Interesting vintage photos of car advertisements from the late 1950s and 1960s

This article displays an impressive photo collection of vintage car advertisements from the late 1950s and 1960s. The 1960s belonged to a different decade of automobile history with the advent of the automobile economy, muscle and pony cars.

The 1960s saw the American automobile industry consolidate into the Big Three: General Motors, Ford Chrysler, and American Motors.

These firms dominated the domestic market not only with the sale of 1960s cars but also in the global market. In 1960 American companies made up 93 percent of the autos sold in the United States and 48 percent of the world's autos.

However, under the leadership of Volkswagen and soon followed by Fiat, Renault, Datsun (Nissan) and Hillman, imports began to make their way into the wealthy American market. The growing presence of imports plagued Detroit, and the Big Three responded with their own small cars.

The Big Three and AMC began producing American "compact" cars that saved gas and were economical. GM came out with the Corvair, which had a six-cylinder rear engine.

Ford developed the Falcon; And Chrysler, Brave. The Rambler, AMC's economy car, surpassed the Big Three in the '50s.

It was the first car to have seat belts as an option. By 1962, the economy model of the Big Three had taken over a substantial portion of AMC's customer base, eventually leading to the death of Rambler in 1968.

The 1960s became a time when American consumers wanted faster cars. Out of this demand, the muscle car developed. Muscle cars are typically medium-sized cars with large, powerful V-8 engines. Pontiac's GTO became the first to start the muscle car craze in 1964.

After that, many manufacturers began to replace their versions of muscle cars. Ford introduced the Mustang; GM, Camaro; and Dodge, the Charger, just to name a few.

These cars offered speed and performance at a modest price. Rising gas prices and tighter emissions regulation led to the final decline of the muscle car era by the late 1970s.

The four-seat 1958 Ford Thunderbird (2nd generation) was arguably the first personal luxury car to become a major market segment.

Pony cars were introduced in 1964 with the Ford Mustang. The car sports a sporty look with a long hood, small rear deck and small rear seats.

The car proved highly successful and spawned imitators including the Chevrolet Camaro, Pontiac Firebird, Plymouth Barracuda (actually introduced two weeks before the Mustang), the AMC Javelin, and the two-seat AMX, as well as a "luxury" version. . Mustang, Mercury Cougar.

During the 1960s, safety and environmental issues led to strict government regulation of the auto industry, inspired by Ralph Nader and his book: Unsafe at Any Speed: The Design-In Dangers of the American Automobile.

This resulted in high costs and ultimately poor performance for cars in the 1970s, a period known as the Malaise era of auto design, during which American cars suffered greatly.

Seat lap belts were made mandatory by many states, effective in 1962. Under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, federal motor vehicle safety standards require front passengers to have shoulder belts, front head restraints, energy-absorbing steering columns, ignition-key warnings and so on. system, and anti-theft steering column/transmission locks, side marker lights, and padded interiors debuted in 1968.

As early as 1972, the bumpers needed to be strengthened to meet the 5-mph impact standards, a decision that was revised in 1982.

Emissions controls began to be established in 1968, along with the Clean Air Act of 1963 (United States) and the Vehicular Air Pollution and Control Act of 1965.

The use of leaded gasoline began to decline in the early 1970s, resulting in the use of low-compression engines, and thus reduced horsepower and performance. Catalytic converters began to be widely used by the mid-1970s.

During his first term as EPA administrator, William Ruckelshaus spent 60% of his time on the automobile industry, whose emissions were to be reduced by 90% under the Clean Air Act of 1970, as senators sought to cut emissions under the previous, weaker I was disappointed at the failure of the industry. Air Law.