A Happy Days Catalyst
Reflections on how automobiles defined an era

One day, as I sat looking out the classroom window, my school’s superintendent, Mr. Cocker, drove his new car up and stopped right across the road. He stepped out of a brand new 1947 Ford! Wow! This was the very first new automobile that I had ever seen! It was a light gray four-door sedan with shiny hubcaps; it was a sight to behold! At least I thought so. I was just a young elementary school boy back then.

Now that I have had the chance to mature a bit, I can look back at Mr. Cocker’s car design, and automobile designs in general from 1947 through 1954 as one unique period of history. They reflected a rugged sturdy character, similar to that of our people, the same kind of strength that had helped us win World War II. These cars were designed for use on rough gravel roads and country “dirt” roads, the kind of roads that made up the majority of our highway system back then. These cars had very distinguishable fenders, running boards, bumpers, and radiators. Ford Motor Company used a V-8 engine that had four cylinders aligned on each side of the V. General Motors, the other leading car manufacturer, used a Straight-6 engine with six cylinders in a straight row, what they called an “I” block. Windshields were flat, small, and in two sections. Manufacturers usually had two models, a two-door coup and a four-door sedan. These cars were not much to look at but they were the best we could produce at the time.

The next most amazing automobile that I can remember was the 1955 Chevrolet. General Motors had shattered all previous design features with this car’s debut. This was the first “city car” designed for city streets. It was the first attempt to create that “American living room ride” that has become so important in car designs. One had to search to find its fenders, there were no running boards, the windshield was curved, and the first generation of “tail fins” had begun to emerge. This was also the first GM sedan with a V-8 engine. What a car it was to behold, especially for this graduating high school senior!

The 1955 Chevrolet became a symbol for future automobile designs. GM had ushered in the first ingredient for the beginning of Happy Days. Ford Motor Company soon followed with its contribution to the excitement of Happy Days, the Mustang, a sports model design. These two automobile “stars” put America in the automobile business on a big scale; these two cars set future trends on America’s automobile stage. Those days were so important in our automobile history, Ford Motor Company has recently announced its intentions to recreate another one of its 1955 stars, the Thunderbird. Chrysler just this past year began marketing one of its cars that had many of the 1947-1954 era design features.

Beginning with the 1955 Chevrolet and ending with Ford’s Mustang about 1965, Happy Days were a real period in our history. I maintain that “happy days” would have never happened without our romance with these two cars. We all know that “happy days” were not just all about cars; but cars were their chief catalyst. We have to throw a little seasoning into the mixture like leather jackets, blue jeans, t-shirts, brown “penny” loafers, full-pleated skirts and sweaters, and drive-in theaters and restaurants for the total recipe. But this new “living-and-breathing” cultural phenomenon was primarily created by the automobile.

A high school senior back in those days could, for just $2.00, given the opportunity to borrow dad’s Chevrolet or Mustang, go to the drive-in theater with his number one girl next door, wheel up to the drive in restaurant for a fifteen-cent hamburger and a five cent Coke after the drive-in movie theater, finish off the evening with at least two cruises around the city block, and be home by the 11:00 p.m. curfew. By the way, don’t forget, he could do all this with some small pocket change left over from his $2.00.

The world had never seen cars like Detroit turned out from 1955 through 1973. They were big, multi-colored, convertible, hardtops, finned, leather upholstered, powerful, and gasoline guzzling (about 12 to 15 MPG). But gasoline was inexpensive and plentiful. We did not care that cars were fuel consumers because we owned the world’s supply, so we thought.

Jobs were plentiful too and credit was easily obtained; it looked like there would be no end to this “throw-away society” that we had created. Millions of us bought cars back in those days for about $2,500.00. I recall purchasing a 1974 Chevrolet Malibu or about $3,400.00 at L. R. Cook Chevrolet in Lexington. Now don’t ask what happened to prices after that!

Dr. Arlie Hall is an adjunct professor for the Center for Robotics and Manufacturing at the University of Kentucky's College of Engineering.
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