This was a tough year for the auto industry, but since 1953 was an up year, ’54 had to be a down year. Ford and Chevy were down 6% and 15%, respectively, with most others down more. The sole automaker who bucked the trend was Oldsmobile, who was up 6%. The independents had a much rougher time than the “Big 3” companies. Among the larger companies, Dodge was down over 50%. Approximate total sales: 4,864,000; change: -20%.
1954 Noteworthy Events
- Chevrolet – Power steering, power brakes.
- Buick – 12V electrical system.
- Pontiac – Power steering, power brakes, air conditioning.
- Chrysler – 4bbl carburetor.
- Dodge – Automatic transmission, power brakes.
- Plymouth – Automatic transmission, power steering.
- Ford – OHV V8 engine, all-OHV engines.
- Mercury – OHV V8 engine, all-OHV engines, 4bbl carburetor.
Yeah, this was something of a down year for everyone except Olds,with Ford down by less than 7% and Buick by only 9%. Chrysler corp. suffered greatly, with Plymouth, Dodge and Chrysler itself being way down from ’53 levels.
Chevrolet
The 1954 Chevrolet models remained the Special 150 series, the Deluxe 210 series and the Bel Air. There were a few styling changes, such as a wider front bumper that had five vertical teeth, in place of the three of last year. The 150 now could be optioned with the Powerglide transmission.
Power steering and power brakes both appeared on the option list this year. The Vacuumatic ashtray was a minor, but interesting, option. I guess it’s fair to say that the benefits it offered to humanity were not appreciated. The side trim moldings were simple, with the Bel Air having a wider molding piece on the rear fenders.
Approximate sales: 1,143,000; change: -15%; industry rank: 2nd.
A bit of a restyling for Chevrolet, but nothing major. What did you expect? Next year will be EPIC !
Are those little baby fins sprouting from the rear fenders?
Nothing really exciting here, though that will change next year in a big way!
Powerglide might help the happy couple make a smoother getaway, sure, but ‘thriftier’?
Corvette
There was nothing new with Corvette, other than it sold twelve time as many ‘54’s as ‘53’s. But that was easy, with only 300 1953 Corvettes finding buyers. The future of Corvette was far, far from certain, with some GM insiders pointing to the low ’54 sales as reason to terminate this experiment. Red and Blue exteriors were available, in addition to the white from last year.
Approximate sales: 3,600; change: a crap ton.
Corvette was unchanged from its introduction year except for a handful of small things. Where the sole color last year was Polo white, this year you could get your new Corvette in Pennant blue, Sportsman red, and black.
Sales were many times the 300 of 1953, but far from what Chevrolet had hoped for. Make no mistake, the future of the little Corvette was far from certain.
This might be the most unattractive, uninspiring Corvette advertisement of all time!
Buick
For 1954 Buick models remained Special, Super and Roadmaster, but now there was a Century series between the Special and the Super. Yes, this is a name that Buick has used in the pre-war era. All three series featured the new Panoramic windshields, with the windshield posts of the Specials being tilted slightly forward, the other series having this positioned vertically.
New this year was the 264cid V8, which was used only in the Special.
The Century utilized the shorter wheelbase of the Special with the big V8 of the Roadmaster. Something special this year was the one-series Skylark, the sole model being a 2dr Sport Convertible. This was an attractive car, and demanded the premium price of $4,355, with less than one thousand finding homes.
Approximate sales: 444,000; change: -9%; industry rank: 4th.
New Styling
Buick models were nicely restyled this year. The side sweep-spear was reminiscent of the design of last year but the styling of the front and rear fenders was made much more current. Where the ’53 had a sculpting evoking protruding fenders, the ’54 was now slab-sided and thoroughly modern looking.
The headlight bezels were teardrop shaped, which was really quite cool, and grille and front bumper were both substantially updated. A-pillars are now upright, not tilted forward.
Rear look featured a massive bumper and dual stacked tail lights on each side. Rear wrap-around window was attractive.
I like this advert since it has a quality that’s kind of hard to identify. It touches on ride, convenience, power and safety, but it goes beyond that. From their dress, you could conclude that this couple has been dining and maybe dancing. The thought of parking high above the city, under the star-lit skies certainly has appeal for most of us. From the guy’s casual stance, they seem to be parked. Why are the headlights still on?
