Twenty Cars That Defined The 20th Century

On the 29 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo triggering events leading to the outbreak of the First World War. Less well known is that the car he was in was a borrowed Graf + Stift Double Phaeton, that the route was published in advance, and the decision to lower the hood was only taken at the last minute. As with the other events in this book, the car played a central role, yet its history is largely unknown. These cars not only had their own stories in terms of design, ownership, and the role they played but they are also a way of telling the story of the events themselves – they are literally a vehicle for history. In this book James Morrison takes 20 cars involved in twenty key 20th century world events and examines their involvement and history to provide a new angle and fascinating insights.

On the 29 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo triggering events leading to the outbreak of the First World War. Less well known is that the car he was in was a borrowed Graf + Stift Double Phaeton, that the route was published in advance, and the decision to lower the hood was only taken at the last minute. As with the other events in this book, the car played a central role, yet its history is largely unknown. These cars not only had their own stories in terms of design, ownership, and the role they played but they are also a way of telling the story of the events themselves - they are literally a vehicle for history. In this book James Morrison takes 20 cars involved in twenty key 20th century world events and examines their involvement and history to provide a new angle and fascinating insights.

This is a multidisciplinary analysis of the relationship between the motor car and popular culture in the 20th century, which brings together original essays by academics in the UK, North America and Australia. The contributors write from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives, including semiotics, social history, literary and film criticism, and musicology. Three main themes are addressed: the car as a cultural image; its impact on leisure and entertainment; and the cultural significance of the processes of manufacturing and selling cars.

"In 2009, the Automuseum 'Prototyp' in Hamburg, Germany, organized a special exhibit in Germany or anywhere else in the world: For two months, 23 streamlined automobiles, the body of a record-setting car, and a revolutionary model wind tunnel, all had their aerodynamic rendezvous there. . . . Naturally, so many streamlined cars together were electrifying. Patricia Scholten, daughter of Paul Pietsch, and the Stuttgart Motorbuch-Verlag which she runs, commissioned the Zurich photographer Michel Zumbrunn, who specializes in classic cars, to photograph this unique exhibition of never-before-shown-together streamlined works of art in his own unique style. . . . This history of the streamlined automobile is not illustrated with the black and white photos of former times, used in the relevant books again and again due to the lack of new images; it is illustrated with a porfolio of photograhic art by Zumbrunn and his co-photographer Urs Schmid."--Pages 14-15.

20th Century Classic Cars offers a lush visual history of the automobile, decade by decade, via 400 plus print advertisements from the Jim Heimann Collection. Using imagery culled from a century of auto advertising, this book traces the evolution of the auto from horseless carriage to rocket on wheels and beyond. With an introduction and chapter text by New York Times automotive writer Phil Patton, as well as an illustrated timeline, this volume highlights the technological innovations, major manufacturers and dealers, historical events, and influence of popular culture on car design. Time travel through the Automobile Age, with a collection that puts you in the drivers seat.