On January 17, 1953, a prototype Chevrolet Corvette sports car
made its debut at General Motors’ (GM) Motorama auto show at
the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. The Corvette, named
for a fast type of naval warship, would eventually become an
iconic American muscle car and remains in production today.
On December 3, 1979, the last Pacer rolls off the assembly line at
the American Motors Corporation (AMC) factory in Kenosha,
Wisconsin. When the car first came on the market in 1975, it was
a sensation, hailed as the car of the future. “When you buy any
other car,” ads said, “all you end up with is today’s car. When you
get a Pacer, you get a piece of tomorrow.” By 1979, however, sales
had faded considerably. Today, polls and experts agree: the Pacer
was one of the worst cars of all time.
On October 16, 1958, Chevrolet began to sell a car-truck hybrid that
it called the El Camino. Inspired by the Ford Ranchero, which had
already been on the market for two years, the El Camino was a combination sedan-pickup truck built on the Impala body, with the
same “cat’s eye” taillights and dramatic rear fins. It was, ads trilled,
“the most beautiful thing that ever shouldered a load!” “It rides and handles like a convertible,” Chevy said, “yet hauls and hustles like
the workingest thing on wheels.”
The world’s first electric traffic signal (above) was put into place
on the corner of Euclid Avenue and East 105th Street in Cleveland,
Ohio, on August 5, 1914.
In the earliest days of the automobile, navigating America’s roads
was a chaotic experience, with pedestrians, bicycles, horses and streetcars all competing with motor vehicles for right of way. The problem was alleviated somewhat with the gradual disappearance
of horse-drawn carriages, but even before World War I it had
become clear that a system of regulations was necessary to keep
traffic moving and reduce the number of accidents on the roads.
Ernest Pfenning of Chicago (above) became Ford’s first car owner – 23 July 1903.
On July 15, 1903, the newly formed Ford Motor Company took its
first order from Chicago dentist Ernst Pfenning: an $850 two-
cylinder Model A automobile with a tonneau (or backseat). The car, produced at Ford’s plant on Mack Street (now Mack Avenue) in
Detroit, was delivered to Dr. Pfenning just over a week later.
Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947)
