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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