Sunday, May 17, 2015

The Future

The automobile industry is constantly improving and trying to find better solutions and creating new vehicles for the market. The future of the automobile some say is here with the introduction of the electric vehicle. I like to think that there's always something better that can be created. Who knows maybe we'll have flying automobiles? 

Automobiles Today


1990s & 2000 Automobiles

A lot of the cars we see today are from the 90s, 2000 and newer. Car brands like Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Toyota, Nissan, Honda, BMW, Volkswagen, etc.. Cars that have been around for a while and have made an impact. Every year car developers come out with a new modified version of the old vehicle. Whether it's making it sleeker, adding more horse power to it or changing the interior. The car industry is always trying to improve and make their cars better. 





1970s & 80s: Introduction of Foreign Automobiles

During the 60s, the automobile industry in America was still dominated by the Big Three. Although there were few foreign auto makers, the American's still held the title. It wasn't until after the 60s that American's began to see more and more foreign automobiles. One of the first import to make a mark on the U.S. was the Volkswagen. Most notably its Beetle, which was a small car compared to the larger U.S. cars being built. 

Next came the introduction of Japanese automobiles which made a huge impact on the U.S. At first American's did not see these automobiles making it big as the Big Three had done. Unfortunately, as time went by American made cars weren't being reliable and the sales of foreign automobiles began to grow. Cars like Toyota began making their way to different places around the world, not only the U.S. 



Wednesday, May 13, 2015

1950s Automobile and American Culture Pt.III


1950s American Culture: Drive-ins/Drive-thru Pt. II

With the automobile making its way back from the "dead," new innovations began to be making appearances. Although fast food restaurants had already been invented, the automobiles during the 1950s made a huge impact on the fast food restaurant services. Drive-ins began making appearances as it was more popular to do everything in your car. Big chain restaurant like McDonald's made a huge hit during this time as it was popular to order and eat in your car.



Another popular innovation that came about in the 1950s due to the popularity of doing everything in your car was the drive-in movie theatre. Teenagers were able to go to the movies in their cars and watch the movie directly from their cars. 


1950s Automobiles and American Culture Pt.I

With the end of the war and the return of American soldiers, factories went back to doing what they did best, making cars. Soldier came home with money in their pockets and finding ways to spend it. What better way to spend money than buying a car and taking your girl for a ride. That is exactly what a lot of them did. Soldier came home to their loved ones and starting their own families. Suburbanization began to become a thing after the war. Houses were being built just outside major cities where families had the opportunity to move. Automobiles would make it possible to go to work from the suburbs to cities.