The Globe and Mail

Pierre Trudeau defines an era in Canadian politics. Alexander Solzhenitsyn represents an age in Russian literature. So what are their four-wheeled equivalents - cars that symbolize entire blocks of social history? We decided to put together a garage that represents the past eleven decades.

Many cars were considered, including indisputable classics like the Porsche 911, the VW Beetle and the Citroen 2CV. But they didn't make cut. Why? Because of their sheer timelessness - the 911 could represent at least three decades. So could the Beetle. We were looking for cars as inextricably tied their era as the tie-dye shirt and the moon landing are to the 1960s.

Some of the choices (like the Willys Jeep and the Toyota Prius) are great vehicles. Others, like the Dodge Caravan and the Ford Explorer are distinctly mediocre. Regardless of their individual merits, each of these cars symbolizes an age in automotive history.

1900s – The Curved-Dash Oldsmobile

The Curved Dash conjures motoring's first decade, as society slowly warmed to the notion of the internal combustion vehicle. It was the first car to be produced in significant numbers (more than 19,000 were built between 1901 and 1907.) The design of the Curved Dash was strongly influenced by the horse-drawn carriages it helped render obsolete - the headlights were a brass lanterns, and the driver and passenger sat on top, stagecoach style.

1910s – Ford Model T

Thanks to Henry Ford's invention of the assembly line, the Model T became the first mass-produced automobile, and drove the final nail into the horse and buggy's coffin. Also known as the Tin Lizzie, the Model T became ubiquitous – as the end of the decade neared, the Model T represented more than half the cars on the roads of North America. Almost every one of them was the same colour – Mr. Ford insisted on black, because the paint dried faster than other colours.

1920s – Stutz Bearcat

Although it was first produced in 1912, the Bearcat became an enduring symbol of the Roaring Twenties, along with flappers, the hip flask and the raccoon-coat wearing frat boy. When you look at a Stutz, you can almost hear jazz music playing in the background. The Bearcat was the brainchild of Harry C. Stutz, an Ohio farm boy who went on to secure a place in American industrial history.

1930s – Ford Deluxe sedan

With its full running boards and vertical windshield, the Ford sedan evokes the 1930s like no other car - go into free association mode, and the Sedan conjures up Capone's Chicago, speakeasy clubs and Thompson machine guns carried in violin cases. The 1934 Sedan was favoured by a number of celebrity criminals, thanks to its powerful new flathead V8 motor, which allowed to it outrun police cars of the time. It was the choice of bank robber John Dillinger, who used the running boards as mobile platforms for machine-gunning henchmen. Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie and Clyde) wrote to Henry Ford to express his appreciation for manufacturing such a fine getaway ride.