| Summary: | If automobilism had been the bearer only of an elite culture, it would not have experienced such complete acceptance in western metropolitan societies. Faced with this fundamentally inclusive phenomenon, the social historian must consider the strong demand for cars seen in Paris over the years from 1950 to 1960. In the France of the “Trente Glorieuses” (1945-1975), the phenomenon of mass motorisation provides evidence of the process of democratisation experienced by a consumer good retaining social significance yet in the process of losing its role as marker of social class. The evolution of the status of the automobile thus merits attention, as do the metamorphoses of the accessibility of the city centre and of its appropriation, which were profoundly altered by the motorised means of personal transportation.
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