It seems like the concept of cool has been in our culture forever. At least in terms of muscle car history, we can possibly trace the beginning of what it meant to own a cool car as far back as 1947. That’s when the Chevy Fleetline Aerosedan hit the markets, and it could easily be said that this one modest little car changed everything.
The idea that a sleek design or a sexy body of a car makes a difference was not that well understood before the year that cars became cool. Unlike the time to come years after the Chevy Aerosedan hit the markets, the 1947 Chevy Fleetline Aerosedan really did not have anything over any of the other models of similar cars under the hood. Later during the muscle car years, the idea of a cool car included a great look combined with massive power that was far more than what could be had in a conventional car. But when Chevy invented cool, it was all good looks.
What the clever designers at Chevrolet did was to bring back the fastback body style that was popular in cars in the ‘40s when they put together the body of the 1947 Chevy Fleetline Aerosedan. When Chevy slipped this “new” great-looking cool car into their Fleetline lineup, it was done without fanfare, but that did not stop consumers from noticing that there was something very exciting and cool that stood out in the Chevy stable of cars.
Starting in late 1947 and continuing for the next several years, the sales of the Chevy Fleetline Aerosedan skyrocketed. There was no explanation for it other than that is appealed to the public because it was a very cool-looking car. The 1947 Chevy Fleetline Aerosedan was made virtually identical to other cars in the Chevy lineup and functionally, cars did not distinguish themselves based on superior power or engine design. The only explanation for the explosive popularity of the 1947 Chevy Fleetline Aerosedan was the very cool styling of that early prototype of a muscle car.