Chevrolet

By the late 1950s, the physical size of the entry-level models offered by the Big Three American car manufacturers had grown considerably; effectively abandoning the market for smaller vehicles. Growing sales of imports from Europe showed that demand existed in the U.S. for small cars. During 1959 and 1960, the Big Three introduced their own compact cars. Ford and Chrysler's designs were scaled-down versions of the conventional American car, using six-cylinder engines instead of V8s. An exception to this strategy was the Chevrolet Corvair. Chevrolet designed a car that deviated from traditional American norms of design with no tail-fins or chrome grille, powered by an air-cooled, six-cylinder engine mounted in the rear of the car. With more than 1.8 million cars produced, it was a commercial success. Until today, the Corvair is the only American-designed, mass-produced passenger car with a rear-mounted, air-cooled engine.