(UPDATED FROM 1/25/2024)
A few years ago Indie Auto reader Constant Reader suggested in the “Story Ideas Bank” the following scenario: “You’re 25 & just bought your first new Chevy, at what ages and which models would be your moves up the Sloan Ladder?”
Feel free to answer that question in the comment thread below. However, I was drawn to dig up some numbers that can help us better understand how dramatically American society changed during the postwar era. I’m defining that period as 1946-80.
Let’s start by looking at how the list prices of base and top-end Ford Motor Company models evolved between 1950 and 1980. I chose Ford rather than General Motors because the graph would be easier to read due to less brand overlap. But as you can see, things can still get busy in the 1970s because of model proliferation.
The solid lines represent base prices and dotted lines refer to top-end four-door models. To reduce confusion, this graph only includes the full-sized Mercury and Lincoln. Subcompacts, compacts and mid-sized cars are base Fords. I have also not included specialty cars such as the Mustang, Thunderbird and Lincoln Continental Mark series.
Product-proliferation spree fueled by income growth
The most obvious change between 1950 and 1980 was the growth in the number of models offered. Also noteworthy was a big increase in the price spread between the lowest- and highest-priced cars.
In addition, the above graph hints at various shifts in Ford’s product strategy. For example, in the second half of the 1950s you can see how top-end prices for the Mercury and Lincoln moved sharply upward — and then fell in 1961.
Of course, the graph also shows how inflation accelerated in the 1970s. Between 1970 and 1980 list prices tended to at least double. That sounds like a lot, but household incomes also went up. This significantly reflected the growth in dual-income couples. Between 1950 and 1980 the proportion of married women in the workforce more than doubled (Bureau of Census, 1982).
In 1980 the average family income was $21,020. That was almost twice as high as the average income for men, which was $12,530 (Bureau of Census, 1982). A base Ford LTD four-door sedan listed for $6,875, which represented 55 percent of the average income for men.
As a point of comparison, back in 1950 the average income for men was $2,600 (Bureau of Census, 1952). A base Ford four-door sedan listed for $1,472, which represented almost 57 percent of the average income for men.
Suburbanization spurs growth in automotive usage
The postwar period saw huge growth in the number of cars on American roads. Whereas in 1950 there were only 40 million, by 1980 that number had soared to almost 121 million. That’s a 200-percent increase, which was far higher than the population growth of 49 percent during that time period. Households also saw a doubling in the average number of cars they owned from 1.06 in 1950 to 2.13 in 1980 (Wikibooks, 2023).
Car ownership was also impacted by changes in where people lived. As a case in point, in 1950 only 40 percent of Americans lived in suburbs but by 1980 that proportion had increased to 60 percent (Zagorsky, 2014). Suburbs tended to be designed to encourage car usage. So too did the expansion of interstate highways, which made travel between major cities much safer (Heitmann, 2018). Between 1950 and 1980 the total number of annual miles driven tripled (Federal Highway Administration, 2024).
These trends were known to the U.S. auto industry. For example, in the 1940s the Automobile Manufacturers Association did a study of car-usage patterns which found that most trips were for 13 miles or less.
George Romney, who was the general manager of the industry trade group from 1942 to 1948, concluded that “you didn’t need a great big, several-ton car to go to the drug store to get a pack of bobby pins.” He also observed that the number of cars in a household was becoming more important than the prestige of an individual car (Lehman, 2011). American Motors under Romney’s management was arguably more successful than other independent automakers because it better anticipated these shifts in consumer behavior.
These numbers hint at why the U.S. automobile industry went through so much change during the postwar period.
NOTES:
This story was originally posted on Jan. 26, 2024 and updated on March 26, 2026. Prices are from the auto editors of Consumer Guide (1993, 2006) and Gunnell (2002). Average family income figures are from 1950-80 Bureau of Census reports.
Share your reactions to this post with a comment below or a note to the editor.
RE:SOURCES
- Auto editors of Consumer Guide; 1993, 2006. Encyclopedia of American Cars. Publications International, Lincolnwood, IL.
- Bureau of Census; 1952. “Income of Families and Persons in the United States: 1950.” Series P-60, No. 9.
- ——; 1982. “Money Income of Households, Families, and Persons in the United States: 1980.” Series P-60, No. 132.
