<VV> Car History Question -- No Corvair

[Steven J. Serenska]

VVers:

The Corvair, Valiant/Lancer, and Falcon were introduced in 1960. 

Just prior to that, say, between 1955 and 1959, what would people have 
used as an economy car?  By "economy car" I don't mean a car that got 
good gas mileage, I mean one that would have been a lower priced vehicle 
that could be purchased by most anyone. 

I also don't mean cars like an older Volvo or a Saab (or even a VW), as 
I don't think that most Americans of lesser means would have sought out 
a relatively exotic vehicle like that.  I'm trying to get a handle on 
whatever was the low-cost family vehicle of choice in the mid- to 
late-50's before the manufacture of smaller, cheaper vehicles (e.g., 
Corvair, Chevy II, Falcon, etc.) that were priced lower than the biggest 
cars in the product line

Would it have been a 10-year old whatever (e.g., a 1950 Nash Rambler)?

Maybe another way to ask it is: If you were a single mother with 3 kids 
in 1958 in the rural south who cleaned houses for a living, what was 
your ride?  Were there any 4-cylinder vehicles that would have fallen 
into this category?

I tried Googling this, most references to vehicles from this era are for 
models that would be of interest to collectors today.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Steven "my Mom drove a 1954 Chevrolet Belair, but that was in 1967" Serenska