Packard enjoyed an industry-wide reputation for engineering excellence. The styling was quite conservative but the engineering always tried to stretch the limits---at least in the way Americans built cars back then.
When my aunt and uncle and their 4 kids moved from PA to CA in the summer of 1978, they owned a green Pontiac wagon, that towed a travel trailer. I don't remember the exact year, but I think it was an early 70's vintage.
My oldest cousins (fraternal twins) turned 16 that summer, and my cousin Kelli learned to drive in the Pontiac. She had this habit of "aiming" the car down the road, not making the small steering corrections necessary to keep the car in the lane. That didn't go so well, as you could imagine.
Just to complete the story, my cousin Kevin had a '69 Camaro SS - his dad had driven the car out earlier in the year when he started his job in CA.
Reading between the lines this text ad about GM's open mind was a critique of Henry Ford's closed mind and his static Model T. The Model T, little unchanged for more than 15 years, had become so outdated by 1927 that plunging sales forced Ford a month or so after this GM ad ran to shut down all of its dozens of factories that were making the Model T for about a year—because the replacement Model A wasn't ready. At the end of May of 1927 the 15 millionth Model T came off the assembly line and production of all Ford cars ended, sending Ford into free-fall and GM soaring. Ford's thousands of dealers had no new cars to sell for a very long time—and hundreds of Ford dealers were lured by GM into becoming Chevy dealers or dealers for their other brands. Ford by 1927 was epically mismanaged just as GM was firing on all cylinders.
The "Car Wars" of the 1920s were epic in their own way....Here's the market share for each of the big three starting in 1925. Ford fell off a cliff when it had to suspend production of the outdated Model T in mid 1927 because of collapsing sales. It was quite a while before production of the Model A began, but eventually it was a big hit. Even though in 1929 Ford reclaimed first place in sales by a small margin by number of units, in terms of total dollar sales GM remained ahead because of their richer product mix.
1925 Ford 45% GM 19% Chrysler 3% 1926 Ford 37% GM 27% Chrysler 4% 1927 Ford 17% GM 42% Chrysler 5% 1928 Ford 16% GM 42% Chrysler 11% 1929 Ford 35% GM 33% Chrysler 9%
Even though people today often say "all cars look the same now", that was far more true back in the '20s. I think that is why I have never been all that interested in vehicles from that era.
Getting back to the subject of car ads from the 1960s that stayed with me all these years later, I remember this one quite clearly. Not really sure why since I was never particularly interested in the car. Must have been that British-looking brunette.
I vaguely recall Ford dealers carrying some British Ford's, but I don't recall the model(s) (Wikipedia states: Anglia,Perfect and Cortina) and think it was a rather brief period of time like GM Vauxhall over at Pontiac dealers. Opel at Buick was longer lived here. British Ford may have sold more models in Canada though.
This one from around the same time was also memorable for different reasons. A competitor to the Cortina among captive imports. It wasn't sold in Canada to my knowledge.
I always wondered how they painted the racing stripe on the elephant and how they got it to run along the side of the road (assuming they did and it wasn't all photo retouching).
I like the Buick ad stating that they selected Lovejoy shocks as standard equipment for 1928. Delco-Remy (GM) purchased the Lovejoy Company in 1927 after being found in violation of Lovejoy's patents.
The General was taking control of the domestic market in 1927 and 1928. Maybe it was the fake convertible top Chevrolet Landau which helped push GM past Ford in sales!
Interesting history in the Packard ad too. The naval scene depicts the first US aircraft carrier USS Langley and what appears to be Vought VE-7 aircraft which was the first fighter aircraft of the U.S. Navy. Nothing powered by Packard but still impressive.
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
The boys in the Mercury PR office in the fall of '56 must have thought that the rear deck of the '57 Mercury didn't look long enough, so they issued this pic in their press kit for the new models that featured the factory optional "Dream Car Spare Carrier" a.k.a. continental kit. Yikes.
