Seventy years ago, the global automotive industry was booming. The process of recovering from the Second World War was more or less complete, there was a big demand for new models, and design features which had seemed freakish in the 1930s were now fresh and exciting.
With a certain amount of anguish, we’ve cut down the list of cars introduced in 1953 to 30, presented here in alphabetical order. For clarification, 1953 refers to the model year in North America (in which case the car might in fact have been introduced in 1952) and to the calendar year everywhere else.
These are the Top 10 Cars of 1953:
- 1. AC Ace - The Ace sports car made its debut only six years after that of the AC 2-Litre, but it was so much more modern that a casual observer might assume they were introduced decades apart.
- 2. Alvis TC21 - Like the preceding TA21, the TC21 was officially marketed as the Three Litre due to its 3-litre straight-six engine.
- 3. Aston Martin DB2/4 - The DB2/4 was a development of – and indeed replaced – the DB2 launched in 1950.
- 4. Austin-Healey 100 - The first car produced by the joint venture between Austin and the Donald Healey Motor Company (and also the first now known as Big Healey) was a two-seat roadster powered by a 2660cc Austin four-cylinder engine.
- 5. Bristol 403 - 1953 could be described as a transitional year for Bristol.
- 6. Buick Skylark - The first of many Buick Skylarks was part of the Roadmaster range and, along with the Cadillac Eldorado and Oldsmobile Fiesta, one of three top-end General Motors convertibles introduced in the 1953 model year.
- 7. Cadillac Eldorado - Cadillac first used the Eldorado name for a 1952 concept car floridly described in a press release as ‘an expression of the ageless arts’.
- 8. Chevrolet 210 - Ask a hundred people to name the most memorable Chevrolets in history, and you’d be lucky to find more than a couple who know about the 210.
- 9. Chevrolet Corvette - Unlike some of the other American cars we’re looking at, the Corvette was introduced in the 1953 calendar year.
- 10. Daimler Conquest - The Conquest was Daimler’s replacement for the larger Consort saloon.
The 10 best-sold cars ever
Some cars are iconic because so many people owned them. The Chevrolet Impala is one of these cars. Even though it was never for sale in Europe, everyone knows this model. Cinema has a lot to do with it.
Have you owned one of them:
- 1: Toyota Corolla (1966) 37.5 million cars
- 2: Ford F-Series (1948) 35 million cars
- 3: Volkswagen Golf (1974) 27.5 million cars
- 4: Volkswagen Beetle (1938) 23.5 million cars
- 5: Ford Escort (1968) 20 million cars
- 6: Honda Civic (1972) 18.5 million cars
- 7: Honda Accord (1976) 17.5 million cars
- 8: Ford-T (1916) 16.5 million cars
- 9: Volkswagen Passat (1973) 15.5 million cars
- 10: Chevrolet Impala (1959) 14 million cars
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz 220D
Mercedes-Benz (German pronunciation: mɛɐ̯ˈtseːdəsˌbɛnts) commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Mercedes-Benz AG produces consumer luxury vehicles and light commercial vehicles badged as Mercedes-Benz. From November 2019 onwards, Mercedes-Benz-badged heavy commercial vehicles (trucks and buses) are managed by Daimler Truck, a former part of the Mercedes-Benz Group turned into an independent company in late 2021. In 2018, Mercedes-Benz was the largest brand of premium vehicles in the world, having sold 2.31 million passenger cars.
The brand's origins lie in Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft's 1901 Mercedes and Carl Benz's 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which is widely regarded as the first internal combustion engine in a self-propelled automobile. The slogan for the brand is "the best or nothing". Mercedes-Benz traces its origins to Karl Benz's first internal combustion engine in a car, seen in the Benz Patent Motorwagen – financed by Bertha Benz's dowry and patented in January 1886 – and Gottlieb Daimler and their engineer Wilhelm Maybach's conversion of a stagecoach, with the addition of a petrol engine, introduced later that year. The Mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG).
Emil Jellinek-Mercedes, a Jewish-Austrian automobile entrepreneur who worked with DMG, registered the trademark in 1902, naming the 1901 Mercedes 35 hp after his daughter Mercedes Jellinek. Jellinek was a businessman and marketing strategist who promoted "horseless" Daimler automobiles among the highest circles of society. At the time, it was a meeting place for the haute volée of France and Europe, especially in winter. His customers included the Rothschild family and other wealthy clients, but as early as 1901, he was selling Mercedes cars in the "New World" as well, including to billionaires Rockefeller, Astor, Morgan, and Taylor. At the Nice race he attended in 1899, Jellinek drove under the pseudonym "Monsieur Mercédès". Many consider that race the birth of Mercedes-Benz as a brand. In 1901, the name "Mercedes" was re-registered by DMG worldwide as a protected trademark. The first Mercedes-Benz branded vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler's companies into the Daimler-Benz company on 28 June of the same year.
