Return to Prosperity.

Americans had suffered through fifteen years of economic hardship and material shortages from the beginning of the Great Depression through the end of World War II. Small wonder, then, that as soldiers returned home and economic prospects seemed much brighter, people were in a mood to buy. During the war automobile production had dropped drastically as automakers were enlisted in the war effort. The number of registered cars on the road plummeted by four million: as they became inoperable, their owners were unable to repair or replace them. Out of the 25.8 million registered cars in 1945, Fortune magazine reported that half of them were at least ten years old. Millions of these cars were ready for the scrap heap.

Production Surge.

American automakers were glad to satisfy the pent-up demand for cars, of course, but they could do so only gradually...