12 Important American Cars

Think American automakers haven’t innovated? Guess again.

By Larry Printz | THE DETROIT BUREAU

It would not be a fallacy to say that most Americans are ignorant when it comes to history. When it comes to automotive history, they’re even worse. And while Germans built the first automobile and the French gave motorcars passion, it’s Americans who democratized them and put the world on wheels.

In honor of July 4th, it seems fitting to celebrate some of America’s most important cars in its history.

1893 Duryea Motor Carriage

The first American car. What could be more important than that? Bicycle makers Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea of Springfield, Massachusetts became interested in gas engines and motor cars, leading the brothers to produce the first American car, powered by a 4-horsepower single-cylinder engine. The engine was installed in a used horse carriage and reportedly hits a top speed of 7.5 mph. They would go on to build 13 cars, becoming the first automaker in America.

1901-07 Curved Dash Oldsmobile

After a fire decimates his factory and everything in it, with the exception of this car, Ransom E. Olds puts the Curved Dash Olds into production, whereupon it becomes the bestselling car in America from 1902 through 1905. America’s first mass-produced car, it’s built with interchangeable parts, which is novel for the time. Weighing 650 pounds, it’s powered by a horizontal single-cylinder engine under the seat. The driver steers the car using a center-mounted tiller. The car got its name from its curved bodywork at the front of the car. It’s built through 1907.

1908-27 Ford Model T

Before Ford’s Model T was released in 1908, driving was a pastime of the affluent. Ford changed all of that by offering a vehicle that was reliable, simple to maintain, simple to operate, and — most importantly — cheap to purchase. Ford cut the price to increase market share as his expenses decreased. It proves so popular, Ford has a 50% market share selling a single model. Ford produces 15 million Model Ts by the time production ends in 1927, having put the world on wheels.

1912 Cadillac

Starting an automobile required hand-cranking the engine prior to 1912. This required a lot of strength and was hazardous as well. Backfiring engines frequently cause severe injuries ­— and even death. Because electric cars could be started by pressing a button, the earliest EVs had an advantage over their gas-powered competition. Still, Leland set about to find a better solution to the hand crank. It wasn’t long before the strongest argument against gas automobiles vanished when the 1912 Cadillac debuted with the first electric starter in the industry, and sales of electric cars fell.

1922 Essex Coach

For the first couple of decades, the most expensive body style was not the convertible, it was the sedan. Closed bodies were the costliest to produce, and most motorists chose cheaper, soft top alternatives or models without any top at all. That changed with the arrival of the 1922 Essex Coach sedan. While its 35-hp 4-cylinder engine provided good performance for the time, it was the car’s closed coachwork for an affordable $975 that changed the course of automotive engineering. The age of the enclosed car had arrived.

1927 LaSalle

In an effort to fill the price gap below Cadillac, Alfred Sloan Jr., president of General Motors, created a new brand, LaSalle, honoring a French explorer, much as Cadillac did. The creation of the new car came with the assistance of Harley Earl, who had come to the attention of Cadillac President Lawrence Fisher. Earl had been successfully customizing Cadillacs at Don Lee Cadillac in Hollywood. Fisher brought Earl to Detroit, where he styled a production car for the first time. The result was a new car and a new profession: automobile design.

1929-31 Cord L-29

The Cord L-29 was the first American car to be produced in considerable quantities with front-wheel drive, which is today the most common drivetrain in cars. The company used front-wheel drive because it lent the car a low, rakish appearance. Despite its looks, the L-29 had mechanical issues that were never fixed. Additionally, few customers were open to trying something new during the Great Depression. But the Cord L-29 inspired competitors of the time, including the Chrysler Imperial.

1932 Ford Model B

The 1932 Ford Model B is important due to its flathead V8, the first V-8 offered in an inexpensive, mainstream car. Others would follow, including Oldsmobile with its 1949 Rocket V8, and Chevrolet with its 1955 Small-Block V8. But Ford got there first, placing the engine in elegantly refined coachwork, which cloaked a steel-reinforced body at a time when competitors where still using wood. Its sturdy steel frame, small size, light weight and large numbers on used car lots made it the ideal candidate for hot rodding.

1945-1949 Jeep CJ

In a market where most Americans drive SUVs, it’s important to remember they didn’t exist until the arrival of the Jeep MA, produced for the U.S. Army in the wake of the outbreak of World War II. It would prove the basis for the Jeep CJ, the first civilian Jeep, offered for sale after the end of World War II in 1945. It would provide the start of a brand that would expand to include the Wagoneer, Cherokee and other Jeep products that would lead to a slew of competitors, few of which can match the Jeep’s Trail Rated capability.

1958 Ford Thunderbird

Personal luxury cars dominated the American market in the 1960s through the 1980s. But while cars such as the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme topped the charts, it was this car that started it all. Despite the 1955-57 Ford Thunderbird’s good sales — it was far outselling the Corvette — executives wanted more. So they ordered a backseat be added to the Ford Thunderbird for 1958. Now a four-seater, sales exploded, and the personal luxury car was born, a vehicle that would lead to the creation of the same idea but smaller: the 1964 Ford Mustang.

1986 Buick Riviera

It’s not so much the 1986 Buick Riviera itself that’s important, but for what came standard: the industry’s first touchscreen. Although widely derided by critics at the time, it was truly cutting edge, as the touchscreen computer had only been introduced by Hewlett Packard for 1983. Dubbed the Graphic Control Center, it controlled automatic climate control, AM/FM radio with optional graphic equalizer, trip calculations, gauges and vehicle diagnostic information. Visionary? No doubt.

2012 Tesla Model S

No matter what you think of Elon Musk, the cars and SUVs produced by Tesla has changed acceptance of electric cars. By initiating production with a high-end luxury sedan, the Tesla Model S, he not only ensures healthy profit margins, he recasts the electric car as a desirable, high-tech conveyance, not the bargain basement oddities that so typified modern EVs until that point. And his direct sales model reset consumer expectations into how to buy a new car.