Marketing
1953-73 Chevrolet Corvette ads gingerly showed changing gender roles
(EXPANDED FROM 2/26/2021) A few years ago John E. Mohr assessed how advertising for the Chevrolet Corvair reflected the “gendered nature of automobility in 1960s America” (2020, p. 24). In an essay published in the […]
How often did renaming a car fail to help it sell better?
In a recent column, Karl Ludvigsen (2022) wondered whether some cars that were renamed should not have been. For example, he noted that Ford might have benefitted by keeping the Cortina name in Great Britain […]
Hotcars.com calls the 1958 Studebaker President ‘ahead of its time’
Hotcars.com writer Eugenia Akhim (2022) linked to an Indie Auto article to cite the viewpoint that the 1958 Studebaker “was one of the ugliest cars to come out of the 1950s.” That’s not exactly what […]
Lexus should ditch its ‘retronyms’ and hire a poet
(UPDATED FROM 1/8/2021) Did you know that the alphabetical names for Lexus products actually stand for something? As a case in point, the IS means “Intelligent Sports,” the CT is short for “Creative Touring,” RX […]
1967-72 Pontiac Firebird shows limits of ad illustrations
(EXPANDED FROM 1/15/2021) Art Fitzpatrick and Van Kaufman’s artwork in Pontiac’s advertising played an important role in the brand’s popularity during the 1960s. Others have done a thorough job of showcasing the team’s most iconic […]
Acceleration is an easy measure of automotive progress
Geeber weighed in with a lengthy comment that I think deserves to be elevated to the front page. His missive was in response to the story, “How come a car that goes 0-60 in 9.7 […]
Did the 1956 Packard Executive represent a strategic shift?
(EXPANDED FROM 12/18/2020) The 1956 Packard Executive has received a recent boomlet of attention by automotive historians. In a Hemmings Classic Car column, Patrick Foster (2021) suggested that this model could have “saved Packard” if […]
Satire of a 1960 VW ad essentially mimics marketing for U.S. compacts
(UPDATED 3/20/2023) Back in 1963, advertising executive Fred Manley presented a slide show parody about how to improve Volkswagen’s legendary “Think small” ad. The “best practices” he presented look hilariously misguided when applied to this […]