontiac's La Parisienne, the Starfire produced by Oldsmobile, as well as the luxurious products of Cadillac – the Orleans and Le Mans – and the Corvette produced by Chevrolet.

The Ford Motor Company, founded in 1903 and the inventor of the mass car production line, continued to be a world leader in car manufacturing in the 1950s, meeting the consumer's demand for both power and design. Ford started the 1950s with the launch of their Crestliner sports sedan and the Country Squire station wagon.

Like other 1950s car manufacturers, Ford also introduced major mechanical innovations, with their Ford-O-Matic automatic transmission system in 1951. By 1953 Ford had introduced power assisted steering and improved breaking systems into their Mercury and Lincoln ranges.

While the United States continued to be the major car owning nation on earth during the 1950s – by the end of the decade 80 per cent of American households owned a vehicle- European companies sought to break into the American market.

The French car manufacturer Citroen had tried to make inroads on the American car market of the 1950s with its CV2. While the CV2 had been popular in its native France it never stood a chance with the style conscious Americans. But by the middle of the decade Citroen enlisted the aid of Italian designer Flaminio Bertoni to produce the futuristic DS, a vehicle capable of snatching its share of the United States car market.

Mercedes Benz was another of the foreign 1950s car manufacturers to make its mark in the United States. With the launch of its Fintail series, the German company linked up with the Studebaker-Packard Corporation in 1958 giving it access to the American market.

The British company Triumph also made in roads in the United States during the 1950s with its aptly named Triumph Mayflower, a model especially designed for the American motorist.

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