“Chevrolet marketers wanted to preserve ‘sportiness’ and ‘performance’ as masculine activities, but at the same time realized that women appreciated a good-handling car as much as their male counterparts. So, Chevrolet repurposed the performance attributes of the Corvair into a variety of guises when it marketed later versions of the car to women. This distinction shifted as the Corvair progressed more and more steadily towards the sports-car end of the auto market. However, Chevrolet continuously discouraged women from considering the Corvair to be a sports car, and in the most extreme cases marketers relegated women to the role of passive actors, mere ornaments for a masculine vehicle. By maintaining this distinction, Chevrolet marketers hoped that the Corvair would not become too feminized for male consumers.”
— John E. Mohr, Automotive History Review (2020, p. 35)
RE:SOURCES
- Mohr, John E.; 2020. “The Soft Sell: Gender, Advertising, and the Chevrolet Corvair.” (Membership required.) Automotive History Review. Spring 2020, No. 61; pp. 24-37.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- oldcaradvertising.com: Chevrolet Corvair (1963)
- oldcarbrochures.org: Chevrolet Corvair (1960)
Also see ‘1953-73 Chevrolet Corvette ads gingerly showed changing gender roles’
What catches my eve is the painting appears to be in a Spanish speaking country. A few months back you had a Pontiac ad of the same vintage apparently set in France, and apparently by the same artist.
Chevrolet’s advertising agency, Campbell-Ewald, may have submitted potential campaigns to the division’s marketing executives, but the executives made the final decisions. If the Corvair’s sportiness was to be communicated by masculine images and ease-to-drive by feminine imagery, this thinking came from the MEN at Chevrolet, reinforced by the 14th Floor of the G.M. Building. One thing I will say is that Ford’s agency, J. Walter Thompson knew exactly whom to aim their advertising of the first-generation Mustang to: Entry-level buyers populated by young women, while young men wanted the V-8s. 4-speeds and fastbacks.