Memory Lane - TV Car Commercials!
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One of my earliest car commercial memories was for the 1984 Ford Tempo. They built a giant word Tempo, and the O was a loop-da-loop. Then they raced a Tempo through the loop. I thought that was really cool.
Then my mom bought a Tempo (not because of the commercial) and I always wanted to try the stunt.
Then my mom bought a Tempo (not because of the commercial) and I always wanted to try the stunt.
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not actually TV, but i remember one i saw at the movie theatre, commercial itself was made real steathy, sleek shiny daytona creeping thru foggy wet streets with some guy with big hair and what i think was a leather members only jacket.. what really made this stand out was not so much the car(cause i thought it looked like crap), but this was the first time i remember seeing a commercial before a movie. prior to that the only things they would show is previews for other movies.. of course now they are commonplace.
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lol.. the YUGO commercial of the early 80's that promised you could have a "brand new" car for under $3000... is showed tons of images of the old vw bug and promised that this will be the replacement for what was an affordable basic car.
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well it's not too old, but it was a very effective commercial:
a lincoln markVII was in the desert. a huge, imposing steel 'H' had been constructed. the lincoln was driven up and tried to slowly pass under the horizontal bar of the 'H'. it got close, and there was a light 'clink' of metal on metal... the very top of the cars windshield contacted the 'H', showing it wouldn't fit under. the car was then driven away from the structure. then the driver took off, driving like crazy... zooming towards the big 'H'. it zoomed right under without a hitch.
the ad was touting the lincoln's adjustable ride height... the car lowered a few mm at high speed. pretty impressive to me eyes.
another one that has stuck in my head... the old ford festiva commercials (musta been late 80's). as they came down the assembly line and reached a certain spot the doors, hood and hatch flew open and closed a buncha times... and a little "festeeeeva" jingle played. cute commercial for a cute car... they made it look fun.
a lincoln markVII was in the desert. a huge, imposing steel 'H' had been constructed. the lincoln was driven up and tried to slowly pass under the horizontal bar of the 'H'. it got close, and there was a light 'clink' of metal on metal... the very top of the cars windshield contacted the 'H', showing it wouldn't fit under. the car was then driven away from the structure. then the driver took off, driving like crazy... zooming towards the big 'H'. it zoomed right under without a hitch.
the ad was touting the lincoln's adjustable ride height... the car lowered a few mm at high speed. pretty impressive to me eyes.
another one that has stuck in my head... the old ford festiva commercials (musta been late 80's). as they came down the assembly line and reached a certain spot the doors, hood and hatch flew open and closed a buncha times... and a little "festeeeeva" jingle played. cute commercial for a cute car... they made it look fun.
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just thought of another one my dad told me about... it was when the citation was introduced. to highlight the FWD platform, a trailer was solidly hitched onto the back of the car. then the cars rear wheels were removed and it was driven down the highway. i believe there was a disclaimer that told drivers not to try that at home!
years ago (another dad story) there was a car dealer that advertised a car for sale (might been a plymouth or dodge) for "3000 bananas" (or something like that). the car was $3000 dollars... but the dealer wanted a tag line. well some woman came in with 3000 bananas one day, and he had to give her the car! the ad didn't play after that, for some reason!
and i can still remember the first geo ads (SOOO long ago, eh?)... they just showed the cars driving off a car carrier. there were a few metros (sedan and wagon), the storm and the tracker. i just remember thinking they looked so sleek and modern! hahaha! apparently i wasn't the brightest kid! :lol:
years ago (another dad story) there was a car dealer that advertised a car for sale (might been a plymouth or dodge) for "3000 bananas" (or something like that). the car was $3000 dollars... but the dealer wanted a tag line. well some woman came in with 3000 bananas one day, and he had to give her the car! the ad didn't play after that, for some reason!
and i can still remember the first geo ads (SOOO long ago, eh?)... they just showed the cars driving off a car carrier. there were a few metros (sedan and wagon), the storm and the tracker. i just remember thinking they looked so sleek and modern! hahaha! apparently i wasn't the brightest kid! :lol:
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dont feel bad..geo's came out during my high school days.. i remember thinking "wow.. other car companies are in trouble" when i saw the geo storm in person.. lol
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dont feel bad..geo's came out during my high school days.. i remember thinking "wow.. other car companies are in trouble" when i saw the geo storm in person.. lol [/b][/quote]
haha! whew, thanks. glad to know i'm not alone. i thought the camaro was in trouble when the storm came out! nothing hotter than a hot pink storm!
Most of my memories are for jingles rather than specific visuals...
"...best of all -- it's a Cadillac..." (Cadillac Cimarron jingle)
"...how does it feel in a Mustang II? -- Mustang II -- Boredom Zero..."