- Federal Highway Administration; 2024. “Annual Vehicle Distance Traveled in Miles and Related Data, 1936-1955.” Accessed Jan. 19.
- Gunnell, John; 2002. Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1946-1975. Revised 4th Ed. Krause Publications, Iola, WI.
- Heitmann, John; 2018. The Automobile and American Life. 2nd ed. McFarland & Co., Inc.
- Lehman, Paul; 2011. “George Romney at the Nationals, July 7-10-1994: Part 1.” YouTube. Posted July 7.
- Wikibooks; 2023. “Transportation Deployment Casebook/History of the Automobile: Ownership per Household in U.S.” Page last edited March 23.
- Zagorsky, Jay; 2014. “Why did people flee the inner cities?” Jay Zagorsky’s Research & Blog. Posted June 23.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES
- oldcarbrochures.org: Ford (1950, 1980); Ford Pinto (1980); Lincoln (1950, 1980); Mercury (1950, 1980)
“you didn’t need a great big, several-ton car to go to the drug store to get a pack of bobby pins.”
Clearly. However you also need a car to take the family out to dinner, get a dozen bags of topsoil at the garden store, and take the spouse for a long weekend in wine country and come home with a couple cases of wine. Unless you have a fleet of vehicles, one car has to do all of that. From what I understand Romney’s vision of the Rambler was always as a second car.
It’s true that Romney was paying close attention to the rise of multiple-car suburban households. However, the senior Rambler — particularly with the 1956-62 body — was big enough to function as a family car. Indeed, it was almost as roomy on the inside as early post-war “standard-sized” American cars.
I had an uncle whose only car was a series of Rambler sixes. He routinely hauled his family of four to the mountains where he was building a cabin. He got a lot of varied use out of those cars.
When I wrote “Rambler” I meant the compact one. I forgot Rambler was the brand then. Yes the larger Rambler of the era had plenty of room, mostly by avoiding unnecessary length for length’s sake. Here’s a thought experiment- How much did the Romney Rambler Classic influence the mid-size concept?
The data might be more meaningful if it were real (inflation adjusted) rather than nominal. Or if the graphs were on a logarithmic rather than linear scale.
I would answer your comment on two levels. First, my perception is that the readership isn’t terribly wonky, so I don’t see a logarithmic scale as all that appropriate. By the same token, I think that nominal numbers work fine, partly because I wanted to show how dramatic inflation was during the 1970s.
Second, this is what I had the time to do. Indie Auto is a volunteer effort produced on a solo basis.
I completely understand about the volunteerism and the time, for which we are all grateful to you, though you might find that dealing with this kind of data is something for which AI is actually quite useful as a time-saver. My point is really that using nominal dollars can be misleading. For example, in 2026 dollars, the Lincoln prices would reflect prices in the mid to high $30,000s in the 1940s, increasing to the low $50,000s by the late 1950s, jumping up to the low $60,000s with the 1961 Continental, then gradually declining to around $50,000 where it stayed on average for the next quarter century. The full-size Ford is even more stable in real dollars. In today’s dollars the base price was in the high teens in the 1940s, then from about 1950 to about 1981 it was consistently between $20,000 and $25,000 2026 dollars, before rising through the mid ’80s.
You’re 25 & just bought your first new Chevy, at what ages and which models would be your moves up the Sloan Ladder?”
I guess I could imagine someone trading up from an early 60s Impala to a later 60s Pontiac or Olds. Then mid 1970s, would that person go to Buick? Cadillac? Depends on if going up the ladder meant you wanted a plushier car.
It’s outside your parameters but my FIL had an Olds Ninety Eight around the year 1990 and I don’t think it gave up much to the Cadillac (his next car). After that he got a GMC Yukon.
My dad went up from Chevy to Pontiac to Mercury and then Ford SUVs. Also those empty nesters didn’t always trade up to luxury; some added a sporty car to the stable.
Let me think about it more. I will say that I am 62 and I don’t think any of my contemporaries started our car lives buying up the Sloan ladder.
Unless my attention was drawn by Pontiac as the car of utes, I would have moved from Chevy to Olds as soon as possible. Buick was too stodgy.
I’m with you Lori. I’m 74 and I don’t recall anyone going up the Sloane ladder. Then again, I didn’t move in an upwardly mobile mileau.