American Motors was born on May 1, 1954, with the merger of Nash-Kelvinator and the Hudson Motor Car Co. By 1960 it was a very different company than Nash or Hudson had been, defined by…
Posts tagged Cars of the 1950s
Flashback: Alfa 1900 Berlina in Ascona
Greetings from 1950s Switzerland! From Ascona, on the north end of Lake Maggiore, to be exact. A pair of Simca Arondes (a Berline and a Grand Large hardtop) face away from us and a Hillman…
Boldly Transatlantic: the “Audax” Hillman Minx
It was the MG TC that ignited American interest in imported cars, and of course, primarily sports cars. But in the export-or-die era, it wasn’t long before family fare arrived. The first two non-sporting imports…
Cream of the Crop: 1953 Cadillac Coupe de Ville
If you wanted to say you’d “arrived” in 1953, there were few better ways to get that point across than a Coupe de Ville. In the immediate postwar years Cadillac solidified its dominant position as…
Designed in Duroplast: Sachsenring P70
Chances are good you’ve at least heard of the Trabant, national car of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR); but the Trabant wasn’t invented overnight. This dour gentleman is standing next to a Sachsenring P70 –…
Une Parisienne très Américaine: Renault Frégate
It was November 30th, 1950 when Renault CEO Pierre Lefaucheux the company’s newest car – the Renault Frégate – to great fanfare. The car would be in production for a decade, sort of, but had…
Hard Core Triumph: TR3
Triumph’s legendary TR, in fact, all post-war Triumphs, probably wouldn’t have happened if not for an argument between Sir John Black and William Lyons. Former Humber man Black had revived a nearly moribund Standard in…
The David Brown legend: Aston DB2/4 Drophead
Keen on speed from a young age, David Brown was a natural fit for Aston-Martin. Though his father didn’t drive, he grew up around the family business – David Brown & Sons – founded by…
Wartburg 311/2: East Germany in California
No, those California black plates don’t lie, this is an East German Wartburg 311/2 convertible that was sold new in Los Angeles, in what is now Arlington Heights. In the late 1950s, an enterprising car…
Bella Berlina: Lancia Appia Series 2
As the pre-war Aprilia gave way to the 1950 Aurelia, so too eventually did the “junior” Lancia – the pre-war Ardea being replaced by the Appia in 1953. The Ardea may have looked old-fashioned, but…
BMC’s Finned Farinas: Austin A55 Cambridge
The story of the big BMC Farina cars starts with the 1952 merger of the Nuffield Organization (Morris, MG, Riley, and Wolseley) and Austin into BMC. Rationalizing the disparate array of cars the combine now…
The First Escort: Dagenham’s Little Wagon
The Escort name would later be famous as the 1960s European Mk1 and the 1980s North American front-driver, but this little wagon was the original Ford Escort, way back in 1955. Ford of England had…