On February 17, 1972, the 15,007,034th Volkswagen Beetle came off
the assembly line, breaking a world car production record held for
more than four decades by the Ford Motor Company’s iconic Model
T, which was in production from 1908 and 1927.

After more than 60 years and over 21 million vehicles produced, the
last original Beetle rolled off the line in Puebla, Mexico, on July 30,
2003.

William McKinley (January 29, 1843 – September 14, 1901)

On January 29, 1843, William McKinley, who will become the
25th American president and the first to ride in an automobile, 
was born in Niles, Ohio. McKinley served in the White House
from 1897 to 1901, a time when the American automotive
industry was in its  infancy. During his presidency, McKinley
(who died from an assassin’s bullet in September 1901) took
a drive in a Stanley Steamer (below), a steam-engine-powered
auto built in the late 1890s by Francis and Freelan Stanley. The
Stanley Motor Carriage brothers Company produced a number
of steam-powered vehicles before going out of business in the
early 1920s, after being unable to compete with the rise of less
expensive gas-powered cars.

The Stanley Motor Carriage Company was an American manufacturer
of steam cars; it operated from 1902 to 1924. The cars made by the company were colloquially called Stanley Steamers, although
several different models were produced.

 
Twins Francis E. Stanley  
(1849–1918)

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.”