Cars are complicated and expensive to design and build, so manufacturers have always tried to find ways of reusing components in as many models as possible, which meant developing new markets. In the 1950s they discovered sports cars. A new generation of drivers wanted fun...
With its highly distinctive “Gullwing” doors, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL was the fastest production car in the world at its launch in 1954. Its name, Sport Leicht (“Sport Light”), denoted a sincere attempt by its creators to produce and sell a genuine racing car for the...
At his peak, Virgil Exner’s influence over Detroit was as significant as any designer’s. A true artist endowed with an air of sophistication, he brought vision, innovation, and a much-needed sense of restraint to 1950s’ American car design. Exner’s ideas breathed new life into Chrysler’s...
By the late 1950s American car design had reached a new level of exuberance. The tailfins, two-tone paint schemes, whitewall tires, and wraparound screens that typified most US models had inspired many European car-makers, with the likes of sober Humber and sensible Simca producing cars...
The Morgan Motor Company, based in the English county of Worcestershire, has turned old-fashioned quirkiness into an art form. Still independently owned, the firm continues to build sports cars with a heritage dating back to the 1930s, in a factory complex that opened in 1914....
Every major European country saw a huge growth in demand for small family cars during the 1950s. Each nation had its own “champion”, and for France it was Renault. Nationalized in 1945, the state-owned company soon became the leading car-maker in Europe, and so rapid...
By the start of the 1950s Europe’s most prestigious car-makers were unveiling new, range-topping models. Firms such as Mercedes-Benz were well-known, but others, including British aircraft-maker Bristol, were new to the market. With a lot to prove, they were quickly demonstrating that they could make...
For many Americans, the 1950s was a time of increased wealth and prosperity, and this was reflected in the cars they drove, which got bigger and more powerful. They had styling influenced by everything from science fiction films to space rockets and jet fighter planes,...
Pininfarina is one of Italy’s towering giants of car design, but it was founded by someone very short—being only 5ft (152cm) tall, Battista Farina’s nickname of Pinin, or “tiny”, was apt. His design empire became a hallmark of quality and genius, as well as a...
The prancing horse of Ferrari has become a fixture at the very summit of automotive achievement. Enzo Ferrari’s steadfast approach to speed ensured that his team became the most successful of them all in Formula 1 racing, and his company has created some of the...