Harley Earl's creations, such as the tailfins of the 1958 Cadillac Biarritz are instantly recognisable. He was the man who gave the American car of the 1950's its distinctive flash and swagger, all tailfins, twotone color and chrome. This book begins with Earl's early years working with his father building custom cars for Hollywood stars. Bayley then includes many stories, told by designers who worked under Earl's leadership as head of the General Motors styling studio from 1927 to 1957.

If Henry Ford said, You can have it any color as long as it is black, the rejoinder came from Harley Earl. He was the man who gave the American car of the 1950's its distinctive flash and swagger, all tailfins, twotone color and chrome.

The twentieth-century American experience with the automobile has much to tell us about the relationship between consumer capitalism and the environment, Tom McCarthy contends. In Auto Mania he presents the first environmental history of the automobile that shows how consumer desire (and manufacturer decisions) created impacts across the product lifecycle--from raw material extraction to manufacturing to consumer use to disposal. From the provocative public antics of young millionaires who owned the first cars early in the twentieth century to the SUV craze of the 1990s, Auto Mania explores developments that touched the environment. Along the way McCarthy examines how Henry Ford’s fetish for waste reduction tempered the environmental impacts of Model T mass production; how Elvis Presley’s widely shared postwar desire for Cadillacs made matters worse; how the 1970s energy crisis hurt small cars; and why baby boomers ignored worries about global warming. McCarthy shows that problems were recognized early. The difficulty was addressing them, a matter less of doing scientific research and educating the public than implementing solutions through America’s market economy and democratic government. Consumer and producer interests have rarely aligned in helpful ways, and automakers and consumers have made powerful opponents of regulation. The result has been a mixed record of environmental reform with troubling prospects for the future.

This richly detailed account of one of the most important men in American automotive history is based on full access to both Chrysler Corporation and family historical records. Curcio traces Chrysler's rise through the industry and gives unique insight into this colorful and passionate man. 50 halftones.

This much needed book is the first to provide a comprehensive history of the profession and aesthetics of American automobile design. The author reveals how the appearance of the automobile was shaped by the social conflicts arising from America's mass production system. He connects the social struggles of American society with the organizational struggles of designers to create symbol-laden substitutes for the American dream. Theoretically sophisticated, lucid and compelling, Auto-Opium will appeal to all interested in the American obsession with the car.