"...we have one built - for you -- Oldsmobile..."
"...we - build excite - ment - Pontiac!..."
"...the new Dodge Omni does -- it -- all..."
"...what will you do with all the money you save..." (Toyota)
Among the visuals I do remember...
* Ricardo Monteblan touting Chyrsler Cordoba's "Rich Corinthian leather"
* Ford Granada commercial comparing the car to a Cadillac Seville, trying to show how similar they looked
...I'm sure I'll remember others as folks here bring them up. B)
"...best of all -- it's a Cadillac..." (Cadillac Cimarron jingle)
"...how does it feel in a Mustang II? -- Mustang II -- Boredom Zero..."
"...we have one built - for you -- Oldsmobile..."
"...we - build excite - ment - Pontiac!..."
"...the new Dodge Omni does -- it -- all..."
"...what will you do with all the money you save..." (Toyota)
Among the visuals I do remember...
* Ricardo Monteblan touting Chyrsler Cordoba's "Rich Corinthian leather"
* Ford Granada commercial comparing the car to a Cadillac Seville, trying to show how similar they looked
...I'm sure I'll remember others as folks here bring them up. B)
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ha... that reminds me... i found a tape in an olds cutlass ciera (probably '85 or so) once (my dad owned a body shop)... it was a promotional thing that came with the car. one side was an audio ownwers manual, the other had a jingle... and for some reason i remember it perfectly:
"there is a special feel in an oldmosbile... do do do do...
there is a special feel in an oldsmobile... do do do do...
more than the luxury ride, there's a feeling of pride that you're feeling insiiiiiiide...
there is a special feel in an oldsmobile!"
hahaha!
Whoa, check it out.
I was Googling around looking for any hint of commercials or jingles I remember, and I ran into this link to a Mustang II commercial with the "boredom zero" jingle I mentioned before.
Anyone else have any links to old car commercials that are available online?
I was Googling around looking for any hint of commercials or jingles I remember, and I ran into this link to a Mustang II commercial with the "boredom zero" jingle I mentioned before.
Anyone else have any links to old car commercials that are available online?
Actually, I just remembered stumbling upon an online copy of "The Humbler" TV ad for the 1970 GTO.
There's a link at http://www.jimhoeg.com/jimmy/interests/1970gto.htm for the ad. Note the very rare option to open up the exhaust with a pull switch - apparently only a handful of 1970 GTOs had the option before noise complaints killed it.
There's a link at http://www.jimhoeg.com/jimmy/interests/1970gto.htm for the ad. Note the very rare option to open up the exhaust with a pull switch - apparently only a handful of 1970 GTOs had the option before noise complaints killed it.
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stickers!! tons of stickers!! lol
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Oldsmobile commercials with prescilla presley and lisa marie, on the beach.. "this isn't your fathers oldsmobile"
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The only ones that come to mind right now are the camaro commercials from the mid 90's when they used clips from old commercials and talked about how "they saved money by recycling old camaro commercials so they could put more into the camaro itself" (or something like that). I was in high school and thought that was a neat idea for a commercial, now I know why chevy didn't have money for the commercials, GM wasn't putting any money into the cars...sad, very sad 
Tsk. What a bunch of kids.
"See the USA in your Chevrolet" Dinah Shore doing the vocal. She could sing and had the looks.
"Jim Moran, your Courtesy Man" One of the first dealership commercials on tv. He would spend the first 15 (or so) minutes talking about the cars on his showroom floor. At the end, he would have a flash of cars going for $49 (Cars that guys would now give their left nut for).
I have a thread of the commercial for Oldsmobile's rocket 88 going around in my noggin. It'll come to me.
The best new commercial is not for the car but for Mr Clean's car cleaner. A (formula 1?) race car is going head to head with a Dodge Charger (blown) and pulls ahead. Then the choke plates on the Charger open up and it pulls in fron and sucks the plastic body parts off the racer. Like the movie 2 Fast-2 Furious ("American muscle, Baby").
"See the USA in your Chevrolet" Dinah Shore doing the vocal. She could sing and had the looks.
"Jim Moran, your Courtesy Man" One of the first dealership commercials on tv. He would spend the first 15 (or so) minutes talking about the cars on his showroom floor. At the end, he would have a flash of cars going for $49 (Cars that guys would now give their left nut for).
I have a thread of the commercial for Oldsmobile's rocket 88 going around in my noggin. It'll come to me.
The best new commercial is not for the car but for Mr Clean's car cleaner. A (formula 1?) race car is going head to head with a Dodge Charger (blown) and pulls ahead. Then the choke plates on the Charger open up and it pulls in fron and sucks the plastic body parts off the racer. Like the movie 2 Fast-2 Furious ("American muscle, Baby").
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