Automobile and American Life, 2d ed.

John Heitmann is a professor at the University of Dayton, where he teaches courses in the history of science and technology.

Reviews of the first edition: “the prose is almost flawless, and the writing never feels beleaguered...it is almost like the author enjoyed every topic and every page. Highly recommended. All collections”—Choice; “a great starting point for any student of American automotive history and a worthwhile addition to a collector’s bookshelf”—Autoweek; “fun, informative, and close to a prewar bull’s eye!”—Prewar Auto Notes; “very worthwhile reading”—Hemmings Classic Car; “this is an immensely useful work, especially for those of us who want an entertaining and provocative text for our courses...provide teachers with a great opportunity to expand on the text in class...a valuable asset to any teacher who hopes to bring the automobile and automobility into the classroom”—Technology and Culture; “highly recommended”—Enterprise & Society; “a deeply thought provoking study”—www.route66infocenter.com.

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsPreface to the Second EditionIntroduction: The Automobile, Its History and Influence, and Some Contradictions1—Beginnings: From a Mechanical Curiosity to a Plaything for the ­Well-to-DoEuropean by Birth, American by AdoptionTechnological Antecedents—The BicycleCompact Power: The Internal Combustion Engine (ICE)Choices Made: Competition from Steam Engines and Electric MotorsAmerican PioneersOrganization as PowerThe Automobile for Better or Worse?Music GaloreThe Mechanical Arts and the Coming of the Machine AgeThe Quest for Speed2—The Inscrutable Henry Ford and the Rise of the Machine AgeFrom a Dearborn Farm to the World StageFrederick Winslow Taylor and “One Best Way”The Genesis of Mass Production at Highland ParkThe Flivver KingThe Model T: What a Car!World War I: War Without EndLater Years: Hero or ­Anti-Hero?Early Economy Runs and the Gilmore Years, 1906–1941Industrial America: The “Carnival of Speed” and the Indianapolis 5003—The Rise of the Competition and the Consumer During the 1920s“Billy” Durant and “Silent” SloanKettering, Earl and “Keeping the Customer Dissatisfied”The City of the Future and Dynamic Dayton of the 1930sThe Last of the Big Three: The Chrysler CorporationThe IndependentsInnovation at the Periphery: The Cracker Jacker, RickenbackerThe Jordan and Advertising the Dream4—From Mud to the Open RoadWhich Came First: Good Roads or the Automobile?The Good Roads MovementA Transcontinental Link: The Lincoln HighwayFederal Legislation and the Gas TaxTwo Lane Black Top, or Concrete If There Is MoneyAuto Camping and “Gypsying” Across AmericaFill’er UpRoad FoodDivided Highways, Parkways, and Expressways5—Religion, Courtship, Sex, and Women DriversAn Answer to Prayer or Something to Pray About?Sex in the Back SeatThose Women Drivers!Cars as Homes6—The Interwar Years: The Great Depression, Aerodynamics, and Cars of the Olympian AgeOlympian Automobiles of the 1930sStreamlining and the Chrysler “Airflop”Sitdown, the Coming of the United Auto Workers, and the Battle of the OverpassThe Poetic Response to the AutomobileSinging the Blues About Automobiles and LifeFilming on the Race Track and Soundstage7—World War II and the Reconversion Economy: No Time for Sergeants or Aspiring Automobile Manufacturers“Little Bo Peep Has Lost Her Jeep…”Wartime Labor: Sacrifices and SelfishnessThe Black Market: “Chiseled Gas”The Reconversion Economy and a Man’s Dream8—The Golden Age of the Automobile: The 1950s in AmericaThe Automobile and Civil RightsHot RodSports Cars on American Tracks, and The Red CarSome Critics Surface: Safety and the EnvironmentDealers, Good and BadThe UAW, the Big Three, and Pattern BargainingThe Cars of the Golden EraThe 1958 Recession and European CompetitionThe Volkswagen BugCars and Rock and RollFilm: The RebelsA Night at the ­Drive-InOn the RoadThe Coming of the InterstatesSumming Up the Glorious 1950s9—The ­Go-Go Years, 1959–1970The Microbus, Cars, and the HippiesThe Cadillac and the EstablishmentAn Age of AmbivalenceRalph Nader and Unsafe at Any SpeedGovernment Regulation: Safety and the EnvironmentFrom a Brief Affair with Economy Vehicles to the Emergence of the Muscle CarCalifornia DreamingJames Bond, Steve McQueen, and the Action ThrillerSumming Up the Sixties10—America and the Automobile During the 1970sIntroduction: A Decade Often Forgotten, Rarely Celebrated, Yet Certainly Pivotal“We Can’t Fail”: The Gremlin, Vega, and PintoA Fresh Wind from Foreign ShoresThe Early 1970s: Structural ShortcomingsHarry Crews and the “White Trash” in His Novel CarOn the Eve of Oil Shock: Auto Culture During the Summer and Fall of 1973Oil Shock IJapanese Cars Come in a Big Way to AmericaThe New Automotive Technologies of the 1970sFasten Your Seat Belt; Watch Your Speed!Mobile LovemakingWither the Automobile?11—The Automobile World Upside Down, 1980–2015Oil Shock II, the Big Three, and JapanOil Shock Shockwaves: Chrysler and American Motors CorporationThe Automobile and Contemporary ArtThe UAW in RetreatRivethead and the Quality CatTrucks, Sport Utility Vehicles, and CrossoversThe Car Hobby: Car CrazyThe Fast and Furious: Thank God for Fast CarsCars and Crime: The ­Drive-ByNASCAR NationSaturn, NUMMI, Chrysler, and Germans in the New SouthNew TechnologiesAutomobiles, Women, Eros, and FilmPoetry, Women, and PassionThe Great Recession, the GM and Chrysler Bankruptcies of 2007–2009, and RecoveryA New Global Order: China, the Largest Market for Automobiles in the WorldWhere Does the Automobile in American Life Go from Here?Epilogue: The Automobile and One American LifeChapter NotesSelect BibliographyIndex