Classic Car Ads: Newspaper Bargains
What was with the big floating heads? Why were so many of the advertised vehicles displayed at extreme angles? And why, tell me why, no one bothered to have these delightful ads proofread?
Maybe you’re too young to recall newspaper dealer ads, but before the Internet kicked in, most Saturday newspapers contained a dedicated section or two of house-produced dealership advertisements featuring many of the elements noted above. Now, computer-designed layouts kicked in in the late Eighties, so for the really good stuff you have to go back a little earlier.
Dealers like to appear in their own ads, so it was common to see a giant head floating above the week’s bargains. And the bargains! In huge type appeared unlikely prices which were sure to lure customers to local dealers–just in case the price was correct, and the single example available at that price had not yet been sold.
This is hucksterism at its unbridled best—or worst—depends how you look at it. Collected here are a dozen such ads, each including “special” pricing, and often the promise of friendly service. Enjoy!
Newspaper Bargains
1926
Tri-State Motor Company, San Antonio, Texas
1955
Golden Mile Chevrolet-Oldsmobile, Ontario, Canada
Classic Car Ads: Pickup Trucks of 1961
1956
Riefling Nash, Jefferson, Missouri
Classic Car Ads: Station Wagons of 1979
1957
Hallman’s Chevrolet, Rochester, new York
Classic Car Ads: Luxury Cars of 1985
1960
Greater St. Louis Dodge Dealers Association
Classic Car Ads: Cheap Cars of 1983
1965
Grand Spalding Dodge, Chicago
Classic Car Ads: Coupes of 1981
1966
Classic Car Ads: Sedans of 1980
1966
Ken O’Keefe Ford, St. Mathews, Kentucky
Cheap Wheels: 1975-1977 Oldsmobile Omega F-85
1967
Wilmington Ford, Wilmington Delaware
After Dark: Classic Car Ads Set at Night
1969
Saxon Oldsmobile, Elk River, Minnesota
Big-Top Madness! Clowns in Classic Car Ads
1971
Di Salvo’s American Motors, St. Louis
More Show than Go: Performance Car Ads from the Malaise Era
1980
Martin Chevrolet, Richmond, Virginia
Design Madness: A Gallery of Sixties Hardtop Ads
1987
Hamilton Yugo, Irwin, Pennsylvania
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Classic Car Ads: Newspaper Bargains Gallery
Click below for enlarged images.
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- Tri-State Motor Company, San Antonio, Texas
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- Golden Mile Chevrolet-Oldsmobile, Ontario, Canada
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- Riefling Nash, Jefferson, Missouri
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- Hallman’s Chevrolet, Rochester, new York
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- Greater St. Louis Dodge Dealers Association
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- Grand Spalding Dodge, Chicago
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- Ben Lindenbush Rambler, St. Louis
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- Ken O’Keefe Ford, St. Mathews, Kentucky
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- Saxon Oldsmobile, Elk River, Minnesota
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- Di Salvo’s American Motors, St. Louis
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- Martin Chevrolet, Richmond, Virginia
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- Hamilton Yugo, Irwin, Pennsylvania
Newspaper Bargains
