Custom Mercury, circa '50's. Lincoln's gadget-filled Continental 195X show car features a phone, dictaphone, hydraulic jacks at each wheel and a sliding Plexiglas roof that closes automatically if it starts to rain. Over 2 million cars are sold with automatic transmissions. Cadillac and Oldsmobile offer Electric-Eye headlight dimmers. Crosley goes out of business.
Motels now outnumber hotels - two to one.
Imperial separates from the Chrysler brand and is offered as a separate nameplate. Some manufacturers, like Dodge, offer three-tone paint jobs. Kaiser ceases production. It's a record sales year - 7,915,000 cars are sold in 1955. Packard and Chrysler Corporation offer pushbutton automatic transmissions.