The Eisenhower Administration's 1957-1958 Recession and the Automobile Industry

Hi folks -- I am busy today working on a paper I will present at the Biennial History Conference sponsored by the Society of Automotive Historians, this year held in Tupelo, MS between March 24-27. The recession was far more than simply an event that led to the failure of the Edsel in the American market, the rise of Big Three Import fighters Valiant, Falcon and Corvair, and the success of the independents Rambler and Studebaker. I'll post a first draft of this paper as soon as I can. In the meantime, here is the proposal that lays all of this out.

This proposed paper aims at exploring the effects of the 1957-8 recession on the American automobile industry and that sector’s responses to the challenges of high unemployment, excess capacity, and contracted credit. I plan on drawing primarily on evidence gathered from printed source materials, including trade magazines and government publications. What transitions consequently followed, in terms of management strategies (the rise of finance at the expense of production engineering), product lines (inexpensive “import fighters” – the Corvair, Valiant and Falcon), production techniques and quality, and materials (aluminum and plastics).