Automotive Ads and Brochures

omarman · March 2019

Second gen Bronco began development under the name "Shorthorn."
An excerpt from The Bronco At 50: A History Of Ford’s Trail Pony:

According to George Peterson, onetime product design engineer at Ford, there was a relatively large budget devoted to the project. He described four concepts: Shorthorn (a two-door fullsize on a 105-inch wheelbase), Longhorn (a four-door fullsize on a standard 1/2-ton wheelbase with an extended rear overhang), Midhorn (a Longhorn without the extended tail), and the Widehorn (an extended-width version of the Longhorn). According to Peterson, the only running prototype was the Shorthorn, which was built in 1973 from a shortened ’72 F-100 truck... By the time it was introduced for ’78, only the two-door Shorthorn idea was produced with the Bronco nameplate. The development of a four-door SUV was deemed too risky at the time.

omarman · March 2019

My cousin bought a new 1979 Bronco but not with the Free Wheeling package.

sda · April 2019

I am so tired of advertising showing how comfortable a vehicle is by ‘dad’ driving and everyone else (full occupancy) peacefully sleeping. Just saw a Highlander commercial, and thought how unoriginal and boring.

omarman · April 2019

I saw the new "built bigger better" Expedition commercial recently and then found it on youtube. No sleeping kids or Subaru dogs here just big daddy Expedition-ing his way through the desert. BIG that's BETTER BECAUSE we BUILT it that way. I like it even though I have no need for the size or towing capacity. Somebody needs that truck!

The Good-Bad-Ugly sound alike background music was good but Ford should have sprung for this version by The Danish National Symphony Orchestra.

tjc78 · April 2019

sda said:
I am so tired of advertising showing how comfortable a vehicle is by ‘dad’ driving and everyone else (full occupancy) peacefully sleeping. Just saw a Highlander commercial, and thought how unoriginal and boring.

I hate to say it... but in our family that is the reality. Almost every road trip, kids catching some Z's in the back and wife either reading something on her phone or sleeping too.

At least I get to pick the music.

ab348 · April 2019

Best unintentionally funny ad of the year so far is for the 2019 Ford Ranger.

Voice-over:
"Other species avoid pain and struggle."

(cut to this shot of front end of a new Ranger)

"We actually seek it out."

Not promising for the driving/ownership experience it unintentionally promises. Editing is important.

omarman · April 2019

Funny but I'm not so sure that the Strange Creature humor about the Ranger is unintentional.

fintail · April 2019

Highlander is effectively a Camry SUV, so it works.

In my area, the odd hyperbolic "aggressively sophisticated" slogan is used to describe that glorified minivan.

sda said:
I am so tired of advertising showing how comfortable a vehicle is by ‘dad’ driving and everyone else (full occupancy) peacefully sleeping. Just saw a Highlander commercial, and thought how unoriginal and boring.

fintail · April 2019

Reminds me of a (local?) GM spot, maybe for Pontiac, that aired here during the early 'oughts, using the song "Might as Well Be Walking On the Sun". I always piped up "Because you're gonna get burned".

ab348 said:
Best unintentionally funny ad of the year so far is for the 2019 Ford Ranger.

Voice-over:
"Other species avoid pain and struggle."

Not promising for the driving/ownership experience it unintentionally promises. Editing is important.

berri · April 2019

Highlander is effectively a Camry ...and the Honda Pilot and new Passport come from the Odyssey minivan. One sit behind the wheel and the intruding wheel well bares that out.

ab348 · April 2019

I always thought these were a bit pudgy-looking, but since Chrysler was almost out of money at the time I guess they can be forgiven.

Mr_Shiftright · April 2019

Very "Facel Vega" don't you think?

ab348 · April 2019

It does have a certain resemblance. The style that followed it looked more modern but was not a well-made vehicle (assuming that any Chryslers from that era actually were).

texases · April 2019

Kind of an odd ad, text-wise. How many buyers in 1979 would remember the '55 300? They must have been going after a 50+ audience.

2manyfumes · April 2019

No bragging on the horsepower numbers on the '79.

fintail · April 2019

Moses Lake WA, November 21 1975:

ab348 · April 2019

Not much on Don Swanson's used lot seems very appealing to me. Maybe the El Camino but that is not my favorite generation for them.

kyfdx · April 2019

Their prices don't make me want to jump in there, either.

fintail · April 2019

Inflation and malaise banging on the door, what a time.

omarman · April 2019

I like the '74 GMC camper special 3/4 ton with 4x4 and dealer asking price $5295. What are dealers asking now for a 2 y/o GMC 1500 or 2500 regular cab 4x4?

fintail · April 2019

The Blazer could be fun, depending on how it is equipped. El Camino might be the other choice, yeah. Not sure if 74 was a good year for any brand.

2manyfumes · April 2019

I'd take the Javelin.

ab348 · May 2019

Here's an ad you probably won't see everyday, from 1952:

fintail · May 2019

That's pretty interesting. I have to imagine the running costs of a road-going locomotive like an armored 770K in dreary austere postwar Blighty would have made it a real white elephant. I suspect the car is in a military museum now. One of those things that changes hands with no fanfare, but is well into 7 figures anyway.

