What Has Happened to Cars Sold in America?

I started noticing cars around 1953. The first one that struck me was the 1953 Buick Skylark. It is still the most beautiful Buick ever made and the most valuable. My parents bought only Buicks and Chevrolets. After Wold War II most Jews refused to buy Fords or German-made cars like Mercedes. The cars of choice were General Motors cars like Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Chevys. Chrysler came out with the Imperial and the 300 series. Most cars were available in convertible, hartop sedans, and while many featured station wagons.  

From the mid 50s, Ford produced the Thunderbird , which was a great success. Then Chervrolet came out with the Corvette which were particulary good from the late 50s to 1967 with its gorgeous Stingray.

In those days Pontiacs and Oldmobiles were beautiful and popular. In 1964, Pontiac came out the Lemans and GTO, after growing the Lemans and providing a suped version called the GTO. Later it came out with the Firebird which was also well received. Still most Americans were buying American cars. Oldsmobile came out with the 442 which had horspower and speed. 

American cars seemed to get less appealing in the 70’s and 80’s. While Cadillacs, Buicks and Oldmobiles were still attractive, many other brands lost their appeal. Plymouth and Dodge were never really popular, but the Desoto did well.

In the 70s a Germen car company named Volkwagon became the rage. It was well made, cute and inexpensive. Most people disregarded the fact Hitler ordered Mr. Porsche to make a Volks (Folks) Wagon (car). The best years were the late 60’s and the late 70’s. VW also came out with the Karman Ghia, a beautifully designed and inexpensive Porsche-like car. I had a 67 and loved it, though it wasn’t very fast. Porsche came out with the A, B, and C series with the 1965 SC one of the wolrld’s most beautiful and best selling sports cars. I had a 64 Porsche consvertible. 

During this this time the Swedes entered the market with the 122s and the sports car by Volvo, and P1800. I had a 122s and loved it. Saab came out with the first front wheel drive car.

Meanwhile the British came out with some great sports cars. The TR3 and TR4 were very popular while the successors the TR250 and the TR6 were less successful. Then they came out the TR7, which claimed to be the future. It was adverticed going into a wedge shaped garage emphasizing its wedge shaped design. Unfortunately, it was the shape of the future and also the end for Triumph.

The British came out with the gorgeous but troublesome XK120, XK140, then the XK150, which had roll up windows, and finally the XKE, considered by some to be the beautiful car ever made.They also made some stunning sedans which also were not very reliable.

The British also produced the MG and Austin Healey. When I was in college, in the 60s two friends had MGBs. MG  also came out the Midget. Austin Healy came out the 3000, a sight to behold, and the Sprite, Midget’s cousin. I had an Autin Healey Bugeye Sprite which served me well. Austin Healey also made the Spitfire, a car between the Sprite and the 3000.    

Then, suddenly in the late 60s the MG, Austin Healey and Triuph disappeared. The Brits were left with the Jaguar XKE and the sedan. 

Meanwhile in the late 70’s 80’s and 90’s GM cars were in a steady decline. The companies lost their motivation to keep up their high standards. The Dodge, except for the Charger and Challenger which appealed to fans of the "Dukes of Hazard", Plymouth were never good but they just got worse and had to discontinued as was the Desoto, the best of the three. The Oldsmobile was finally discontinued as was the Pontiac. This left General Motors with just the Cadillac, Buick and Chevy. Ford also had produced nothing noteworthy except for the Thuderbird which became bigger and bigger and was no longer a sportscar. It too died.

While the Bitish were losing most of their car lines including the Jaguar, Rolls Royce and Bentley, with the latter two now owned by VW and BMW resapectively. Their Land Rover is now owned by a company in India.

Then the Japanese and Germans invaded our car market. The Honda was also doing quite well in America. I had a ’79 Honda sedan, which I still think was one of the most beautiful cars ever made. Honda added a luxury car line called Acura which is still a wonderful car. Mazda has also become the up and coming car line.

Toyota became the most popular car in America and it created a luxury line called Lexus, a car that was much admired.

The Germans created luxury lines called BMW, and the longtime Mercedes became much more popular. VW produced several cars and eventually added the Audi to their line and then bought Porsche and Rolls Royce. VW is now the number one carmaker in the world. It used to be General Motors.

Now it seems the American car companies have given up trying to compete with German and Japanese car companies with their family passenger cars. Our two former luxury lines Cadillac and Lincoln, which out with Continentel in the mid 50s that was stunning, both seeing their best days in the mid 50s and 60s. Cadillacs once considered the ultimate in luxury now look commonplace. Ford, GM and Chrysler now depend on selling trucks and SUVs.

No American car company produces station wagons or hard top sedans and sell very few cars with convertible tops,  just Corvette and Camaro. Both lines have degenated since their heyday in the 60’s replacing beauty with horsepower.

So now we can choose between a Chevy and a Buick or buy Japanese and German alternatives like Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Accura and Mazda or the VW line, with the Audi, and the BMW, and Mercedes.

That’s what has happened to cars sold in America. It’s sad.