History of the automobile
In 1949, the automobile industry finally got back on its feet after World War II. This same year General Motors, Cadillac and Oldsmobile introduced the integrated one-piece automobile body. The process joined all the different parts of the body into one body shell. Cars produced during this period concentrated on safety. Cars were big during this time. But in the late 1960s carmakers tried to market much smaller cars. The attempts by General Motors, Chrysler and Ford were all marketing failures. Instead, what sold was the performance car. Cars like the Ford Mustang and the Plymouth Barracuda were very successful. During the late 1950s, many smaller countries began producing cars. Both India and Iran were making cars from about 1959. The first Indian car design from 1950 was very similar to the Opel Kapitän. The first Iranian cars were very similar to several American cars. Both were designed in the United Kingdom.