Special Exhibition “Love Those Tail Fins!” at the Toyota Automobile Museum

What were legacies of tail fins?

To many of us, cars sporting tail fins—a singular styling evocative of jet aircraft or rockets—are as American as apple pie.

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Spearheaded by a Cadillac released in 1948, tail fin styling quickly caught on in the U.S. and became the most iconic auto design style of the next decade.

The exhibition, featuring American cars from the 1950s with tail fins, presents the history of this extravagant styling and offers glimpses into mid-20th century American culture and society.

Surfacing after an era of war and hardship, the popular tail fins reached their zenith in the 1950s before quickly fading into oblivion.

Retracing the path of this fleeting phenomenon may teach us a thing or two about enjoying life in an age of uncertainty.