The boys in the Mercury PR office in the fall of '56 must have thought that the rear deck of the '57 Mercury didn't look long enough, so they issued this pic in their press kit for the new models that featured the factory optional "Dream Car Spare Carrier" a.k.a. continental kit. Yikes.
Just imagine what it's like leaning over to reach in the trunk!
Funny how model year 1957 paved the way to next year when Detroit seemed to lose all direction and boundaries. Speaking of all things big and no holding back, who offered the first 400 horsepower factory rated engine in an American passenger car for 1958?
Yep, most 1958 American cars were a mess. I suppose some of them are quite popular today due to the adage "it's so ugly it's cool", and I totally get that. The allure of the outrageous. But like outrageous people at a party, it gets old fast if you have to live with it for very long.
Some cars transitioned into 1958 with less garishness than others. The '58 Vette, while nowhere near as pretty and clean as the '57, didn't go too overboard. But dual headlights? Please, not on a sports car.
The '58 Merc actually looks worse than the '57. But one thing about the '58 was an improvement. Check out the detail in this taillight assembly! Space-age, man.
I'm not sure what they're aiming for exactly, but I could have told them that 10-year-old boys don't buy a Lexus convertible. I'll be interested to see how they market this car in adverts.
A bodacious claim, since 50 years prior to 1948 would be 1898. Surely, somebody on earth came out with a car with innovations prior to Tucker? It wasn't a very good car, anyway, but it did have interesting features that basically went....nowhere. "Ah, the 4-door sedan of the future--rear air-cooled engine with pre-selector transmission"---said no one ever.
I'm not sure what they're aiming for exactly, but I could have told them that 10-year-old boys don't buy a Lexus convertible. I'll be interested to see how they market this car in adverts.
It looks like they have almost done the impossible - design a convertible you cannot see out of.
I agree about the 58 Merc. The over bulked it up or something - the auto steroids of 1958! I didn't mind the styling of the 57 Mercury and thought it differentiated it quite a bit from the Ford. Well, the Turnpike Cruiser went a little Flash Gordon perhaps
I've been busy at work, but in case there's interest here are some more advertisements from 1927....Back in those days kids could stand up in the back seat areas of many cars because of the huge amounts of head room and leg room.
1927....They named a car "Dictator"? I guess that's not that different from Imperial? And the Taj Mahal which was featured by Packard gets featured again. This Studebaker is painted with four different colors! The interior of the Buick does look comfortable.
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My oldest cousins (fraternal twins) turned 16 that summer, and my cousin Kelli learned to drive in the Pontiac. She had this habit of "aiming" the car down the road, not making the small steering corrections necessary to keep the car in the lane. That didn't go so well, as you could imagine.
Just to complete the story, my cousin Kevin had a '69 Camaro SS - his dad had driven the car out earlier in the year when he started his job in CA.
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1925 Ford 45% GM 19% Chrysler 3%
1926 Ford 37% GM 27% Chrysler 4%
1927 Ford 17% GM 42% Chrysler 5%
1928 Ford 16% GM 42% Chrysler 11%
1929 Ford 35% GM 33% Chrysler 9%
Getting back to the subject of car ads from the 1960s that stayed with me all these years later, I remember this one quite clearly. Not really sure why since I was never particularly interested in the car. Must have been that British-looking brunette.
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2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
The General was taking control of the domestic market in 1927 and 1928. Maybe it was the fake convertible top Chevrolet Landau which helped push GM past Ford in sales!
Interesting history in the Packard ad too. The naval scene depicts the first US aircraft carrier USS Langley and what appears to be Vought VE-7 aircraft which was the first fighter aircraft of the U.S. Navy. Nothing powered by Packard but still impressive.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Here's a page from the factory brochure.
Here's an example for sale at $65K.
Some cars transitioned into 1958 with less garishness than others. The '58 Vette, while nowhere near as pretty and clean as the '57, didn't go too overboard. But dual headlights? Please, not on a sports car.
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But "ugly" hasn't gone away--it's just been re-invented for 2019!
Slash! Gap! Slit! Corner! What-EVER!
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6