1954 Jeep Station Wagon

"The Common-sense Car that Leads a Double Life. AS A FAMILY CAR, the Willys DeLuxe Station Wagon is amazingly compatible with the needs of most American families. With easily cleaned seats, sides and floors it is a good companion to children and pets. Carries 'problem' items (such as bicycles and lawnmowers) without removing seats. Comfort for 6 adults, with huge luggage space behind rear seats. And its powerful Hurricane engine is so economical to run. Why not let your Willys dealer fit one of these into your life today? AS A BUSINESS OR WORK CAR, more than 100 cubic feet of usable space is available for tools or bulky packages. Seats lift out easily. Interior can be cleaned almost as easy as a kitchen sink! Why not start this motoring season with the car that gives you double utility; low first cost; low operating costs; high trade-in value? At your Willys dealer now. Willys Motors, Inc., Toledo"

Full steam ahead on the carretera central ! The rugged Jeep Station Wagon was, and is, always a dependable transport in Cuba's countryside. Alongside the "classic" Jeep which remained in production through 1953, Willys presented the Jeep Station Wagon in 1946. In Cuba you can find many of these Jeeps, as their simple construction and ruggedness perfectly fit to the rural life here.

Designer Brooks Stevens had to master an ambitious task when designing the Jeep Station Wagon: in order to keep the "draw" at a minimum when stamping the outer panels, the sheet metal stampings shouldn't exceed a certain depth. Six inches was the required maximum, and the Jeep's roof panel was just below that, while the side panels were a mere 2.5 inches deep. Thus, the Jeep became quite angular for the time's taste, sporting pretty flat sides and roof, but anyway, beauty was of secondary priority for most customers. Instead, the car was cheap, dependable and seated seven. And somehow, its frugal look rather underlined the utilitarian character of the Jeep.

While the rest of this highly popular car remained virtually untouched through 1965, only the horizontal bars at the Jeep's front grille tell of the year it was built. The number and position of these bars changed with each model year. Our pictured car left the assembly line in 1954.

1957 Pontiac Chieftain 4-door Sedan

"Think Big . . . you can afford to!"

Pontiac's catalog claim reflects perfectly the contemporary "zeitgeist": in Cuba, perhaps even more than in the U.S., the prospering middle class demanded flashy new cars, and easy credits were readily available. Pontiac dealers had the backup of GMs financing institutions, and selling just one more car was often more important than a customer's financial soundness. The number of cars on the island increased rapidly in the 50s: after the first automobile arrived in Cuba in 1902, it took five decades until the magic mark of 100,000 cars on Cuban roads was surpassed in 1952. Just five years later, this number had doubled, with 200,000 registered cars in 1957. For many cuban citizens, the car had become an indispensable part of their lifestyle.

Traditionally being the choice of the rather stuffy person, Pontiac was for many years merely a better appointed version of the Chevrolets, but the brand made an impressive turnaround under new management since 1956. New general manager Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen was a real petrolhead, and fostered the move towards power and speed. Even if most 1957 Pontiacs didn't look mean, they were by all means powerful cars. And next year, already, Pontiac's look should finally match Pontiac's grunt.

1936 Chevrolet Master De Luxe Town Sedan

"In the fleet, thrilling beauty of the new Chevrolet for 1936 you see reflected all the skill, all the artistry, all the craftsmanship which a quarter-century of devotion to a high purpose has brought to the command of Chevrolet designers and engineers. Exteriors that fairly sparkle with style and grace and poise — interiors that invite you to ride relaxed in spacious luxury — a power plant that stirs your pulse with its smooth, swift, silent action — they are yours to own and enjoy in Chevrolet at very moderate cost."

We wish all our readers a Happy New Year 2013! The newest post this year actually features the oldest car in our collection to date. Meet the 1936 Chevrolet Master De Luxe, still going strong in Havana almost eight decades after rolling off the Chevrolet assembly line.

Despite being merely a facelift of the new-for-1935 models, 1936 Chevrolets are significant because this year, for the first time, the new, stylish "Chevrolet look" clearly bears the hallmarks of Harley Earl and his design team. You can notice this in the stylized horizontal air louvers on each side of the hood and the three-dimensional, rounded-off front grille, that sets the cars apart from their predecessors. It's no coincidence, however, that this front grille resembles a much pricier 1936 Buick. Harley Earl repeatedly played this card to "valorize" the look of Chevrolet through sharing design elements with GM's more glamorous brands.

Nine years earlier, in 1927, visionary GM boss Alfred P. Sloan had invited californian dude Harley Earl to Detroit to establish the "General Motors Art and Color Section", the world's first corporate car design department. Above all, design should fortify GM's position as the best-selling car company worldwide in the following decades. Until then, the look of cars was for the most part defined by engineers and coachbuilders. Harley Earl and his team set off to change car design profoundly: refining proportions and establishing recurring design themes that should make the cars of each GM division instantly recognizable, was just one part of the job. "Planned obsolescence" and yearly facelifts, conceived by Sloan and Earl, as well as new forms of corporate advertisement, such as showcars and the famous "Motorama" shows of the 50s should constantly inspire customers to exchange their money for new cars much more frequently. Major design and model building principles that are still being used today, were pioneered first in Harley Earl's "Art and Color Section".

Within the bureaucratic, rigid and conservative GM organization, Harley Earl certainly was a dazzling personality, and to some a provocation. But soon, the growing popularity of the new GM designs should settle the dispute. GM quickly became the trendsetter that made all others follow suit. A clear sign of the soaring importance of styling is the fact that within a few years, all American car companies had installed their own design departments.