Cars In The 50's

The 1960s brought up many things that have had an impact that has lasted more than 50 years. This decade has influenced music, clothing, politics, movies, etc. It has left an impact on the United States that will still be around for years to come. Another important thing that the 60s brought up was the car culture. It wasn’t started in the 60s, and it didn’t grow as fast as the past two decades in the 60s. But during the 60s many advances in many areas, good and bad, came along that still are with us today. Cars coming into the 60s still looked like cars that were designed in the 50s. Automakers had to change up their styles to welcome a new generation of car buyers in. They needed something new for the new group of Americans, the “baby boomers.” …show more content…
Most cars were made out of metal that were simply crumbly when hit, they didn’t have seatbelts, no air bags, barely a bumper. These cars weren’t safe, that’s where new regulations came out. A lot of these regulations stemmed from Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at any Speed. This book highlighted the problems with the safety of cars at the time. After new safety regulations were put into effect cars started to receive seatbelts, slowly airbags were improved upon and started to see their way into cars, 5 mph bumpers were put on, and many others. These regulations would go on to overtime improve the automobile further and further, to where we are now with cars that can change lanes if it’s detected a …show more content…
Through racing automakers could advertise their car to many people who maybe didn’t think they wanted to buy a car. But to make them buy your car, your car has to win the races. To win you have to better your car then everyone else. To do this technology that is standard today helped propel cars into the winners circle. Fuel injection was used to help deliver fuel faster into the engine during races. At first this piece of technology was strictly for race cars. But when people wanted to buy the car they saw winning on the race track, they wanted it to be the same thing. This is when fuel injection made it into road cars. Today fuel injection doesn’t just improve speed, but improves fuel efficiencies. It helps control the amount of gas being used. Another concept thought of was aerodynamics. Many European race car companies had been testing aerodynamics for years. Race cars needed to be as sleek as possible so they could slip faster through the air. But they also had to be made a certain way so they could stay on the ground and not take off like a plane. Most race cars can achieve speeds close or past the average speed a plane takes off at. After race cars were using wind tunnels and other technology to help with aerodynamics, the automakers decided to use it on their own road cars. Aerodynamics is similar to fuel injection. It helps improve a cars speed, but it