Automobile’s Contribution to Identity in America Essay

American culture, its society, and its landscapes are all shaped by the automobile. The automobile is more than just a vehicle or a means to get from one point to the next. A car is a symbol, upon which Americans project their dreams, desires, goals, values, beliefs, and identities. In Dagoberto Gilb's short story, "Love in L.A.," the protagonist's name is Jake. Jake envisions his ideal car, with crushed velvet interior, an FM radio, electric controls, and a heater because "he could imagine lots of possibilities when he let himself," (p. 432). Jake's vision is more than a vehicle; it is the American Dream epitomized.

To the common individual, a car is simply a means of transportation. However, from the social stand point, the automobile impacts people’s daily lives in a larger aspect. The modern automobile was inspired by a toy made for a Chinese emperor. The toy was not

Over the past sixty years, the American car scene has been dominated by two completely different vehicles and the entire communities that believe in them. Both designed, founded, and rooted in Detroit, Michigan, the Ford Mustang and the Corvette have continued to fuel the chase for the label of America’s true muscle car. The question over the years has been, why and how do consumers choose which to own, and which one is our “bald eagle”? Investigating deeper into the roots of each American superpower, it all began with introduction of something that would change the automotive industry forever. “Corvette: Dream Car Come True”, is an article that highlights the beginning of the car movement in the United States: the birth of Chevrolet’s Corvette. “Born in 1953 at the General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan, the Corvette grew up on the raceway and has ruled the road ever since” (Seiden 14). The article also goes on to mention that “the Corvette is not for racers only. True car lovers own Corvette cars for everyday driving… and the highest performance standards have been built into every model” (Seiden 14). Early dominance of Corvettes on and off the racetrack, led other competitors such as Ford Motor Company wonder why and how the Corvette could be out-driven and out-sold. Directly opposing the release of the Corvette and its multipurpose ingenuity “Lee Iacocca, then general manager of Ford Motor Company, challenged his design team to create a car that could be driven ‘to

It is important to realize the basic facts that are associated with cars and with BMW in particular, and that different demographic are attracted towards different types of car, to later understand that even though the product in the ad may be amazing but the ad itself is not. Did you know that in 2010 the number of cars in the world reached a billion (Noël)? Today’s culture is highly surrounded and based on the use of cars. They are such a prominent part of our culture today that if an alien were to visit our planet right now they might just consider cars to be the dominant form of life (The Hitchhiker 's Guide to the Galaxy). There are so many different types, and makes of cars that they can suit any personality in the world.

Karl Benz invented the first automobile in 1866; it has changed the world in how we commute every day. From riding in carriages to now cutting our time travel whether it is riding a bus or our on car. It has become more of a necessity in today's world to have a car because its something that we choose to have in our daily life that it is a choice that is high on the priority list to own. As to wealthier people the type of car you drive puts in a different class. Where some get the choice of car that they want others have a certain budget on what to look for. The way an automobile symbolizes today, changed in society, and how a car has become a collection.

In the video “Its Part Of the Family,” the message that there are things in life more important than money and status and, moreover, the idea that time-tested items can have greater value than the newest and fastest model, come across loud and clear. The classical appeal, Pathos, is hard at work in this piece as the audience experiences not only the sentimental connection the driver has with his old Chevy truck, but the concern for it shared by his family. This piece appeals to those who value tradition and intentionally tugs at multi-generational heartstrings and, as such, had this viewer hook, line and sinker, early on.

The auto industry has been around long before I was born. Automobiles have become a necessity in American culture. “With the invention of the automobile and the mass production techniques of Henry Ford, which made the machine affordable, the American economy has been transformed by this key element in its prosperity.” (Davis, 2014) Being able to transport quickly from one destination to another is a great convenience. Almost every working family living in the United States owns at least one vehicle.

