American Cars of 1958

[lasombra]

Most beautiful cars...1960 to 1965...cleanest sleekest lines...pure.

[Scotttrader80]

None, no room for those boats when SUV's are the rage

[mick]

1953 ford hard top

[mick]

agree, my 1st job 0.75 , wife 0.65 , real job 1957 $1.65, then the army 3.00 a day ?????

[mick]

reading , how about water 'engine-hydrogen'

[soldier543]

My first car in 1967 was a 1958 Olds 88. I paid $50.00 for it and sold a year later for the same price when the slim jim transmission went bad and I could not afford to fix it.Now I seeing them for sale in good to excellent condition from $35,000 to $80,000. They are noted for having the most chrome than any other car made. BOY.I WISHED I DIDNT SELL IT.

[FrostyDefender68]

1958 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser - rumored to have more crime on it than any other factory car.

[Jack_Bolander]

How about a 1957 W 300 Dodge Power Wagon ?

Indestructible !

[Jack_Bolander]

Don't Overlook the Technology of the late 50's.

GM's Miller created the Chevy Small Block, and the Corvaire Air-Cooled Flat -6 (Before Porsche) ; and the Trophy -4 (biggest 4 in a production car), and the Iron Duke 4 .
This guy (Miller) advanced engine tech nearly 100 years.

Disk Brakes - By Jag and Dunlop

Articulated Suspension 1957-58 Chevy ( This scared the daylights out of Ferrari) . In 1958, a Chevy V-8 , could keep pace with a Ferrari or Jag on a Road Course.

Cable Drive (1961 Tempest), also 50 /50 weight distribution. BMW took notice.

And more

[Jack_Bolander]

I had a 1958 Austin Healy Transition. A 100 body with the Mark III , 3 litre engine. Crazy Fast in the day.

Fold Down wind screen.

My dad had the '58 Chevy with the small block V-8. An amazing car.

Little known fact. In the mid-'50's Mercedes needed to upgrade the suspension in their sedans. Still reeling from WWII, rather than engineer a new suspension, Mercedes "borrowed" the suspension from the '58 Chevy, nearly bolt for bolt and similar geometry. Mercedes used this suspension until 1999 !

The late 50's / early 60's were the Halcyon days for cars. XK's, Healys, TR-3, MGB, Corvette , T-Bird, Chevy, Avanti, Corvaire Monza, Tempest/GTO, Mustang. ALL are Classics.

I am also very JAZZED about some of the cars today. For less than $100,000 you can have a car which performs as well or better than a car that cost more than $1 million 5 years ago. Civic R, Golf R, GT-4, Acura Type S, BRZ, M-2, Halcyon Days are here again !

[richdag]

1958 - The best year of the collectibles! I turned 16 in 1958, and have loved that year ever since. Have owned lots of collectibles including a '63 Riviera, a '65 Jag XKE roadster, a '67 Camaro 327 4spd convertible, etc. BUT, if I was starting a new collection today, the FIRST 3 cars I'd buy would ALL be 1958's...a Corvette, a Pontiac Bonneville convertible, and an Impala hardtop. Come to think of it, that would be a terrific collection all by itself!

Too much chrome you say? Nah, if you were alive in 1958, there was no such thing as too much.

Monksdream I hope you get your book finished and published!

[Kentucky123]

My first car was a 1958 Chevy Belaire. Two tone green. Three on the colum 348. Single quad. Took me through college.

[luckydude777]

Awhhh - 1958. My dad owned a 1958 Rambler American in the 60's. Car I used for my first date. Car was an off-green. I always felt embarrassed to pick up a date with it because of its color.

An incident involving "Old Green" I shall never forget. I was just learning how to drive. My mother was chaperoning me. I was trying to turn the car around, and to do so, I drove up a very steep dirt incline to then back down and be on our way. HOWEVER - there was something about that model, Dad said, that if you went from Drive to Park (auto transmission) on a steep incline, it would stay STUCK in Neutral and would refuse to let you put it into Reverse or Drive again.

So there we sat on a steep incline at the base of this mountain, unable to move either forward or backwards.

