Bikini Madness! Five Great Car Ads Set at the Beach
Tom Appel
1973 Dodge Dart Sport
Nothing screams “beach” like an economy car powered by a cranky Slant Six engine. But…include a fun-loving bikini-clad young lady poking through a sunroof, and you have the makings for a fine magazine ad. According to the ad, this ’73 Dodge Dart Sport could be made a lot more interesting by going with the available 318-inch V8.
A recent blog post by editor John Biel posed the question, “What’s with all the old ads showing cars by pools?” Sure enough, you can cruise online and locate dozens, if not hundreds, of vintage auto ads that feature the highlighted vehicle parked precariously close to an in-ground swimming pool. What makes these ads especially strange is that the driver of these vehicles is often wearing a suit. You can check out a few car-at-the-pool ads here.
We’re not fools, however. We know that locating a car by pool gives advertisers an excuse to include the occasional bikini-clad young lady or two in the ad. Today, we’re just cutting to the chase. Here are five car and truck ads set at the beach—a place where finding attractive ladies in swimwear makes perfect sense.
How long has Chevrolet been exploiting women to move the metal? Well, this tawdry ad goes back to 1922. Sadly, we doubt this is the first automotive advert to feature a pair of brazenly bare knees.
Okay, technically this ad isn’t set at the beach, but we’re pretty sure that’s where it’s headed. The Volkswagen Bus shown here is a ’63. Knowing what a Bus like this is worth today, we hope that guy is being careful with that umbrella.
We’d get that Chevy feeling too if we were pulling up to a cluster of smiling, swimwear-clad young ladies looking for a ride. We imagine most of you know this Biscayne sedan is a ’58.
Apparently this 1977 Pinto can fly, because it got to where it is without leaving any tracks in the sand. Read the fine print and learn that Ford’s official dealership service labor rate was $13.50 per hour at the time.
