Auto America

American Auto offers a compelling look at three decades (from the 1950s to the 1970s) of America's fascination with the automobile. At a time when self-driving vehicles and climate change are transforming driving around the world, Zimmerman's pictures capture the optimism and even utopianism of a beloved period in American car culture. Many of Zimmerman's photographs were originally taken for Life, Time, and Sports Illustrated magazines and highlight diverse aspects of America's auto industry at its zenith; they feature not only iconic cars of the period, which Zimmerman chronicled comprehensively at car shows and in studio assignments throughout the period, but also a behind-the-scenes look at the people who designed, built, collected, exhibited, and raced them. With more than 200 photographs, drawing on the Zimmerman Archive's collection-including his best-known photographs of Fords, Chryslers, and GMs in their heyday alongside ephemera, tear sheets, outtakes, and contacts from his assignments-the book celebrates the automobile's central place in American culture during those decades when the timeless silhouettes of classic cars ruled the roads.