The Automobile - Unwanted Technology: Part II The Middle Years (1930 - 1960)

The following is an overview of American automotive history's most technologically productive era with emphasis on those advancements which were initially shunned by customers as overly innovative. In discussing this theme, the paper views the period's automotive technology from three points of view: Powertrain and Chassis, Body, and Overall Car, highlighting what the authors consider to have been the most significant unwanted technology. It should be noted that some of these concepts and product features made but a brief appearance on the highways of America, disappeared and were never heard of again. Others came and went, only to reappear again when either the manufacturing community or the motoring public was more receptive.