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American Cars

As General Motors prepares to file for bankruptcy, Stephen Miller—obituary writer for The Wall Street Journal—on the colorful and tumultuous life of the once-dominant 101-year-old American company.

Published May 30 2009 5:45PM EDT

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars_ynbouv — AFP / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars_knlcaa — Henry Ford and his son Edsel pose in a Model F Ford in front of their house in Detroit in 1905.
AFP / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-09_dzvjxg — Newlyweds Marilyn Monroe and playwright Arthur Miller cruise in their convertible. Their friend, American photographer Milton Greene, rides along in July 1956.
Paul Schutzer, Time & Life Pictures / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-02_mg6ymj — The Ford assembly line in Detroit in 1927.
Popperfoto / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-07_bmxu0r — Gone With the Wind’s Clark Gable shows off his 1955 Ford Thunderbird.
Hulton Archive / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-03_p9pmpc — Checking out the latest model at a General Motors new car show in 1954.
Ralph Morse, Time Life Pictures / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-04_dg7igv — President Harry S. Truman at the wheel of his new beige 1945 deluxe two-door Ford sedan, a present from Henry Ford. The president was one of the first to secure a postwar automobile.
Keystone / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-05_k1nii9 — Fixing up a 1927 Ford Model T, in 1945.
Nina Leen, Time & Life Pictures / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-08_ezn8ma — Bob Hope in 1935 leaning on his Packard Eight Convertible Sedan, an extremely popular model in its time.
John Kobal Foundation / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-06_owk5lb — Future mechanics practicing their trade, in the 1960s.
Roberts, Retrofile / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-11_vxet1d — Young American actress Marla English proudly displays her car in 1955.
Hulton Archive / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-10_ef9zjg — In the market for a Chrysler-Windsor motor car in 1941.
Hart Preston, Time Life Pictures / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-12_gcpdjh — A shot of the legendary Ford barbecue at the Henry Ford Estate in 1964.
Al Fenn,Time Life Pictures / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-13_sd9d1l — Discussing business at the United Auto Workers' Convention in 1943.
Herbert Gehr, Time Life Pictures / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-14_vxjohh — Cars of the day line the road in a traffic jam in 1950.
H. Armstrong Roberts, Retrofile / Getty Images

galleries/2009/05/30/american-cars/american-cars-15_euobme — Actress Liz Taylor and her fourth husband, singer Eddie Fisher, form a happy union on May 12, 1959, in Las Vegas.
AP Photo

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