50 Fun Facts About 1950s Cars

Which material formed the body of the first Chevrolet Corvette when the sports car launched in 1953?

Fiberglass bodies were so new that each of the 300 cars built in 1953 came out slightly different. They were largely hand-built in an old truck plant in Flint, Michigan.

Which Ford brand, launched for 1958 with a vertical horse-collar grille, became a byword for commercial failure?

Edsel was named in honour of Henry Ford's son, over the objections of Henry Ford II. Ford dropped the brand in November 1959 after losing more than $250 million on it.

Which actor died in 1955 driving his Porsche 550 Spyder, nicknamed Little Bastard, to a race in Salinas?

James Dean had traded in a Porsche Speedster for the faster Spyder only nine days before the crash. He had just finished filming Giant.

Which safety device did Volvo's Nils Bohlin introduce in 1959 after designing ejection systems at Saab?

Three-point seat belt patents were opened up by Volvo, which let rival carmakers use the design for free in the interest of safety.

Which US president signed the 1956 act that created the Interstate Highway System?

Dwight Eisenhower had crossed America in 1919 with an Army truck convoy, a slog along the Lincoln Highway that some biographers credit for his backing of better roads.

Which driving aid, invented by blind engineer Ralph Teetor, first reached buyers on the 1958 Chrysler Imperial?

Cruise control was sold by Chrysler as Auto-Pilot. Family lore says Teetor got the idea riding with a lawyer who slowed down whenever he talked and sped up when he listened.

Which British small car of 1959 did Alec Issigonis design around a sideways-mounted engine and front-wheel drive?

The Mini freed 80% of its floorpan for passengers and luggage, a packaging trick that small cars around the world went on to copy.

Which 1958 Plymouth is the possessed car at the centre of Stephen King's novel Christine?

The Fury of 1958 was sold only in buckskin beige with gold trim, as a sub-series of the Plymouth Belvedere, before becoming a line of its own for 1959.

Which Hudson model dominated early-1950s NASCAR and later inspired the Doc Hudson character in Pixar's Cars?

The Hornet won 27 of 34 NASCAR Grand National races in 1952, helped by a dropped floor that gave it a lower centre of gravity than its rivals.

Which device did Chrysler fit beneath the dashboard of its 1956 models under the name Highway Hi-Fi?

Record player units built by CBS-Columbia sat in a shock-proof case and played special seven-inch records, with storage space for six of them.

Which two-seater, the first from Ford since 1938, went on sale for 1955 billed as a personal car?

The Thunderbird sold 16,155 cars in 1955 against just 674 Corvettes. Ford pitched it as a brisk luxury tourer instead of a sports car.

Which German economy car, designed in the 1930s by Ferdinand Porsche's team, reached its millionth example in 1955?

The Beetle went on to pass 21 million sales, the most of any car built on a single platform. Its factory town of Wolfsburg had only been given that name in 1945.

Which style of door, forced on designers by high sills, gave the 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL its nickname?

Gullwing doors hinged at the roof were the only way to get people over the deep frame, an answer carried over from the company's racing car.

Which Chevrolet debuted for 1958 with three taillights on each side, one more than its cheaper siblings?

The Impala, named after an African antelope, wore triple taillights, while cheaper Chevrolets got two on each side and station wagons made do with one.

Which nickname stuck to Chrysler's FirePower V8 of 1951 because of its dome-shaped combustion chambers?

Hemi know-how came from an experimental engine Chrysler had developed for the P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane.

Which form of propulsion was planned for a 1957 Ford concept car that was shown only as a scale model?

A nuclear reactor would have been swapped out whole when its uranium ran down, in the vision behind the Ford Nucleon. The mock-up sits in the Henry Ford Museum.

Which Italian-designed bubble car, built under licence by BMW, has a single door that forms its entire front?

The Isetta's wheel and instrument panel swing out with the door. Its name is Italian for little Iso, after the firm that created it.

Which Eastern Bloc car, built from 1957, wore body panels of Duroplast made from recycled cotton waste?

The Trabant kept a two-stroke engine with just two cylinders for more than thirty years. The first one left the factory in Zwickau, Saxony, in November 1957.

Which carmaker's Rocket 88 inspired a 1951 hit often called the first rock and roll single?

Oldsmobile's fast new model was praised in song by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, who were really Ike Turner's band, the Kings of Rhythm.

Which luxury brand built the 1955 Fleetwood that Elvis Presley had painted pink and gave to his mother?

The Cadillac was of little use to Gladys Presley, who never held a driver's licence, so Elvis and his band drove it on the road through 1955 and 1956.

Which technology, novel in 1953, helped a Jaguar C-Type become the first Le Mans winner to average over 100 mph?

Disc brakes proved so superior in Jaguar's win that they set off a scramble to fit them to ordinary production cars.

Which driver won five Formula One world titles in the 1950s, driving for four different teams?

Juan Manuel Fangio was kidnapped from his Havana hotel in 1958 by gunmen from Fidel Castro's movement. His five championships went unmatched for 46 years.

Which motorsport gained a governing body in 1951 when Hot Rod magazine editor Wally Parks founded the NHRA?

Drag racing was organised from California by Parks, a dry-lakes racer himself, who set out to promote safety, sportsmanship and fellowship among hot rodders.

Which nickname did the media give 1950s drive-in theaters, whose parked cars offered couples some privacy?

Passion pits were at their most numerous in 1958, when more than 4,000 drive-ins were operating across the United States.

Which feature did the 1951 Chrysler Imperial bring to passenger cars for the first time, under the name Hydraguide?

Power steering had been demonstrated as far back as 1926 by engineer Francis Davis, and Chrysler based its system on some of his expired patents.

