Video: Presenting the 1957 New York Auto Show

From the New York Coliseum in Columbus Circle in Manhattan, here’s some great newsreel coverage of 1957 New York Auto Show.

 

 

Narrated by famed NBC reporter Ed Herlihy, this two-minute newsreel item from Universal-International supplies the lowdown, short and sweet, on the 1957 New York Auto Show. Featured autos at the exhibition, held at the shiny new New York Coliseum, included the 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, the most expensive car made in America that year, and the brand-new Ford Skyliner with its retracting metal top. More than 124 makes and models were reportedly represented at the show, but alas, we don’t get to see them all.

The leading executives of the Motor City also make an appearance here, including GM boss Harlow Curtice, Henry Ford II, George Romney of American Motors, and Chrysler’s L.L. “Tex” Colbert. This is a rare opportunity to see and hear the Chrysler president and chairman speaking on film, and here he predicts a “banner year” for the U.S. auto industry. True enough but it wouldn’t last, as the automakers ran headlong into a severe recession in 1958, and sales tumbled more than 30 percent. But for the moment, times were good. Video below.