I got the bright idea that if we jacked up the rear bumper of the car ... lifting the right rear tire off the road ... MAYBE the transmission would work for us in reverse. For some stupid reason that I don't remember now, I had Mom pumping the jack and I was down by the rear tire. Once the rear of the car got high enough, I started twisting the tire to see if it would go into Reverse, and in the process of doing that, the jack came lose and the car came down instantly and I had my thumb stuck underneath the tire!

Pinned to Mudder Earth actually ruined an otherwise good day. Fortunately it was softer dirt I was pinned to that helped cushion the squeeze put on me.

Someone got hold of my dad and about an hour later (NOT LYING) he managed to jack the rear wheel back up again high enough off the ground for me while my mother pulled on the column shifter to free it so I could pull my very bruised and swollen thumb out. And then with much trial and error, he and Mom was able to get the tranny into Reverse.

I shed no tears when Dad upgraded cars to a 1962 Plymouth with a manual 3-speed on the column. It was a pretty blue in color and I got more and better dates with THAT one.

Thumb healed in time so I've lived happily ever after with 10 good fingers.

[81vette]

My dad had a 52 roadster he put the transmission from a Lincoln zephyr in it to race,he would take off in 2nd and at 60mph he would pull the shifter into 3 without backing off of throttle or using clutch,tires would chirp a bit,he never lost a race.beautiful car,sold it to somebody in cali who won numerous car shows with it

[ernie44]

WE drove one car from PEI to Bangor Maine...then to New Jersey, then to Buffalo via Pennsylvania..... still have all the maps

[Monksdream]

Excellent YouTubecast about the DeSoto marque
What is interesting about DeSoto was the makes throughout the decades in terms exterior were not much different from what the Big 3 produced
One can witness what was, for all practical purpose, a carriage a horse or horses could pull, that transitioned into a vehicle on wheels that said “we’re not carriages; we’re cars”
Notice, too, the transition in exterior styling over the decades
From the 1930s the appearance emphasized bulk that continued into the post war era of the 1940s into the early 1950s up until the mid 1950s
After that the design transitioned from bulk to straight lines
Slim and sleek replaced fat, one could say
That slim silhouette suggested a sense of how Americans felt about themselves
Bulk and hulk gave way to elegance that transitioned from Ike and Mamie to the younger and sophisticated Jack and Jacqueline
Certainly the last DeSoto produced in 1960 for the 1961 model year was less ostentatious compared to other models Virgil Exner designed during this period for Chrysler
So why did DeSoto die.
The video narration says it all
Quality Control
Warren Buffett is famous for saying, among other things, it takes 30 years to build a reputation, but only 15 minutes to destroy it

[Monksdream]

The market for cars started to transition in the late 50s
GM pretty controlled 50 percent of the market and was able control the prices

[ernie44]

So were the early DeSoto's..... was forced to sell because I had 3 cars and only room for 2

[Monksdream]

Packard in the Great Depression era was a maker of truly high end luxury models
WWII hurt
In the 50s the company offered toned down models that were well made but the Big 3 pretty much did it in

[Oleblue]

That was an interesting time growing up im the 50's. We lived on the river where we boated, fished and swam in the summer time. In the winter, we trapped muskrats and ice skated when the river froze over.
I think we had a Packard.

[nowwhat2]

Boy, that's a nice ride eh ?
What I wouldn't give.....

Well, kind of.
I'd at least have it in my Jay Leno collection.

[Monksdream]

I just have a free membership. The Barchart 100 list and the section about new highs and new lows from the Market Momentum are all I use. The membership also allows the use of flip sectors when I check the specific sectors pages
I will always be writing this book, I guess. 1958 was significant not only for autos but several events that would affect American culture

[Icanslim]

Are you nearing completion of your book, Mr. Monk?

You usually have insightful commentary so would like to know the history from your vantage point.

OT: I've seen you post regarding Barchart. Do you use the premier version or free-version? Contemplating one or the other.

[davidsson10]

I received this in an email from a friend, and thought you might appreciate it (if you haven't seen it already; the topic has been out there for a few years):

New Chevy Billboards in Detroit

https://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/topic/81461-new-chevy-billboards-in-detroit/

[copytele]

Wait to you see my cars when you visit this summer , you should bring Salty , we will be going to my favorite mine. Bring a camera. [HELO. TRIP]

[wow_happens28]

One of my best friends (class of 65) owned Yeserday's Auto in Minneapolis. He had a big showroom and an elevator that could carry a heavy car up to the 2nd floor showroom or the basement where they detailed cars coming in.

