Most Popular Cars of the 1920s: A Collector’s Look Back

A century later, the cars of the 1920s remain the icons of the Jazz Age. They are the roadsters with the running boards, the sedans with the rumble seats, the phaetons with the side-mounted spare tires, the wood-spoked wheels, the narrow whitewall tires, and the chrome-rimmed headlights. They are the cars that put America on wheels. By 1929 there were more than 23 million registered passenger cars in the United States — one for every five Americans — and the automobile had become the most consequential consumer product of the decade. For the broader industry context, see our guide to the automobile industry in the 1920s and the wider story of the 1920s economy.

The Ford Model T

The dominant car of the 1920s, and indeed of the entire first half of the twentieth century, was the Ford Model T. Production of the original Model T ran from 1908 to 1927, and in those 19 years Ford built 15,007,034 Model Ts — more than half of all the automobiles that had ever been built anywhere in the world. As late as 1918, the Model T accounted for more than half of all the cars on the planet. The car’s design was frozen in 1908 and changed only at the margins. From 1914 through 1925, every Model T came in one color — black, the only paint that would dry fast enough for the assembly line — though other colors were available in the first and last years. To understand the man behind the car,

The Ford Model A

On December 2, 1927, Henry Ford shut down the Model T line and introduced the Ford Model A. The new car was Ford’s answer to General Motors’ Chevrolet — a modern, closed-body sedan with a four-cylinder 40-horsepower engine, four-wheel mechanical brakes, and a choice of body styles. The Model A was an instant hit: 4 million were sold in the first 18 months, and 5 million by the end of production in 1931. Body styles ran the gamut from a roadster at $385 to a town sedan at $1,400. The Model A came in four colors, with the lower-priced models available only in black. For the social impact of these cars,

Chevrolet

The Chevrolet Motor Company had been founded in 1911 by Louis Chevrolet, a Swiss-born race car driver, and William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors. The 1912 Series C Classic Six established Chevrolet’s reputation for value, and the 1914 Series H “Royal Mail” roadster made the brand affordable for working-class buyers. Through the 1920s Chevrolet ran a constant price war with Ford, undercutting the Model T on features while matching it on price. The 1925 Superior K series, the 1927 Series AA Capitol, and the 1928 Series AB National were the volume sellers. In 1927, for the first time, Chevrolet outsold Ford in the United States — a defining moment in the industry’s history. Chevrolet’s prices ranged from $525 to $685 in 1928.

Dodge Brothers

The Dodge Brothers Company was founded in 1914 by John Dodge and Horace Dodge, who had originally supplied parts to Ford. The brothers’ first complete car, the 1915 Model 30-35, was a rugged and reliable machine that helped establish Detroit as the capital of the auto industry. By 1920 the Dodge Brothers were selling more than 100,000 cars a year. Both brothers died in 1920, leaving the company in the hands of their widows. In 1927 the widows sold Dodge to Chrysler Corporation for $170 million — the largest non-merger corporate transaction in American history up to that point. The 1928 Dodge Standard Six sold for $845 and was a direct competitor to the Ford Model A and the Chevrolet AB.

Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac

Buick was the middle line of General Motors’ brand structure, marketed as the doctor’s car and the banker’s car. The 1922 Model 22, the 1924 Master Six, and the 1925 Standard Six were the volume sellers. Oldsmobile, the oldest American automobile brand, was the entry-level luxury nameplate. The 1916 Model 44 retailed for $1,250, and the 1920 Model 37 continued the line. Pontiac, introduced in 1926 and named for the Ottawa chief, was GM’s attempt to slot a brand between Chevrolet and Oldsmobile.

Cadillac, LaSalle, and the Luxury Market

Cadillac had set the standard for American luxury since 1902. The 1915 introduction of the V-8 engine — the first in a mass-produced car — cemented the brand’s reputation for engineering excellence. The 1923 Type 61 retailed for $3,795. The 1927 Cadillac LaSalle, designed by Harley Earl of the new General Motors Art and Color Section, was Cadillac’s first attempt to compete in the lower luxury market. The LaSalle introduced the idea of a coordinated design department in an auto company — Earl would go on to design the Cadillac V-16 of 1930, the Buick Y-Job of 1938, and eventually the Chevrolet Bel Air of the 1950s.

Other luxury brands of the era included Packard, the Pierce-Arrow, the Marmon, the Duesenberg, the Stutz, the Hispano-Suiza, the Isotta Fraschini, and the Auburn. The 1928 Packard Standard Eight retailed for $3,550; the 1924 Packard Single Six for $1,395.

Lincoln and Ford’s Luxury Failure

In 1922 Henry Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company to enter the luxury market. The Lincoln Model L retailed from $4,000 to $7,800 — making it one of the most expensive American cars of its day. The early Lincolns were poorly built, and Ford’s micromanagement made them worse. The acquisition nearly bankrupted Ford. Only the 1931 introduction of the Lincoln K-series — designed by Ford’s son Edsel — saved the brand.

Hudson, Essex, and the Closed-Body Revolution

The Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit introduced the Essex brand in 1919. The 1925 Essex Super Six, retailed for $1,095 and offered a closed-body sedan — a feature most cars of the era did not have. The Essex was the first mass-market closed sedan in America, and it helped shift the industry away from open touring cars. To see how these cars were sold to consumers, and the broader transformation in consumer culture in the 1920s.

The Walter Chrysler Revolution

Walter Chrysler, a former railroad mechanic, joined Buick in 1911 and rose to become president of the division by 1919. He left GM in 1920 in a dispute with William Durant, took over the failing Maxwell Motor Company in 1924, and launched the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. His first products — the Chrysler Six of 1924, the Chrysler Four of 1925, and the Chrysler Imperial of 1926 — were technically advanced and stylishly designed, undercutting Buick on price and Cadillac on features. The 1928 Chrysler 75, with its high-compression six-cylinder engine, established Chrysler as a serious engineering brand. The acquisition of the Dodge Brothers in 1927 for $170 million gave Chrysler a second, lower-priced brand and a network of dealers that pushed it past Buick by the end of the decade. By 1929, Chrysler had become the third pillar of the Big Three, a position it would hold for the rest of the twentieth century.