1950s General Motors

In the 1950s General Motors with its Buick, Cadillac and Oldsmobile brands were at the forefront of the 1950s automobiles industry.

General Moors prestige was so high that at his confirmation hearing as the United States' defence secretary in 1953, chief executive Charles Wilson said: “What is good for the country is good for General Motors and vice versa.

During the 1950s General Motors introduced some of the most innovative technical improvements and produced some of the most exciting cars of the period.

GM demonstrated their styling and mechanical prowess with the production of the Buick Lesabre and XP-300 in 1951. 

A year later they introduced power steering  into their Cadillac, Oldsmobile and Buick models. Further innovations saw 12-volt electrical systems installed in these cars as well as V8 high compression engine for Buicks.

1953 saw GM launch their first volume production sports car, the Chevrolet Corvette. It was also the conglomerate's first mass produced car with a plastic body. By November of the following year GM also reached an important milestone as it took the number of cars produced during its 46 year history to 50 million.

In 1957 General Motors ran foul of the United States' anti trust laws when the courts ruled that Du Pont's 23 percent stake in the company was illegal. Du Pont directors on the GM board were forced to resign and by 1961 had divested themselves of General Motors shares.

But 1957 did produce a bright note for GM as Pontiac launched Bonneville, their first car with fuel injection.

In 1958 General Motors marked their half century anniversary with the launch of their “Golden Milestone” celebrations.

On the technical front in the 1950s General Motors demonstrated a built in guidance system for the cars of tomorrow and a year later they produced Cadillacs with cruise control installed.
 
The end of the decade also saw  General Motors break across the Iron Curtain as they staged an exhibition in the Soviet capital Moscow. Ironically, at the same time GM were also moving into defence work, and the development of weapon systems.

By 1962 that work had been moved to the General Motors Defense Research Laboratories, based in California. 

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