He was a broker and anybody who could not sell their classic car he would try to sell it for them and make a commision.

He did great until 2008 and closed it for 4 reasons, but still does some online business.

1.In like the 50's and previos for example, a 51 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 and 50 Chevy's all looked totally different. Now days a 2000 Camray looks a lot like a 2022. So it is just not as interesting for classic cars any more for some people.

2. Internet made it easier for one to sell a classic car online, and internet gaming and such offered many more things to do. And a generational thing in that the newbies did not learn how to work on cars.

3.Their was a recession

4. He wanted to retire

http://www.planetearthautos.com/showroom.asp?dealer=153

https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJwNxksOQDAQANDYcoluGktTn045gluMapHQilZSTs9bvbyolkrENbWHeiEbOCSFVtaoFEzYNBq6ARJZW_eAGuUspAA58seEaK6ZnjIwuqNngXYT2LE5Z-j0-_bffbllHIc&q=yesterday%27s+auto+sales+minneapolis+mn&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS778US778&oq=Yesterdays+aoto+sales&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j46i13i175i199j0i22i30i457.8485j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Minneapolis area does have a back to the 50's car show at their State Faur grounds every June. It still draws a huge crown of individuals with their classic cars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54Ed43UjdLI&ab_channel=EventsWithCars

[Monksdream]

The year was 1949 in America. The 50s decade was just a year away. TV was still something of an anomaly. Mostly stations in New York City. It would change, of course. TV sets, with the rooftop antennas attached to an electric motor, with a wire running down to that box on top of the set you could turn the antenna to get the best signal. Names like Zenith, RCA, Admiral. All forgotten now.

And so is the Desoto. It was created in 1928 by Walter Chrysler. The marque lasted until 1961. Chrysler was always in third place versus No. 2 and No. 1 General Motors, which, during the late 1950s into the 1960s controlled over 50 percent of the American vehicle market.

Was there ever anything special about a Desoto what would compel a collector to pay millions of dollars for a restored example.

Nah!

In 1949 it was just another overdone heap of Detroit steel thanks to still cheap steel and lots and lots of chrome plating.

There is nothing particularly interesting about the design of the 1949 Desoto. In that year, all the Big 3 were producing cars with what I would characterize as having a massive look. Imagine how much the front lid of the hood weighed with all that thickly made, but nonetheless, still cheap steel. It took some "oomph" to raise it until you somehow take one arm and hand to put the hooked rod into the notch.

I like to post images of convertibles. There is something about a convertible that expresses style and pizzaz. Living large. Wanting to be seen.

This image of a 1949 Desoto convertible, in about as red as it comes, foretells the 50s decade of styling excess in American automobiles. The chrome bumper and the shark's teeth grill, which, if anything, appeared truly menacing. Along the side, that strip of chrome meant to imply a sense of power and speed. The 1949 Desoto was nothing but. Plus a few more chromed decorations near the rear wheel well.

Above all else, the total body design implied a sense of massiveness. We won the war. We were on top. We could afford excess. And later on, even more excess.

[Monksdream]

It was how Americans viewed themselves during that decade. Space Age, Atomic Age, Futuristic. All were terms used to describe the kinds of designs that characterized the decade.

One example: a pencil sharpener designed by Raymond Loewy

[softballdaddy]

The first half of the decade saw some really boats coming out of Detroit, kind of a post war, we are back, rationing is over. The end of the decades reminded me of all the science fiction movies, accompanied by the emerging space race with the fins and almost aircraft vertical stabilizers lol

[Monksdream]

A lovely 1954 Packard Caribbean ragtop in two tone. Snazzy continental kit, which was an option and obviously at additional expense. Note the subdued fins, rounded, instead of arrow shaped.

[Monksdream]

Good luck with the book.

1953 was the first year of the Packard Caribbean. Note the increase in the bumper and grill -- all that chromed steel. Since the materials were cheap after the war the car makers competed with each other to produce the most ornate and massive front and rear bumpers.

[softballdaddy]

I remember my uncle would be paid on Friday and that bight we went to the local A and W for a dog and a root beer...mine was a small nickel root beer...