This is really quite a cool advertisement. I like the sketch-like things at the top highlighting the windshield and the interiors.
Oldsmobile
For 1954 the Oldsmobile lineup was slightly changed and the models were substantially restyled, with the series being Eighty-Eight, Super Eighty-Eight and Ninety-Eight. The middle series again was again the runaway best-selling Olds series. A new windshield offered more visibility, as well as improved aesthetics, and hoods were flatter with the last vestiges of separate rear fenders gone. All in all, these were nice looking cars.
The Rocket 303 V8 was bored 0.125” to make the new 324cid engine. This resulted in about a 20hp increase for all versions of the engine.
Approximate sales: 354,000; change: +6%; industry rank: 5th.
Olds’ front bumper was a lot like last year’s and was gorgeous. The windshield A-pillars no longer sloped backward, and the two-tone styling, separated by the sweep-spear, was stunning. Honestly, there is nothing at all about this car that I don’t like!
This styling, combined with the two-tone red/white is just killer. This car is just gorgeous! Note the trunk lid center piece and the trim pieces coming off of the turn signals.
This type of wrap-around windshield that was becoming common at this time was far more attractive than the earlier designs, as well as offering better visibility.
The forward-tilted windshield posts were a cool twist. From the title text you might think that Olds was the only one with them.
Pontiac
For 1954, Pontiac models saw minimal change, having been redone last year. In addition to the Chieftain, there was now a Star Chief line, consisting of Deluxe and Custom 4-door sedans and 2-door convertibles. This required an 11in. extension to the GM ‘A’ body frame. Pontiac bodies continued to feature low cut rear wheel-wells and rear bulging fenders, but there were certainly more modern looking models to be had among their competitors.
Transmission offerings remained a standard 3-speed manual and the optional dual four-range Hydra-Matic.
Sales dropped substantially, after the huge surge of 1953.
Approx. sales: 287,000; change: -31.1%; industry rank: 6th.
The side feature on Star Chief is rather attractive, isn’t it? The vestigial rear fenders looked dated. Maybe it’s just the angle, but the bumper here looks more massive than the one on the Oldsmobile, above.
Yeah, Pontiac did have their own rear look. Not unattractive, but maybe just a bit ponderous?
Well, it certainly is futuristic, isn’t it? Bonneville Special was a Pontiac concept car.
As with seemingly everyone else, Pontiac is advertising big-car feel, ride and luxury at a small-car price.
“America’s First Low Cost Luxury Car”? Well… that’s a unique approach. Or not. Does anyone really buy that? “Hey, Edith! Come take a look at this. Pontiac is the first low cost luxury car maker!” Yeah, I’m kinda doubting this.
Dave Garroway
Mr. Dave Garroway was the first host of NBC’s Today, which started broadcasting from New York on Jan. 14, 1952, and continues to this day. He left the show in 1961. He hosted a Friday night variety show, The Dave Garroway Show, from 1953 to 1954, the same time he was doing Today. He was an auto enthusiast, appearing in Corvette ads in 1953 and Ford Falcon ads in 1964. He was a lifelong sufferer of depression, long before there were effective drugs commonly available. In 1982, at the age of 69, he took his own life.
Wikipedia.org
Chrysler
For 1954 Chrysler dropped the Windsor series, with the series now consisting of Windsor Deluxe, New Yorker and New Yorker Deluxe. Sheet-metal changes were minimal, and the front bumper was changed so that its topmost part was just at the level of the headlights, dropping down on each side to clear the headlights. The 264cid six was unchanged, but he 331cid hemi got a Carter 4V carburetor and picked up 55hp, now making 235hp. Also new was a 331cid polyspherical head engine with the same bore, stroke and compression ratio as the hemi. It made 195hp with a similar Carter carb to the one the hemi had last year.
Approximate sales: 105,000; Change: -38%; industry rank: 9th
Chrysler styling was clean, and maybe a little understated.
Remnants of removable rear fenders were still present.