Which French carmaker took 12,000 orders in one day when it unveiled the DS at the 1955 Paris Motor Show?

Citroën had spent 18 years developing the car in secret, and gave it a self-levelling suspension that rode on pressurised gas and fluid.

Which Japanese carmaker set up its first American office in a former Rambler dealership in Hollywood in 1957?

Toyota sold just 287 Toyopet Crown sedans and a single Land Cruiser in its first year, after the Crown's engine struggled at American highway speeds.

Which American marque, a luxury carmaker since 1899, merged with Studebaker and built its last cars in 1958?

Packard's final models were restyled Studebakers built in South Bend, Indiana, and rivals and critics mocked them as Packardbakers.

Which company did Nash-Kelvinator and Hudson form in 1954, in what was then America's largest corporate merger?

American Motors was soon run by George Romney, who mocked the Big Three's large cars as dinosaurs and later became governor of Michigan.

Which Chevrolet trim level sat above the One-Fifty and Two-Ten in the celebrated Tri-Five range of 1955–57?

The Bel Air of 1957 is counted among the most recognisable American cars ever made, and its 283 V8 could be ordered with fuel injection.

Which styling feature, inspired by the twin rudders of the P-38 Lightning fighter, peaked on American cars in 1959?

Tailfins first appeared on a 1948 model after designer Frank Hershey saw the fighter at Selfridge Air Base. Even Mercedes-Benz added a modest pair in 1959.

Which 1956 conflict caused the fuel shortage that led Britain's BMC to order up a tiny economy car?

The Suez Crisis brought petrol rationing back to Britain, where sales of large cars slumped and the market for German bubble cars boomed.

Which Lincoln concept car of 1955, hand-built in Turin, was later rebuilt as the Batmobile for 1960s television?

The Futura cost $250,000 to build, yet Ford later sold it to customiser George Barris for one dollar. It then sat outside his shop for years.

Which driver won the first Daytona 500 in 1959, in a photo finish that took officials three days to settle?

Lee Petty got the win only after photographs and newsreel film were studied. Johnny Beauchamp had already driven to victory lane as the unofficial winner.

Which Ford of 1957 grafted a pickup bed onto a car body, two years ahead of Chevrolet's rival El Camino?

The Ranchero sold well enough to provoke that Chevrolet rival. Australians know the same car-with-a-bed body style as the ute.

Which Austin-Healey sports car of 1958 was nicknamed Bugeye or Frogeye for the headlights perched on its bonnet?

The Sprite was meant to have headlights that folded back out of sight when not in use, but in the end they were simply fixed upright.

Which Ford Fairlane 500 of 1957 had a steel hardtop that folded itself away into the trunk?

The Skyliner's roof relied on seven electric motors and 610 feet of wiring, and once stowed it swallowed most of the luggage space.

Which Dodge option of 1955 came with a matching pink calfskin purse, raincoat and umbrella?

La Femme grew out of Chrysler's finding that women increasingly had a say in which colour of car a couple bought. It lasted two model years.

Which American race counted toward the Formula One drivers' world championship every year from 1950 to 1960?

The Indianapolis 500 drew few championship regulars, and Alberto Ascari, in a Ferrari in 1952, was the only European-based driver to race in it in those years.

Which Ferrari sports racer of 1957 took its name from the painted cam covers on its V12 engine?

Testa Rossa means red head, after the bright red covers on top of the engine. The car went on to win Le Mans in 1958, 1960 and 1961.

Which Volkswagen coupe of 1955 wore Italian styling over humble mechanicals and was hand-built in Osnabrück?

The Karmann Ghia echoed a Chrysler show car so closely that its designer, Virgil Exner, was said to regard the Volkswagen as the ultimate form of flattery.

Which product had Messerschmitt, maker of the three-wheeled KR200 bubble car of 1955, been barred from building?

Aircraft were allowed again in 1956, about a year after West Germany joined NATO, and the company promptly lost interest in its tandem two-seater.

Which General Motors styling chief, who retired in 1958, built the first concept car and pioneered clay models?

Harley Earl's Buick Y-Job, built in the late 1930s, was the first car a mass manufacturer made purely to test public reaction to new design ideas.

Which slang name, taken from a buxom early-1950s television personality, was given to conical chrome bumper guards?

Dagmars were also known as bullet bumpers, and the slang term was turning up in print by 1957.

Which travelling General Motors show of 1949–61 drew 1.9 million visitors in 1954 to see futuristic dream cars?

Motorama shows opened at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, and the 1953 edition gave the public a first look at the Corvette.

Which English circuit, a former airfield, hosted the first Formula One World Championship race in May 1950?

Silverstone's race was watched by King George VI and won by Nino Farina, who had also claimed the first pole position in the championship's history.

Which Italian open-road race from Brescia to Rome and back was ended after two fatal crashes in 1957?

The Mille Miglia's fastest time was set in 1955 by Stirling Moss, whose navigator read out directions from an 18-foot scroll of notes.

Which Japanese carmaker launched the tiny 360 in 1958, a rear-engined kei car nicknamed the ladybug?

Subaru's 360 weighed only about 450 kg and became one of Japan's most popular cars, built to light-car rules meant to get the country motoring.

Which British sports car maker, founded by Colin Chapman, launched the bare-bones Seven in 1957?

Lotus delivered many Sevens as kits, because British buyers who assembled the car themselves escaped the purchase tax charged on finished cars.

Which innovation, patented by engineer Frank Herzegh in 1952, was standard equipment on new cars by 1955?

Tubeless tires from B.F. Goodrich held their air thanks to butyl rubber, which leaked far less than the natural rubber used in earlier attempts at the idea.