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During the heyday of automobile manufacturing in the United States, the”Big Three” of American automobile manufacturing endeavored to offer something for everyone. Engendering brand loyalty was a big part of their marketing strategy, and these companies didn’t want to lose customers because a competitor was offering a type of vehicle that they were not. Ford and General Motors were more inclined than Chrysler to engage in this tit for tat, and General Motors usually had the edge because they would often times design a competing vehicle from more than one of their divisions. For example, after the stunning success that Ford had with the Mustang, General Motors countered with the Chevy Camaro as well as the Pontiac Firebird.
The First Personal Luxury Car: Ford’s Thunderbird
The ultimate American personal luxury car of the heyday of the Big Three had to be the Cadillac Eldorado, but the very first of the breed was the Ford Thunderbird. The car went into development in 1953 as competition for the new Chevy Corvette as a sporty two-seat convertible, and by 1954 the first prototype was introduced at the Detroit Auto Show, in February; by September of ’54 the T-Bird went into production. The first 1955 Ford Thunderbird models were offered to the public by the end of October that same year.
Good News Out Of Detroit: When you evaluate the classic cars that we have come to know and love over the years it is impossible to imagine our country without American cars being produced. This is the prospect that we were faced with about three years ago when the automotive industry was in dire straits.
There was a lot of controversy about bailouts and we are not here to make any statements pro or con. But what we will say is that there was some fantastic news being reported across the Internet today regarding the state of American automotive manufacturing.
As America began a new era in the early 1960s, the Studebaker Corporation was desperately tweaking a model which was losing steam. The Studebaker Lark was first introduced in 1959, but by 1961, its sales were already declining. The compact car was missing an iconic American car feature of the time: tail fins. Its design lent itself more to European style, making it difficult for the car to continue competing against other car companies such as the Big 3, which had better adapted to the fickle preferences of the American consumers.