History of America in 15 Cars

The book is Engines of Change, by Paul Ingrassia who is interviewed here on NPR.  Which cars?  The interview touches on the 1953 Corvette, the VW Bug, the 1964 Mustang, and the Prisus.

As many of my students know, I keep a metal model of a yellow Mustang convertible in my office.  Not because I ever owned a real one, but because I have a pretty clear memory of seeing one in a garage, probably near Cambridge, MA, when my family spent the day there getting our dark blue falcon station wagon repaired after sliding into a bridge.  I must have been about nine years old.  I was not (am not) much interested in cars, but that one impressed me.  I did not know, what I know now from this interview, that the Mustang was relatively inexpensive and therefore encouraged the trend toward the "two car family."And that new information leads to the observation that, of course, suburbs with out public transportation also encouraged ownership of two cars because one took the father to work and another was necessary for grocery shopping, taking kids to activities, and other "errands."

It is not quite true to say that I'm not much interested in cars.  While I don't read car magazines and I'm not able to identify models and years beyond the most iconic ones, I am interested in the symbolic value of cars and in what they tell us about American culture.  So, I'm eager to see this book.  It seems like it might be a good fit for AmCon 202 next time around.