I am also working on a tome, one on Vietnam. I have found it easy to put words to paper, just harder for me to put words I think others would want to read. I am in the process now of changing it from a work of non fiction, to one of fiction about the same subject. I feel I can make mistakes and when I do I will not slander good men

I also am finding I seem to be losing my vocabulary. Words are coming harder as age diminishes what I once knew

Good luck, I enjoy your inciteful post

[Monksdream]

It is hard for the children who were born after the WW2 to appreciate what took place in America during the 1950s.

The average square feet of a new home in the 1950s was something like 1,000 square feet. And the parents managed to put four children into that space.

I have written in previous posts about the number of TV sets after the end of the WW2 and the number in 1950.

I really am writing a book. It is just a work in progress.

And you can be a contributor.

[Monksdream]

It is hard for the children who were born after the WW2 to appreciate what took place in America during the 1950s.

The average square feet of a new home in the 1950s was something like 1,000 square feet. And the parents managed to put four children into that space.

I have written in previous posts about the number of TV sets after the end of the WW2 and the number in 1950.

I really am writing a book. It is just a work in progress.

And you can be a contributor.

[softballdaddy]

I was a young lad in the 50's but had an uncle that bought used cars to drive and found bargains..Hudsons, Packards, etc suffered in resale on used lots as the badges started to erode in the public eye...I rode around in his Hudson Hornet, prior to his Packard Clipper, another Uncle sported a new Studebaker Lark...

Loved that era, each year was retooled and had a distinct difference

Car dealers took great pains to hide the new models until show date, when much of the motoring public would go to the dealers to see the new models as well as pickup the freebies...yardsticks, calenders etc

[Monksdream]

Oh, boy, you've done some research. Just to think, the Packard car company was a no compromise operation when it came to making beautiful works of art on wheels made from the finest materials in combinations with the best automotive engineering standards of the time.

After WWII Packard was okay financially. It made money from the contracts during the war years and had a lot of cash to put back into making superlative cars. But the Big 3 -- GM, Ford, Chrysler -- did so much better from the war contracts.

As far as car designs of the 40s period -- before 1941 and all the years after until 1050 -- dull, even though these overall design stress was on what the marketing departments wanted to foist off on the pubic as "aerodynamic."

Indeed, the term, "dynamic" was something of a buzzword during the 1950s. Perhaps it could be equated to a buzzword we've all heard more than once: "awesome."

But that is subject for a latter digression as it pertains to what occurred in America in the 1950s decade.

That Packardbaker, as it was called, is noted for what the auto critics described as a "fishmouth grill." Also the bumper bullets. During the 1950s they were described as "Dagmar Bumpers."

You'll have to google that one. It's a fun read.

[softballdaddy]

The 58 Packard was more of the Studebaker line than a true Packard, but still bore the name plate in two models, a 4 door sedan and a station wagon. Auto lines desperately tried to stay viable in the 50s by consolidating, but with the Big 3 making in roads into their dealer networks many old name plates became extinct. Packard Motors was established in 1899

[Monksdream]

softballdaddy supplied an image of a 1958 Studebaker Golden Hawk. It was both luxurious and powerful. The 4.7L V-8, with supercharger, could produce 275 brake horse power (bph). The large engine necessitated the raised portion in the hood. Car critics considered the car "front heavy." Professional racers, however, didn't experience handling problems. This model was actually a precursor to the Muscle Car era of the early 1970s. It was capable of out running the Corvette in a 0-to-60 race. Top speed was 125mph, not bad for a production model during that period.



The chief designer was the famous French born American industrial designer Raymond Loewy. He was noted for his streamlining approach to ordinary consumer products, including mechanical pencil sharpeners.



Loewy was also the designer of the one of a kind Avanti, produced in 1963, the last year of the Studebaker Corporation's existence.



Studebaker continued the Hawk series until its demise in 1963-64. It culminated in the Loewy inspired Grand Turismo. Even today, in my opinion, the overall silhouette, sleek, yet imposing, with the European style grill, low to the ground look, exudes a quiet elegance that would still make it a head turner.

[softballdaddy]

I have often thought the Honda Ridgeline was the closest thing to the Rancheros and El Caminos of my youth

[Monksdream]

Cool. They are all over the United States, believe it or not.