It's not what you wear; it's the car you have

Just as the horse was a sign of welfare and power, the car became a social status symbol in the 20th century. Initially reserved for the rich and powerful, it developed in the context of mass motorisation to become a means of social communication.

Today too, the type of car says something about the man or woman at the wheel. A person arriving by car makes some kind of statement about his or her personality, emotions and material circumstances. By choosing a particular kind of vehicle, owners seek to present themselves as they would like to be: 'Which car suits me?' – it is not just the way people are clothed that tells their story.

From the 1950s onwards, the Federal Republic continued to grow economically. The need arose to stand out from the others by selecting a particular kind of car. Not only prosperity, but also sportsmanship, eroticism and individuality were associated with certain makes of car.

At that time, Mercedes and Porsche more or less had a monopoly on automotive status symbols. The world of film encouraged this effect. In 'High Society', made in the USA in 1956, as the spoilt daughter of a respectable family, Grace Kelly drove a silver-grey Mercedes 190 SL. But that monopoly was broken with the rise of BMW in the 1970s.