Automotive Ads and Brochures

benjaminh

1931

benjaminh

1931

benjaminh

1931

benjaminh

1931

benjaminh

Quite a while ago I posted selected pages of car brochures from Oldsmobile and Pontiac, and for each of those makes we spanned decades. But for Buick I stopped in 1930 for some reason. I didn't actually recall that until I went and looked it up. Anyway, even being fortunate to be currently working at home I still have some extra time. And given that we are maybe about to enter a new great depression, it seems grimly appropriate to post Buick's deluxe booklet art from the 1930s. Buick has been for most of its existence a pillar for GM, making quality cars that have a loyal fan base and have often been profitable for the parent company, pulling it through during lean times. GM kept investing in Buick, as well as in most other GM divisions, but some of those little ones like Viking and Marquette, that in retrospect were unwise expansions during the overheated 20s, were pruned away by 1933. In some selected pages from this 1933 brochure, Buick wisely markets itself as a sound purchase, in a way that's actually similar to the way I try to look at car purchases. A Buick was substantially more expensive than a Ford or Chevy, but was more comfortable, more durable, better built, had more performance, etc. It's likely that a Buick would last years longer than a Ford or Chevy (and this brochure even claims 150,000 miles might be possible in a 1933 Buick!), meaning in the long run it would probably be just as economical as those bargain cars, but during every one of those miles you'd be much happier in a Buick.

benjaminh

In 1934 Buick was offering payment plans of 12 months or 18 months. Insurance was included in the price. They made a big deal about the GM proving grounds and the endurance tests the cars when through. In 1934 Buick was offering the lowest prices in Buick history. Almost everyone who could afford a new car seemingly could afford an entry-level Buick.

benjaminh

1931 Packard brochure, pt. 1

benjaminh

1931 Packard brochure pt. 2:

texases

Are those wooden wheels on that Packard? Or just styled like them?

benjaminh

texases said:

Are those wooden wheels on that Packard? Or just styled like them?

I don't know, but my guess some wheels might still wooden at this point. Many GM "Body by Fisher" cars were still built with a lot of wood in 1931.

benjaminh

1931 Packard brochure pt. 3:

benjaminh

1931 Packard brochure part 4:

ab348

And then there’s this:

fintail

Those Packard ads make me think "what depression?".

VW ad is from National Lampoon IIRC.

Although this one is real, I think - hard to believe:

benjaminh

1935 Buick brochure part 1:

sda

I always liked these. Sorry for the poor picture.

sda

This was a favorite feature in Motor Trend that I enjoyed. That magazine is a far cry from what it had been.

sda

benjaminh

@sda Do you have lots of old Motor Trend magazines? It'd be a trip down memory lane to read some of those from the 1970s and 80s. I always liked the ads as much as the articles. But I was fascinated by the whole era of downsizing. The articles would always talk breathlessly about how, for instance, the Chevy before the 1980 Chevy Citation weighed c. 800 pounds more and was about two feet longer, and yet the new Citation had more legroom and got much higher mpg!

benjaminh

1935 Buick brochure part 2....

benjaminh

Selections from the 1935 Buick brochure, third and last part....

sda

Here's a reminder of inflation in 74-75 really showing its ugly teeth and caused significant price increases. This was an article in Motor Trend late 74.

fintail

Inflation created some weird things. I have some KBB/NADA guides from 1976 - 1970 model year MBs sometimes had book values higher than original MSRP.

sda

benjaminh said:

@sda Do you have lots of old Motor Trend magazines? It'd be a trip down memory lane to read some of those from the 1970s and 80s. I always liked the ads as much as the articles. But I was fascinated by the whole era of downsizing. The articles would always talk breathlessly about how, for instance, the Chevy before the 1980 Chevy Citation weighed c. 800 pounds more and was about two feet longer, and yet the new Citation had more legroom and got much higher mpg!

I do have a large collection of many car magazines, brochures, etc. As I am working from home, I am set up in our upstairs bonus room. All my old car literature is close by so when I have a little break from work I’ve been having fun browsing. Honestly I wish I had a good place to store them as they are now starting to age poorly. They are stored in an attic type room subject to temp extremes located just off the bonus room.

benjaminh

1947 Buick brochure, part 1.

benjaminh

1970 Pontiac Bonneville Wagon with the 370 horsepower 455 V-8.

Michaell

benjaminh said:

1971 Pontiac Bonneville Wagon with the 370 horsepower 455 V-8.

The text indicates that's a 1970.

