Car Craze

Small foreign cars enjoyed increased sales in the US during the late 50s which led to the introduction of compact cars by the American Automobile Industry. A compact car was envisioned as a family automobile that is smaller in over-all size than a standard car with more or less the same interior body dimension. The engine is also usually smaller.

The honor of being the first car to be categorized as compact in the U.S. belongs to the Nash Rambler, which was the only car whose sales did not drop when small European cars became popular. Several other compact cars were introduced which cut into the sales of foreign cars. As the sales of compact cars declined sometime after, it is evident even today that compacts occupy an important place in the automobile market, in general.