Evolution Of The 80's Research Paper

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s the automobile was considered an expensive, custom made, consumer product that only the wealthy could afford to dazzle themselves with. In fact, in 1895 there was a report of only 300 cars in the United States, but that number grew dramatically in the years to come to nearly 1.7 million by 1914 (Car History, n.d.). This increase was due in part by two major shifts in the American society; the new consumer economy and the ideas that every family in America should be able to afford an automobile. Henry Ford was a large contributor to this massive increase in the United States and would make changes to the automobile industry that

The automobile "is making leisure-time enjoyment a regularly expected part of every day and week rather than an occasional event." (Document 11) Along with other early 21st century innovations, the automobile greatly changed the way Americans lived their lives. However, not all cultural changes regarding the automobile were positive. The automobile lured many families into an investment they could not afford to upkeep.

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

The 70s was groovy and funky all around. The Beatles broke up, M.A.S.H. Started, and abortion was legalized. Everyone talks about watergate or the palestinians, but no one seems to recognize the amazing advancements brought about in technology. In the 1970s technology was greatly advanced by the invention of the floppy disk and the VCR.

In the early 1900s, the United States of America would see the introduction of a piece of technology that would change the way we as a society would look at travel. Henry Ford began production of Model T, the vehicle soon found its way into many American homes. By 1927, the Ford Motor Company had sold nearly 15 million of the mass produced, affordable car. The automobile was no longer a luxury but, a necessity for Americans. During the infancy of the automobile, the roads where nothing more than a mere rutted up path through the country side. Though shortly, people realized the need for better roads. The only problem was, who was going to pay the bill?

In the early twentieth century, science and technology brought the automobile. In less than one hundred years, humans especially Americans have grown

The 1980s was full of so many important events and extravagant sports. There are a variety of historic and sport events that influenced what was popular in that time period. The 80s was filled with new advancements in television broadcasting sports for women and many other important historical events.

The social imbalance in the nation stirred emotions in most American citizens during the mid 1960’s to the mid 1970’s and caused politicians to scramble to make a way to find peace. People nationwide had strong feelings about social injustices and the events that were occurring in daily life, like the Vietnam War, civil rights causes, political scandals, and an upcoming election. The war and the civil rights opinions people held close to heart, defined personalities and separated families by differences that could not be met with compromising. The youth of the era were outspoken and willing to protest and march, causing problems in numerous college campuses nationwide. Members of the community up for the draft, fought the system by any

Society had been modernised and more and more American’s were living in urban areas. Factories were fast being taken over by mass production which made once luxury products cheap and available to everyone. The most significant example of this is the Model T - the first cheap, mass produced car. Model T represents a turning point in American industry, mobility was taken to the masses which had never been done before. Industry was transforming the lives of Americans.

The 1980s was a time where a lot of change took place. Some of these changes were pretty quirky including the movies, music, fashion, and politics of the time. Most people were ready for something different and that is what the 1980s presented. It became eccentric with music and fashion from Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, bands like Guns n’ Roses and Metallica, Reagan’s changes to the economy, Nintendo, and bright colors and big hair. The impact of this decade continues on in today’s society.

In the early 1900’s there were very few car manufacturers in the United States and only the very wealthy owned a car. Henry Ford saw this as an opportunity to produce an affordable vehicle

Domestically manufactured automobiles and imported automobiles have had their differences well documented over the past decades with evidence suggesting that foreign manufactured vehicles tend to be built finer than American autos. Much has changed in regards to that statement, mainly because American manufacturers are manufacturing automobiles with much higher quality than ever before; what used to define domestic and foreign vehicles has long since changed in the recent century. Domestic automotive companies have for a long time trailed behind their foreign competitors in offering quality automobiles in the US market. The era in which foreign cars used to reign supreme appears to be getting much narrower as

It is said that the modern automobile is mainly credited to the work of the Germans and French during the late 1800s, but America during the early 20th century did have a period of work in the

Rudi Volti’s Cars and Culture: The Life Story of a Technology (Greenwood Press, 2004) examines the evolution of the automobile, starting from 1765, with Nicholas Cugnot’s steam-powered vehicles, to the present day. The goal of the book, as stated by Volti in the introduction, is to “pay particular attention to the automobile’s technical evolution while at the same time delineating the cultural, social, and political context in which that evolution has taken place” (xi). Thus, Volti also demonstrates the cultural and societal effects that resulted from the emergence and mass production of automobiles. Volti divides the history of automobiles into seven time periods, each a separate chapter that achieves his goal. He accomplishes his objectives by stating the technological advances and societal context under different headings, occasionally linking the two topics together.

America did not alone invent automobile, but America had been the leader in the automobile technology and manufacturing for several decades. During that time, American automobiles shared their technology and know-how with Japanese and German manufacturers. And, American companies did not pay a great attention to what Japanese and German manufacturers have learned from their American counterparts. During 1940s,