Iconic cars
Cars are first and foremost transport, but to America they are also a means of expression, a way to assert individuality or show conformity, a symbol of individual freedom and independence.
Since 1885, when Karl Benz patented the first automobile, there have been hundreds of car brands and thousands of models produced. Some of them have become true icons, either because they sold so well — or poorly — or because they capture a particular mood or stretch of time in the mind of the public. Here are a few of those iconic vehicles.
Ford Model T: First built in 1908, the Model T was the product of Henry Ford’s iteration. Ford created the first truly mass-market vehicle. Introduced at a price of $825, the price rose the next year to $900, but then it did something modern car buyers would never expect: It fell. As Ford made production more efficient, the price gradually started to fall, to $525 in 1913, when the company produced more than 170,000, to $500 in 1917, when 735,000 were produced. In 1926, the last full year of production, the car cost $360, and Ford produced more than 1.5 million.
Chrysler Airflow: In the late 1920s, some Chrysler engineers started taking cars to a wind-tunnel to find the most aerodynamic shape for a vehicle. After finding the designs of the time were more efficient backward than forward, they came up with the 1934 Chrysler Airflow, the first American production car to consider aerodynamics in its design. It was a failure, with only about 25,000 produced between 1934 and 1937, but its streamlined shape would eventually prevail.
Jeep: How could this not make a list of iconic vehicles? It was originally developed by the American Bantam Car Company in Butler in just days for a U.S. Army trial, and the lightweight, nimble, four-wheel drive vehicle the company delivered was an instant hit. The Army didn’t believe Bantam could keep up with production, so instead it awarded contracts to Ford and Willys-Overland to produce the American Bantam design. It became perhaps the most iconic land vehicle on the Allied side during World War II, and after the war the Jeep became first a tool for farmers and then a part of American culture itself.
1955-57 Chevrolet Bel Air: Known variously as the tri-five or shoebox Chevys, the 1955 model was the first Chevrolet since 1918 to offer an optional V8 engine. The car came in a variety of body styles and trim levels, and Bel Air was the top trim level, with more chrome than the lesser 150 and 210 trim levels. Incremental styling changes over the three model years saw the growth of that most 1950s of car styling trends: tailfins.
1964 ½ Ford Mustang: Ford did with the Mustang what nearly every car company is trying to do with a new car: Tap into a completely new segment of the market. Fords famous pony car fused simple engineering and competent handling with a powerful engine and styling that still turns heads 60 years on.
Volkswagen Type I “Beetle”: Built from 1938 to 2003, and sold in the United States from 1950 through 1980, the Beetle was the car of the American counterculture, but it was more than that: it was nearly ubiquitous. With more than 21 million produced over more than 60 years, it was a sales sensation. Between 1960 and 1974 in the United States, VW sold at least 100,000 Beetles annually. In 1968, they sold nearly 400,000.
Dodge Caravan/Plymouth Voyager/Chrysler Town and Country: Just like the Mustang, the Chrysler Corporation’s first minivan literally invented a new market segment. There had been passenger vans from American automakers since the 1960s, but they were large, had poor visibility and worse fuel economy. VW’s Microbus never hit the mainstream in the way the Beetle had. But the Caravan changed the game, with nearly 15 million sold between 1984 and 2020, when Chrysler ended production.
Ford Explorer: In late 1990, Ford did what those previously referenced vehicles did one more time with the launch of the first modern SUV. It was based on the Ford Ranger, just like its predecessor, the Bronco II. But for the Explorer Ford upped the refinement and pitched it as a go-anywhere family hauler. It worked. The Explorer is still in production more than 30 years on, and it’s the best-selling SUV of all time in the United States, according to CNBC.
Toyota Prius: First produced for the Japanese market in 1997, the Prius introduced the world to the word “hybrid,” even if it wasn’t the first such vehicle for sale in the United States. It offered fuel economy and a very particular style that proved divisive at the time. As did the entire vehicle, at least for some, but as of last year, Toyota had sold more than 5 million, making the Prius the best-selling hybrid of all time.
