Vintage Car Ads

(October 16, 2014) — The iconic Route 66 was made famous in the early 1960s by the hit television show "Route 66" in which two young men traveled across America — some of the time, we presume, on Route 66 — in a Chevrolet Corvette.

There were 116 episodes from October 1960 through March 1964 and Chevrolet capitalized on the show's success with numerous Route 66 television ads.

(October 3, 2014) Oldsmobile introduced its Rocket engine in 1949, an overhead valve V8 design the took the place of the aging flathead straight-8, which was popular in the 1940s. The engine produced considerably more power than the flathead engines putting Oldsmobile at the forefront in performance.

(September 23, 2014) Packard introduced the Caribbean convertible in 1953 as a "halo" car to attract customers back to the brand, which had lost its premium brand luster after World War II. The convertible was based on the Pan American concept car shown at the 1952 New York International Motor Show.

(September 15, 2014) This classic Esso gas commercial from 1938 is rather interesting giving us a peak into the American service station in the late '30s. Nice theme too — giving a little something extra.

It was a time before such government entities became concerned with leaded gasoline. And note the rather weird and spooky cartoon at the end.

(August 28, 2014) Chevrolet produced some interesting — and informative — short movies in the 1930s for showing presumably at movie houses before the main feature.

This seven-minute production, "Turnabout Man," is rather unique because it doesn't push the Chevrolet brand, but offers lessons in road manners, lessons we could apply to driving today.

(June 30, 2014) Chrysler was the first American automaker to streamline a vehicle when it introduced the Chrysler Airflow in 1934. Led by Chrysler engineer Carl Breer, the company sought to build a car that was less susceptible to air resistance to get more performance from the engine and increase gas mileage.

(May 20, 2014) The Hudson Hornet was redesigned for 1955 under the auspices of the merged Hudson Motor Car Company and Nash-Kelvinator, formed in 1954 as American Motors Corporation. One of the new features of the Hornet was an air conditioning system.

(March 24, 2014) Ford completely refreshed its popular V-8 Ford for the 1935 model year giving it a more modern appearance that included a grille pushed forward and more integrated fenders.

The transverse leaf spring suspension remained for 1935, but the front spring was relocated ahead of the axle to allow more interior volume. The body was lowered and new "Center-Poise" seating improved comfort.

(March 7, 2014) As the final Ford in the design cycle that began with the all-new 1957, the 1959 Ford Galaxie and other models received far more changes than most end-of-the-line evolutions, probably because Ford knew an all-new 1959 Chevrolet was coming.

The previous 116-inch-wheelbase models moved over to the 118-inch Fairlane/Fairlane 500 span. New outer panels covered a much-changed 1957-1958 inner structure, resulting in bigger, brighter, blockier cars.

(February 13, 2014) In 1953, Packard reintroduced the Cliipper name after a five year absence on its entry-level car replacing the Packard 200 in the hopes of increasing sales with a "more affordable" Packard. The Clipper was available in Special and Deluxe trim models and two-door and four-door sedans.