Polyspheric Head Engines
You can read all about these engines in the 1946 through 1963 Engine Development by Automaker section of Early US Automotive History. The bottom line is that Chrysler corp. had chosen hemispherical heads as the head design for all of their V8 engines. These were expensive engines to manufacture, as they required more hardware (total 4 rocker shafts) and the combustion chambers could not be used as cast – they required machining. This might be acceptable if these engines went solely into large, expensive cars, but nobody, and I mean nobody, anticipated the almost insatiable thirst Americans would develop for V8 engines. The answer was a head that was less expensive to manufacture, but that still could be associated with the hemi heads. This was something of a stopgap measure. See the above-mentioned section for full details.
In marketing to the higher income crowd, this advertisement is quite well done.
This series of Chrysler ads featured advertisements that were all similarly structured, in the top text style, car posing and the bottom text: “The power and look of leadership is yours in a Beautiful Chrysler“.
Dodge
For 1954 Dodge again went to a three series lineup. The Royal series was placed at the top of last year’s Meadowbrook and Coronet series. The entry-level Meadowbrook didn’t find many buyers, representing just 10% of the Dodge ’54 sales. Bodies were new last year, so, predictably, there were few changes this year. The 230cid six picked up 7hp and the 241cid hemi gained 10hp.
The Fluid Drive continued to be offered, with the fully automatic two-speed PowerFlite becoming available this year. A Royal 500 convertible paced the Indianapolis 500 this year.
This wasn’t a good year to be a Dodge dealer, with sales drops from 1953 totaling about 52%, the largest of all the major automakers.
Approximate sales: 154,000, change: -52%; industry rank: 8th.
Dodge followed Chrysler’s styling cues.
The rear bumper upright parts were, uh, interesting. They look like little rockets, but they’re pointed the wrong way! The chrome pieces along the top of the rear fenders are nice.
PowerFlite Automatic Transmission
Dodge was finally able to offer a fully automatic transmission this year, after having to make do with their confusing array of ‘semi-automatics’.
The PowerFlite used a torque converter and a two-speed planetary gearset. It started out in low and upshifted to second, unlike a Ford-O-Matic, but lacked a park position. This necessitated an integral parking brake.
The PowerFlite had one unusual feature in that it shared oil with the engine! That’s right, you filled not only the engine with oil, but the trans at the same time, to the tune of about eleven quarts.
Note that this is an actual photograph. This is a well put together advertisement and seems to have all of the bases covered. When the Little Lady asked to ‘see the sights’, she might not have had this in mind.
I like the look with the tan top!
This is a well done advertisement. PowerFlite was the two-speed fully automatic transmission that Dodge got this year, and the engine with “dome-shaped” combustion chambers was the little 241.
Plymouth
Plymouth followed its sisters lead this year with minimal body changes. They did shuffle the series up, though, dropping the previous series names in favor of the new Plaza, Savoy and Belvedere. If the last two names are familiar, it’s because they were model names in ‘53, now being elevated to series names. Power steering was available this year.
Engine offerings were again uninspiring, with the 281cid six being joined by a 230cid six, still not an OHV. The new engine offered only a 10hp gain. One must question why Plymouth even bothered. In addition, the 230 was a stroke increase of the already long stroke of the 218.
Approximate sales: 463,000; change: -29%; industry rank: 3rd.
Plymouth featured some nice lines. The ‘C’ pillar design is rather attractive.
Some sources point out that the Plymouth power steering was an all-new unit, rather than adding on to the existing manual setup, and that it was therefore more expensive. At $139.75, it was only $14.75 more than the option for an Olds, which is about a 12% difference. I guess it’s up to opinion whether that’s significant or not. Note that the car pictured has the driver on the right-hand side, as it’s a Chrysler Australia Limited advertisement.
(Chrysler’s) Medallion Theater
Airing from July 1953 to April 1954, this was a thirty-minute anthology series on CBS. Being an anthology, the actors, settings and stories varied each episode. Henry Fonda made his television dramatic debut on the show in 1953. Other actors appearing included Ronald Reagan, Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowell, Rod Steiger and Jack Lemmon. Rod Serling was one of the writers for the show.
Wikipedia.org
Ford
For 1954 Ford didn’t make many styling changes,with series names remaining unchanged, being Mainline, Customline and Crestline. The front bumper was tweaked, but it still retained the general look of the ‘53 bumpers.
The 215cid six was bored .006” to make 223cid, picking up 14hp in the process. The flathead 239 was gone, replaced by a 239cid OHV V8 with a bigger bore and smaller stroke. This engine was rated at 20hp more than the flathead, with the same displacement.
