Greatest Generation · 1901–1927 · Transport flivver

Flivver

A cheap, beat-up or unreliable automobile.

IN PLAIN ENGLISHAn old unreliable car
THE VIBEJazz-age, punchy and playful
USE IT INJazz-age conversation and 1920s culture
USE IT LIKE THIS

Their flivver rattled all the way into town.

WORD ORIGIN

Associated with early-20th-century American speech, jazz-age culture and the Prohibition era.