"This book tells how the automobile transformed American life and how design and technology have changed. Subjects include Henry Ford and the advent of mass production; the development of roads and highway; effects of the Great Depression and World War II; and how American car culture has been represented in film, music and literature"-- Provided by publisher.

Introduction: the automobile, its history and influence, and some contradictions -- Beginnings : from a mechanical curiosity to a plaything for the well-to-do -- The inscrutable Henry Ford and the rise of the machine age -- The rise of the competition and the consumer during the 1920s -- From mud to the open road -- Religion, courtship, sex, and women drivers -- The interwar years : the great depression, aerodynamics, and cars of the olympian age -- World War II and the reconversion economy : no time for sergeants or aspiring automobile manufacturers -- The golden age of the automobile : the 1950s in America -- The go-go years, 1959-1970 -- America and the automobile during the 1970s -- The automobile world upside down, 1980-2015 -- Epilogue: the automobile and one American life -- Chapter notes -- Bibliography -- Index.