Reminds me of something I read about a 540K roadster with similar provenance, I think the car had a special steering wheel or seating position to account for the driver's large size. It was sold at auction in ~1955 for maybe $2500 - the price of a decent normal new car then. Not the worst investment, if one can stand the negative association.

ab348 · May 2019

They apparently decided to auction it off. No mention in the ad above that the bulletproof windshield was full of bullet holes/craters.

https://youtu.be/Q7A6BBccBz0

There were a few of these floating around after WWII and this different one has an interesting history too:

https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/mcr/article/view/17835/22142

No idea where the one that was in Britain in 1952 ended up.

fintail · May 2019

I suspect the survival rate for those was very high - nobody was going to throw away a souvenir like that. Quite the auction price there, and that damp dreary street scene at the beginning is just what I would expect.

PF_Flyer · June 2019

£1,050 in 1956 would be £25,993.23 today. I wager that the same car would bring a bit more today

Michaell · June 2019

Anyone seen the new VW commercial, with Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" as the theme music?

omarman · June 2019

The music is okay but why does the new electric Microbus face look so familiar?

ab348 · June 2019

I saw it, and was not impressed. Not sure why they think people who avoid them b/c of the diesel scandal will suddenly make a 180. Besides, what car designer uses pen and paper these days?

fintail · June 2019

Curtis!

PF_Flyer · June 2019

In preparation for, and to give you a heads up on the upcoming comment box changes, I've posted a guide to the new comment box. I've covered everything, where you can find it, how to use it, and what it does. Any questions you might have can be posted here in this thread. Shouldn't be too big of an adjustment. It is simply a settings change on the comment box, NOT a change in the forums software. How you navigate, sign in, and all the rest remains the same. This will get us past the issues some users have had with the links for attaching images and the like. Check it out. Wanted to try and make sure that everyone, especially you folks that make a lot of posts, will be prepared and not surprised when we implement this.

Coming Attractions - Changes to the Comment Box

PF_Flyer · June 2019

Just an update... the new comment box is going to live on Friday morning. As I said, this will only change what happens INSIDE the comment box. Just trying to keep you all from being surprised

PF_Flyer · June 2019

The new editor will be turned on tomorrow. No need to have you hold on to anything

It's just a setting... and if someone left a penny in place of a circuit breaker and we see sparks, it can be switched off. If you DO have questions or see anything squirrely, use the Forums Feedback and Suggestions discussion so we don't have to dig to find them. Thanks

PF_Flyer · July 2019

Progress on the image upload and icons front. Functionality appears to be restored. You MAY have to refresh the page or clear your cache. I had unresponsive icons on my ipad until I refreshed and not things are going along just fine.

Let us know what you're seeing in the Forums Feedback and Suggestions discussion (Yea... hyperlink icon works!)

ab348 · July 2019

Let's try an ad:

Ruh-roh. What worked 5 minutes ago in Firefox doesn't work now. Pulldowns unresponsive again.

Atten: @PF_Flyer , any suggestions? Have already left the site and returned, still no luck.

PF_Flyer · July 2019

Left the site or actually signed out? Signing out and in has also restored Edit Profile for users (and mods) that couldn't. It feels like lingering issues are from accessing cached versions of a page. Could also give an incognito window a try.

Cached versions of all the pages you've been on are saved on your computer. (to speed up your next visit) You might also be running into the issue on each page as you visit it. Might want to clear your cache and get rid of old versions of all the pages you frequent.

And if you use multiple browsers, those will each have the old pages cached.

My computers get cluttered with all sorts of useful stuff too!

ab348 · July 2019

@PF_Flyer , I see no way to actually sign out.

Michaell · July 2019

ab348 said:
@PF_Flyer , I see no way to actually sign out.

Click on the gear icon by your name on the right, and the "sign out" option appears.

benjaminh · July 2019

I'll see if I can post a couple of Chevrolet ads from 1929....

ab348 · July 2019

Deleted cache and cookies again, signed in yet again. Let's try this again:

{kicks dirt}

Still won't work.

ab348 · July 2019

Trying this from my other PC:

So, working on this one for now at least. The mystery deepens.

ab348 · July 2019

It started working again. Flaky.

PF_Flyer · July 2019

Could be that you're starting to get new cached versions of pages created. That looks like a motel in Florida during the space craze!

texases · July 2019

Anyone seen (or stayed at) the Space Age Lodge in Gila Bend, Arizona (on I-8)? This pic looks like it was taken around the time I did, in about 1978:

berri · July 2019

Some nice period shots!

benjaminh · July 2019

Ads from January of 1929. The Ford ad says that the Model A is designed and built for functionality and durability, and that it is an expression of an "ideal" that is more important even than profit. These are high rez, and so if you click on them twice you should be able to read even the small text if you'd like.

benjaminh · August 2019

1929....

sda · August 2019

I completely forgot about Viking, and especially it being marketed with Oldsmobile as a higher line than Olds. Seems it was built from 1929-30 with a few 31s produced.

sda · August 2019

Staying in the Olds history, this is a key chain given to me when I had my 2001 Aurora 4.0. Less than a year later and before Olds produced the last Alero, this Olds dealer faded into history. Now the key chain is used to keep the yard shed lock key.

As side note, before closing the Olds dealership location was fairly new and was built when Olds tried the one price strategy copying Saturn and the building design looked Saturnish as well. After the Olds dealership closed, it became a Toyota dealership, then around 2005, a VW dealership. It is still a VW dealership and it is where we recently bought the ‘16 Audi Q5.

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