Approximate sales: 1,166,000; change: -6.6%; industry rank: 1st.
This model is indeed the Skyliner, available in the top Crestline series. The plexiglass top panel was certainly interesting and unique, perhaps a forerunner of the sun roofs that are so common today. However, there were no provisions for shielding the sun, as on hot sunny days, with the result being that there were times it was fun, but there were other times that it was a major annoyance. Remember, this wasn’t an era of auto air-conditioning yet.
As is often the case with something like this that was ‘premature’, it would be many years before sun roofs appeared in any quantity.
Continental tire option, no less. I’ve never been crazy about this feature, but it looks okay here.
Here’s a nice advert for Ford, with their new V8 engine being prominently featured.
Note the new Skyliner and its Plexiglass top panel, which was innovative, but ultimately impractical, and was a short-lived option.
More reasons you can’t get better value than with Ford!
1954 Ford Lineup Brochure
Mercury
Mercury continued with two series this year, Custom and Monterey. Having seen a restyling last year, there were minimal changes for 1954. The grille was restyled. Bigger news was that the 255 L-head V8 was replaced by an almost identically sized OHV V8 engine of 256cid, with power increasing substantially.
The trans was still a 3-speed manual, with Touch-O-Matic overdrive optional. However, a new Merc-O-Matic two-speed automatic was now available optionally.
Approximate sales: 259,000; change: -15%; industry rank: 7th.
The fake hood scoop imparted an interesting look to the hood of Monterey.
The Merc rear was rather like that of Ford, but with a different treatment for the tail lights.
This is an interesting advert featuring the new front ball-joint suspension of the ’54 Mercs. It’s said that the ’52 Lincolns were the first domestic cars that replaced the old kingpins for ball-joints.
Note the highlighted ‘America’s Fastest Growing Car’. I’m skeptical about this, to say the least. I wonder what it’s based on? I suspect it’s pure marketing B.S.
The Ford companies were really focused on selling ‘value’ at this time. Do you get that feeling, too?
1954 Engine Specs
1954 Newspaper Ads
Hudson, Kaiser, DeSoto and Studebaker. None would last.
Hey, a ’48 Kaiser for a mere $167! I’ll take the ’52 DeSoto Firedome for $1395; Firedome is an early hemispherical head engine. Lest you be confused (I was…) this is two different ads. The title really isn’t ‘NO SALE’!
‘Declares a Dividend’
I like ads like this one. Both the six and the V8 are new, the eight being a mere 16cu in. larger than the six. The cost difference was about $80. Ford would really advertise the Y-block engines heavily. It’s worth noting that not a single automaker followed the Y-block design. There were simply no benefits to this design, though Ford tried to create some. Other automakers did have similar tall block designs, but they were short lived.
In television commercials from this timeframe Ford even praised the values of their thick-wall block castings. As you might already know, thin-wall castings weighed less and were an advancement in block casting technology.
This Phillips 66 add is actually fairly accurate in depicting their diisopropyl additive as derived from the aircraft industry.
The ’66’ in their name was a tie-in to Route 66, which was the major east-west highway at the time. The interstate highway system that began its implementation in the 1950’s would lead to the decline of Route 66.
Bomber?
The large bomber in the upper part of the ad is a Convair B-36 Peacemaker. This was the premier post-war U.S. bomber and was far larger than anything previously seen. Where the famous B-29 Superfortress had a maximum takeoff weight of 138,000 lbs, the B-36 MTOW was 410,000 lbs! Each of Its six Pratt & Whitney R4360-53 Wasp Major 28-cylinder radial engines made 3,800hp! Later models of the B-36 would see the addition of four General Electric J47 turbojet engines, each producing 5,200lb of thrust. This is where the B-36 term “6 turning, 4 burning” comes from.
This picture is of a B-36 A, B or C version; the ‘D’ and later had the additional GE jet engines. The overall design of the B-36 had much more in common with its predecessor, the B-29, than it did with the B-52 that would follow. (Yes, I’m ignoring the B-47 medium bomber).
This is the Pratt & Whitney R4360-53 Wasp Major 4-row radial engine, in all its supercharged glory. Six of these glorious things powered each Peacemaker. Now, this, this was an engine!
