I found this blurb in a 1954 newspaper:
If you’ve been watching the automobile news, you know that there are now only six passenger car manufacturers in the U.S. – the “big three” and the “little three.”
So, can you name the six surviving car companies of 1954?
The Big Three are easy to identify:
Ford
General Motors
1954 Chevy Corvette
1954 Chevy Bel Air
Chrysler
Recalling the Little Three is more problematic as there was a lot going on in the way of mergers and acquisitions. In no particular order, they are:
Studebaker-Packard – Detroit’s Packard Motor Car Company bought Indiana-based Studebaker in 1954 and became Studebaker-Packard.
1954 Studebaker Station Wagon
1954 Packard Clipper Super Touring Sedan
Kaiser-Willys – Kaiser-Frazer had started up after WWII, riding high on the post-war boom. The company struggled in the early 1950s after a series of missteps, and the Frazer name was dropped. In 1953, Kaiser purchased Willys-Overland and, in 1954, the companies merged into Willys Motors, Inc.
1954 Kaiser Darrin
1954 Kaiser
1954 Willys M38A1
American Motors – AMC was formed in 1954 when the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation merged with Hudson.
1954 Hudson Hornet with Twin H-Power
