Some of the Detroit Irons made after World War II up to around 1980 can be considered Rolling Art. Several companies like Packard, Hudson, and Studebaker stopped making cars for one reason or another during the early part of this period, but they and the Traditional Big 3 Ford, GM and Chrysler produced some masterpieces.

When I was a kid old enough to think about getting a driver’s license, I’d sit in my treehouse and fantasize about the latest generation of finned behemoths appearing in the car magazines of the day. After careful consideration, I would classify them according to style and features that I could really relate to and would want to own. Always decisions. Should I have twin rear antennas and dual spotlights or one of each? The wire wheels were very well cared for, as were the two and three tone paint jobs. I ended up choosing the most streamlined and elegant look as my favorites, always favoring cleanliness over clutter. I didn’t like the fuzzy dice hanging from the rearview mirror, preferring instead power windows and air conditioning. Of course, I always went with the larger V8 option and always with dual exhaust for easier engine breathing and sound.

The late 1940s and early 1950s saw the transition from a heavy, understated, functional motif to a more elegant, powerful motif that, year after year throughout the 1950s, became a race to improve. the size, the power and the chrome.

While some models went overboard with various excesses making their designs overloaded or clunky, others managed to integrate fins, chrome masses, and color combinations that were delightful. Every manufacturer had its winners and losers, but the American cars of the day were all individually identifiable and definitely distinct and could roll down a superhighway without a care.

The in-line 6 and 8-cylinder engines of earlier periods soon gave way in fancier models to V8s, which couldn’t pull stumps like the old low-revving, high-torque inline eights, but could move more nimbly a couple of shades of iron, glass and plastic along the way. By the mid-1950s, all American cars had settled on 12-volt electrical systems, 14- or 15-inch wheels, wraparound windshields, and the V8 engine was now the entrenched favorite.

It was a time in American history when each new automobile year was greeted with excitement and anticipation, as each model sought to capture the spotlight with its own distinctive identity. The priorities were simple, if not naive. Dazzle the customer with large expanses of sheet metal and chrome, bright colors, and plenty of buttons to push. Although mundane items like seat belts were introduced as selling features from time to time, the consumer wanted none of it as it added no value as a status symbol.

Slowly, technological improvements advanced along with convenience and power options. Radial tires were a huge plus adding smoothness, safety and longevity in lieu of bumps, rapid tread wear and numerous punctures. Disc brakes were a definite safety advantage that replaced the inferior drum and shoe method that could fade in emergency situations. Automatic transmissions became the preferred option and eventually became standard equipment. And of course, radios evolved.

In the mid-1950s, signal-seeking or ‘wonderbar’ AM radios were introduced, followed soon after by transistor models that allowed ‘instant-on’ rather than waiting for the tubes to heat up. In the 1960s, FM radio appeared, initially offering advertising-free programming and DJs. That, of course, didn’t last long once the bandwidth took hold. In the seventies there were 8-track tape players which soon gave way to cassettes.

1959 marked the pinnacle of jet-like cars sporting gigantic tail fins, the last one appearing on the 1959 Cadillac with the 1959-60 Chrysler and DeSoto not far behind. In another year, the DeSoto would disappear from showrooms and go the way of the Packard, Hudson and Nash. A kind of sobriety came over the automakers after the end and the extravagance of chrome passed. Some really fancy designs were introduced in the early 1960s, like the 1960 Pontiac, 1961 Buick, 1962 Cadillac, and the 1964 Ford classic.

Chrysler Corporation would, from time to time, introduce industry leading stratagems. Its Hemi engine (hemispherical head) during the fifties was pure muscle and reliability as was its Torqueflight transmission. They introduced the ‘Forward Look’ in the late 1950s, which led style trends for a while. Then, again in 1965, they offered some really tough and classy cars which, towards the end of that decade, gave rise to the innovative airframe cars. These were big, sleek machines with a sculpted airframe look that I found quite appealing. Unfortunately, Chrysler’s quality control began to fail badly during this period and did not recover for many years.

In the late 1970s, things began to go downhill in Detroit. Automakers, who paid little attention to quality control and mechanical efficiencies, were forced by legislation to clean up their act, literally. As a result, all sorts of schemes were employed to reduce engine emissions, most, in the early days, a maze of vacuum lines and fuel injection designs that were cumbersome and mostly ill-conceived, leading to a lots of problems and customer dissatisfaction.

It wasn’t long after that the Japanese stepped in to fill the void and things never went back to the days of pre-eminence in American car manufacturing.

True, American cars eventually improved drastically, but market share by then was fragmented. I personally lost interest in Detroit in the mid-1980s, although some really good cars have been produced since then. Now, I fear that due to the fickle nature of Americans demanding SUVs and consuming a vastly disproportionate amount of the world’s resources, the twin faults of excess and lack of foresight in the face of global realignment have led automakers to MoTown cars on the brink. of insolvency.

The 1950s to 1970s saw the apex and beginning of the decline of the American automobile as a distinct form of rolling art. A mix of art deco and modern gave way to downsizing and competition from abroad. The complacent management also did not know how to adopt, in a timely manner, the new quality control concepts, preferring to market their vehicles through planned obsolescence.

Without a doubt, some of the greatest American masterpieces of rolling art were created during the 1920s and 1930s; however, the heyday of Auto Americana, where form and function took on entirely new dimensions of energy and enthusiasm, the 1950s seem to have marked the peak of the empire, as well as one of its most distinctive products.