Essay on Great Depression and Cars

At the beginning of the Thirties the American 1930s cars had also foot boards, sunshades on the windscreen of the car, separate drum formed headlights and also rear lights attached to the car by connecting rods. American cars appeared with rounded edges, headlights build within the chassis of the car, but also the driving comfort improved. The radiator grille and shell were titled back slightly, which made the 1930s automobiles looking like more speedier. Affordable security glass was used as windscreens. Low pressure inner tube tires and also windscreen wipers appeared on the American cars during the Thirties mostly as safety measures.

In the 1930s, a wide variety of automobile manufacturers were also offering increasingly sophisticated and beautiful vehicles -- especially for the fortunate few who lived in luxury during the Great Depression. The luxury 1930s cars saw the implementation of new manufacturing methods, new inventions (e.g., the automatic transmission), new engines (e.g., the V-8, the V-12, and the V-16), in addition to the rise of automotive stylists, such as Harley Earl.

The 1930s cars, in contrast to the style-conscious luxury days of the 1920s -- saw a renewed emphasis on the mechanical qualities of cars. Many new innovations were introduced into the 1930s automobiles, and became common by the end of, the 1930s, including: synchromesh transmissions (for smoothing shifting), automatic chokes, built-in trunks, hydraulic brakes, and gear shifts mounted on steering columns ("stick-on-a-tree").All through the 1930s, GM engineers and designers made continual improvements in 1930's cars' frames, bodies, engines, and transmissions. In 1933, GM added no-draft ventilation to all its cars and developed independent front-wheel suspension. In 1936, Knee-Actionsuspension made Chevrolets an even smoother ride. All 1937 GM automobiles of the 1930s makes featured an all-steel body and optional windshield defrosters. In 1938, a car radio was introduced as an option on Buicks, and GM’s Harley Earl designed a historic one-off: theBuick Y-Job. The world’s first “concept car” prefaced a generation of dream cars and anticipated the styling of the 1940s cars . Featuring a revolutionary flowing look, it had power windows, a power convertible top, power door locks, and power steering. In the late 1930s GM changed the economy of trucks and trains by perfecting the 2-cycle diesel engine, and in 1939 the first standard turn signals blinked on GM 1930s cars.DesignAfter 1929, the American automobile industry, suffered a hard blow because of the economical depression which started with the crash on Wall Street in October 1929. The years 1931 and 1932 were very hard for the American automobile industry. There were not so many 1930s cars sales as during the 1920s, because of the depression, but the face lift, styling and design of a car was a very important invention to attract new buyers . The gloomy (chromed) and streamline styled cars were very typical for the end of the 1930s. The American automobile changed during the Thirties. The automobile changed from the traditional four-square styling that prevailed into the early Thirties, towards a streamlined (Tear-drop shaped) car at the end of the Thirties. The Thirties are in fact the decade that largely established the shape of cars we know today. A comparison of the typical 1930 model (T-Ford model) with its 1939 descendant provides dramatic proof of how complete the transformation was on the Ford 1930s cars. The greatest impact of the streamlined designs was in fact that the 1930's cars became eye catchers. Automobiles of the 1930s became to look like art. Most cars were build on a simple, high, carriage-like chassis rolling on wood-spoke wheels and solid tires. From 1932 on, American cars changed.Most of the design innovations that appeared in the 1930s cars originated at the various independent manufacturers and not the "Big Three" of Chrysler , Ford, and GM. It is not strange

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