In Donaldson’s piece, America's Love Affair With Cars, which was ironically published by a Canadian journal, she points out that Americans are raised to love cars from the very beginnings of life. There are toy cars that not only are shiny and fun but have working parts, windshield wipers and horns, and remote controls. Going into young adulthood, it is always the kids in school with the newest, fastest, and nicest cars that get the best chance at a date with a popular girl or boy. She notes that “Clearly, the automobile has been much more than simply a means of transportation for most Americans. Once man and woman felt the breeze blowing on their faces as they sped along a road, a passion was created. The car is just about everything today including a form of art and craftsmanship, a collector's item, a cultural icon.” (Donaldson, 2012) Here in again, we as Americans know that we love our cars, but the world also identifies this as typically an “American”

The early advertisements of the Beetle were about convincing people that the Beetle would be their first car, especially, women. But instead of making an ad to show how affordable to maintain and repair the Beetle, Volkswagen had made one of the sexist ads of all time. In the advertisement “Sooner or later, your wife will drive home one of the best reasons for owning a Volkswagen", the sexism was presented very explicitly. By saying that women were bad and careless drivers in the first line of the ad, “Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things”, and other sexist statements such as “She can jab the hood. Graze the door. Or bump off the bumper”, Volkswagen had set the sexist theme for the entire advertisement. The ad had failed to deliver

In the nineteen sixties, an ugly car was introduced called a Volkswagen. It was not a pretty car and about the best thing it had going for it was superior gas mileage and very reliable. The main problem was, it was ugly.

The Nash Metropolitan with a shorter wheelbase than [a Volkswagen Super Beetle] is a brash little buggy. However, the question was how to sell a tiny automobile in a market that liked big cars. Although the technology wasn't considered groundbreaking, its physical size, styling, standard features and innovative marketing ideas

With the past of the time is believed that cars have to be better and better. Cars have been one of the humans’ greatest inventions. At the same time has been considered cars to be a problem, because of the pollution, smog and the accidents caused by young people. Like in America there are too many problems in relation to cars in too many parts of the world. For example there’s Germany, France and Colombia.

The following case study will evaluate the reach of promotional culture in relation to my chosen artifact, one of the most popular luxury sport utility vehicles (SUV’s) on the market the Range Rover Sport. Promotion is all around us and some even argue it is an unescapable aspect of our society. Society in the twenty-first centruy is known to be constructed off of promotion and commodification. In order to evaluate the impact of promotional culture on my chosen artifact as well as on me as a consumer, key concepts such as the society of the spectacle, aestheticization of everyday life and luxurification will be contrasted, compared and analysed alongside the artifact in order to show the unavoidable reach that promotional culture has on consumers today.

In Hollywood you're not considered a prominent figure, until you drive a Range Rover. For this reason, the Range Rover is the perfect commodity to exemplify a Hollywood myth. A myth as Roland Barthes describes in Mythologies, is a kind of speech, in which the history of an object is distorted to signify a new modern history that feels completely natural to modern society. The Range Rover has been appropriated into Hollywood by celebrities and is predominantly owned by upper class celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Jay-Z and David Beckham. This vehicle, which was was originally used in the military and for off roading terrain has had it’s history drained and filled with a new history that signifies a much different myth than it used to. In this essay, I will argue that the myth of the Range Rover signifies a prestigious and powerful vehicle, designed with royalty and privilege as it is made specifically for the celebrities and the famous upper class personalities of Hollywood.

In modern culture, Hollywood elites and celebrities have appropriated the Range Rover as their daily driving vehicles which signifies not only their wealthiness, but their prestigiousness. The Range Rover is predominantly owned by upper class celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Jay-Z and David Beckham, which makes the Range Rover the perfect commodity to exemplify a Hollywood myth. A myth as Roland Barthes describes in Mythologies, is a kind of speech, in which the history of an object is distorted to signify a new contemporary signification that feels completely natural to modern society. The Range Rover, which was originally used in the military and for off roading terrain has had it’s history drained and filled with a new history that signifies a much different myth than it used to. In this essay, I will argue that the myth of the Range Rover signifies a prestigious and powerful vehicle, designed with royalty and privilege, made specifically for the celebrities and the famous upper class personalities of Hollywood.