Automobiles of America

America reached two important milestones in 1996 – the centennial of the American automobile industry and the 40th anniversary of our National Highway System. America’s car companies have given us personal mobility. Our highway system brought us closer together as a nation and made every corner of our magnificent country accessible to each of us. Together, the automobile and the highway have enriched our lives, raised our standard of living and shaped our society like nothing else in our history.

So it is appropriate in this year of milestones the American Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA) issues a revised, updated edition of this book, Automobiles of America. This book, too, has a long history, first published 60 years ago in 1936 under the title, A Chronicle of the American Automobile Industry. Since that time it has been reeked and updated periodically, the last time in 1974.

Our association has been instrumental in the publication of this book since the outset. The first edition of this book was based in part on a chronology of the automobile industry published by William Leslie Powiison, the librarian for the Automobile Manufacturers Association, a forerunner of today’s AAMA. Over the years, AAMA researchers and writers have been responsible for updating and expanding the book.

It is just one of the many contributions to America’s automobile industry made by AAMA and its predecessors, which trace their roots back to the year 1900 and the infancy of the industry it serves.

Automobiles of America is more than the story of one industry or one product. It is a story about the machines and the entrepreneurs and engineers who changed our world. I hope you enjoy it.