Mass Production Wheel Drive Essay - 1,419 words

The purpose of this paper is to provide a clear picture of automobiles in the 1950 s and the impact the automobile had on American society. The 1950 s were a time of economic growth for America, where income exceeded car prices and vision was limited only by ones imagination. This was a time when you are what you drive. President Eisenhower and his administration were friendly to big business for the first time since Herbert Hoover. For example, new highways were built by Eisenhower administration in 1956. The automotive industry in general was determined to make up for lost time.


Immediately after the war, America began switching from coal to oil in a big way. In 1949 consumption was 5. 8 million a year and went up to 16. 4 million just before the oil crisis of 1973. These gas-guzzling giants had incredible horsepower. Cars, already too big for basic space needs and ease of parking, became bigger and lower slung so that the slightest bump could smash the oil pan, muffler, or gas tank. Gasoline was cheap and plentiful in the 1950 s, even if you were going across the country. The National Defense Highway Act of 1956 developed a 41, 000 -mile interstate highway system that encouraged travel.


The countrys motels recorded $ 850 million in receipts in 1958. Not only motels, but also the steel, rubber, petroleum and construction industries all grew rich and dependent on cars. Add to this garages, automobile dealers, drive-ins, carhops, and tourism generally to see how the automobile industry had the worlds most powerful lobby. Cars brought status. The Cadillac was the highest status car, and to firm up its image it brought out the El Dorado Brougham. The least expensive Brougham cost 14, 000 dollars complete with vanity case, perfume bottle, lipsticks, dashboard tissue dispenser, and four gold finished drinking cups: American baroque.


Ads suggested that the mere ownership of a Cadillac provided instant entry into High Society. As automobiles became larger, fancier, and more expensive, commercials for them became louder, livelier, and employed more visual tricks. Ads, like the Ford one being filmed below, for instance, were less about cars than the dream of an auto-centered suburban life. Using such techniques to great effect, the Big Three automakers pushed new automobiles sales to 65 billion dollars in 1955 alone, a sum that represented 20 percent of the gross national product. Sex and power, the ads implied: the modern American dream. Television was turning out to be a magic machine for selling products.


No company spent more money on advertising or advertised its products better than GM. General Motors Corporation is the largest producer of automobiles in the world. Safety and practicality were not what the auto industry catered to, style was. Safe cars appeal only to squares, William Mitchell, GMs styling director, told a Fortune reporter in 1956, and there aint any squares no more.


Brakes performed poorly in early cars. The drum brakes on all four wheels became standard in the 1920 s. This was brake shoes that expand internally in a drum. When used repeatedly, these brakes fade (when heat distorts the drums), leading to temporary loss of braking power. Discovered in the 1950 s, the solution was to use disc brakes, in which brake pads press against a heat-conducting metal disc. Now, cars use drum brakes only on the rear wheels and disc brakes on the front or on all four wheels.


Most cars have used front wheel drive since the late 1950 s in Europe and the early 1970 s in the United States. The first tires were made from solid rubber, but they were superseded by pneumatic (air-filled) tires, which provided a more comfortable ride. A major advance in tires came with the introduction of radial-ply tires in the 1950 s. Their flexible sidewalls give better cornering and longer tread life. In the 1950 s, Felix Wankel developed the rotary-combustion engine. Its two trilobate (three-sided) rotors revolve in housings shaped in a fat figure eight.


The four sequences of the four-stroke cycle, which occur consecutively in a piston engine, occur simultaneously in a rotary engine, producing power in a continuous stream. Coach built cars combined traditional craf ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: chinese government, sports car, brakes, mass production, wheel drive

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