Vintage Car Ads

The safest place on earth — in 1935

(August 10, 2015) Automobile manufacturers are equipping their vehicles with safety technology never even dreamed about a couple of decades ago making driving safer than at any time since the invention of motorized transportation.

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'Conquering Roads' a fascinating look at our highway system in 1937

(June 30, 2015) Chevrolet's 1937 promotional film, "Conquering Roads," is a fascinating history lesson into road building 78 years ago. It depicts surprisingly modern highways of the era, including some intriguing footage of road construction.

Just as interesting are the cars and trucks of the time.

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Building the Lincoln Futura concept car

(June 17, 2015) The design team at Ford shows how a car is built from concept to reality in this riveting video. The ending shows the 1955 Lincoln Futura in a wind tunnel, freeze chamber, and on road testing.

The Futura was designed by the Lincoln division of Ford Motor Company by lead stylists Bill Schmidt and John Najjar Ferzely and built by Ghia entirely by hand in Turin, Italy. It was shown on the auto show circuit in 1955.

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Creative ad turns 1986 Cavalier into a 'performance' Z24

(April 16, 2015) One of the great advertising lines of the mid-80s has to be the one describing the new 1986 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 — "The quick little fox raised by wolves."

If that didn't raise your automotive excitement level 30 years ago then nothing would. Like a Corvette or a Camaro, the ad proclaimed. A Cavalier? Perhaps heard across the country after viewing the ad was the plea, "Honey, please, we need to head to the Chevy store and take a look."

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Pontiac on display at the New York Auto Show 74 years ago

(March 26, 2015) With the opening of the 2015 New York Auto Show just a week away, it's fascinating to watch a 14-minute video on the attributes of the 1941 Pontiac from the floor of the 1941 New York Auto Show.

A pitchman uses his "magic" with the assistance of three models to show off features of the Pontiac Torpedo. The most intriguing part of the long-running advertisement is the cut-away Pontiac that can be completely opened from the front to reveal the interior of the car as well as the engine.

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The Chevrolet commercial at Castle Rock

(February 19, 2015) One of the most famous — and memorable — automotive television commercials of the 20th Century was made by Chevrolet, advertising the 1964 Chevrolet Impala convertible.

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Ford touts an all-new lineup for 1960

(January 5, 2015) Ford turned out an all-new design for the 1960 model year, as well as a new compact car, the Falcon. This three-minute advertising video puts a heavenly star-struck spin on the trio of cars — the standard full-sized Ford, the Thunderbird and the compact Falcon sedan.

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Ford creates modern marvel with first mass-produced hardtop convertible

(December 26, 2014) One of the hottest television couples of the 1950s was Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz starring in "I Love Lucy," the most watched show in the U.S. for four years of its six-year run from 1951 to 1957. So they were the perfect couple to tout the new Ford hardtop convertible in a two-minute advertisement. One of the automotive industry's modern marvels, Ford introduced the removal hardtop on the 1957 Skyliner.

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Dinah Shore, Chevrolet and 'See the U.S.A.'

(November 19, 2014) The 1953 Chevrolet lineup got a heavy makeover — although it didn't go on sale until just after the new year — with three trim levels and 16 models, according to a Chevrolet publicity chart. The three trims included the base One-Fifty, the new-for-53 mid-level Two-Ten and the top-of-the-line Bel-Air.

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1957 advertisement touts family friendly features of Chevy station wagon

(November 4, 2014) Although the 1957 Chevrolet was a carryover from the 1955-56 iteration, some key styling changes including a new chrome headlight enclosure, a wider grille, and a new dashboard, has made the '57 model highly collectable.

General Motors initially wanted an all-new car for 1957, but production delays necessitated postponement until the 1958 model year.

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