San Antonio College Library

Chronicles the history reflected by fifteen iconic car models to discuss how automobiles reflect key cultural shifts as well as developments in such areas as manufacturing, women's rights, and environmental awareness.

"From its invention in Europe at the end of the nineteenth century, the automobile crisscrossed the world, completely took over the cities, and became a feature of daily life. Considered basic to the American lifestyle, the car reflected individualism, pragmatism, comfort, and above all, modernity. In Latin America, it served as a symbol of distinction, similar to jewelry or fine clothing. In The Cultural Life of the Automobile, Guillermo Giucci focuses...

Imagine a world without automobiles, traffic lights, and interstate highways. Or the words commuter and parking. For a nation that prides itself on the freedom of movement and the long weekend, this seems nearly impossible. In Down the Asphalt Path, Clay McShane examines the uniquely American relation between automobility and urbanization. Writing at the cutting edge of urban and technological history, McShane focuses on how new transportation systems...

Using archival footage, beautifully crafted contemporary animation, and interviews with astute cultural observers based outside the U.S., this program examines the implications of our love affair with the car. Viewers learn how, in just over a century, Henry Ford's innovations completely transformed human life, so much so that in some areas of the world cars seem more important than human beings. In the West, for example, an estimated sixty-two percent...

"This book explores how lowrider car culture allows Mexican Americans to alter the urban landscape and make a place for themselves in an often segregated society"--