When my aunt and uncle moved from PA to CA - with their 4 kids - in 1978, they towed a 20-something foot RV behind a great big Pontiac wagon. I think it was probably a '72 or '73, IIRC. They traded it in, eventually, for a late 70's or early 80's Suburban.

benjaminh

1940 De Soto, part 1:

ab348

Michaell said:

The text indicates that's a 1970.

There's no mistaking that classic-revival front end for anything but a 1970 Pontiac.

kyfdx

My uncle had a '70 Bonneville sedan, and my mother had a '71 Grand Ville. That was her 3rd Pontiac in a row, but she hated that one, and traded it for a Lincoln in '72.

benjaminh

1960 Ford Country Squire.

fintail

A 60 Ford wagon is a huge car, but those people must be drawn to a scale where they are all about 4'10/75 lbs.

imidazol97

I think the seats in the 60 Ford were lower than earlier cars. So those folk might sit lower and actually
be closer to average height,
but they sure are trim and fit weight.

fintail

A 9 passenger Squire is the ne plus ultra of 60 Ford wagons. That could be it, low seating would help, but illustrators did take liberties. It definitely had the width to hold people. I remember my dad would load us all up in his Country Sedan, along with some friends, and it wasn't tight.

That 60 Ford my dad had in the 90s received more smiles than one can imagine, people loved that car.

benjaminh

1960

benjaminh

1960 Bowling Alley

fintail

I clearly recall the upholstery pattern in my dad's red and white car being like that in the baseball kids illustration.

sda

Again, sorry for the poor quality. I took these on my phone. From 1972. Mom had a 71 Audi 100 LS in the same red. A nice car, but liked to visit the repair shop.

Michaell

sda said:

Again, sorry for the poor quality. I took these on my phone. From 1972. Mom had a 71 Audi 100 LS in the same red. A nice car, but liked to visit the repair shop.

Is that the first recorded use of the term "Leatherette"?

ab348

I found the front end design for the '71/'72 LeMans/GTO rather unattractive compared to the '70.

sda

From late 72, 2x, oops

sda

fintail

Those late run E-Types make me me think of "Cujo" (along with the Pinto).

Earlier examples of both Avanti and E-Type are much more sought after today.

sda

Though not automotive, my grandmother had this exact model. It was a beautiful piece of furniture. It had an FM stereo tuner with a neat bubble like gauge to show if the station was tuned in correctly. Worked kind of like a level, when the bubble was equally between two lines it was tuned in. It had a turn table and a storage compartment for albums. I was offered it but didn't have room for it.

benjaminh

My first car that I bought with my own money was a 1969 Pontiac Safari Wagon in green, very similar to the one pictured below. Got it in 1986 for $960. Loved the 2-way tailgate.

kyfdx

@benjaminh That was probably a pretty dorky car for 1986, but it would be very cool, now.

sda

kyfdx said:

@benjaminh That was probably a pretty dorky car for 1986, but it would be very cool, now.

And if I was a father of a daughter you want to date, just no...

ab348

sda said:

kyfdx said:

@benjaminh That was probably a pretty dorky car for 1986, but it would be very cool, now.

And if I was a father of a daughter you want to date, just no...

Yeah, almost as good as Nash seats!

benjaminh

sda said:

kyfdx said:

@benjaminh That was probably a pretty dorky car for 1986, but it would be very cool, now.

And if I was a father of a daughter you want to date, just no...

Yeah, that 69 Pontiac was a weird looking car. It was in near mint condition outside and in when I got it, and it only had 99k miles from the second owner. But the 400 cubic-inch V-8 engine sucked down oil as well as gas, and had carburetor problems too, and so even though that huge wagon was about the best bargain by the pound that you could imagine, it began to tax my meager student budget, and so I sold it after just a year. One of the people influencing the design of the car was apparently GM executive "Bunkie" Knudson, who left for Ford in the late 1960s and seemingly gave similar styling to the 1970 Thunderbird. It was known as "Knudson's nose" or "Bunkie's beak"!

sda

Dad’s uncle special ordered one of those Thunderbirds in that same cream color yellow, no vinyl top, black interior. I don’t recall if it had electric windows, etc. It did have ac, am radio, bench seat. His wife drove it for years.