Top Selling Cars 1950s
There were some amazing top selling cars 1950s as this was a golden era as far as
automobiles are concerned.
They were bigger with bolder styling and the public were eager to buy them.
This period saw the beginning of the consumer age, and particularly in the United States, people were
increasingly willing to spend their cash on the latest cars.
The Chevrolet Impala was most one of the best selling cars in the 1950s. And if you count its sales through to
the mid-60s the Impala is one of the best selling cars of all time. It was launched late in the decade, in
1958.
As with all cars launched during the 1950s design features were crucial. The Impala featured dual headlights,
deep rear fenders, as well as three tail lights on each side. There were bright rocker mouldings, dummy rear fender
scoops and special crossed-flag insignia above the side mouldings.
A year after the launch of the first generation of the Impala the second generation was introduced. The new Impala
was longer but sat three inches lower, and was sold as a two-door convertible, coupe or hardtop, or as a four-door
hardtop or sedan.
Chevrolet had a great record with car sales during the 1950s, and they were joined in that list by another renowned
manufacturer Ford.
Ford produced two generations of the Thunderbird. The first generation launched in 1955 was billed as “personal
luxury car” and its sales in the first year of production exceeded all expectations, hitting the 16,155 mark. The
1957 model saw the front bumper reshaped and the grille, tailfins and tail lamps became larger. The changes
appeared to make all the difference in the showrooms as the cars 1950s sales broke the 21,000 mark.
1958 saw the launch of the second generation of the Ford Thunderbird. Previously a two-seater, back seats were
added, though the two-door coupe/ hard top convertible remained available. The changes, which included a new FE V8
engine, paid dividends as sales shot up to almost 38,000. A new grille and an optional 350 horsepower MEL V8 engine
saw sales in the final year of the decade rocket to 67,450.
Another top selling car during the 1950s was the Lincoln Capri which attracted sales of over 29,000 by the
middle of the decade. It was launched in 1952 and in the first year of sales 14,342 models were sold. The second
year of production sales almost doubled, hitting the 26,640 mark. 29,552 were purchased by the American motorist
during 1954, which proved to be the high water mark for the Lincoln Capri.
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