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Hot Deals Madness! A Gallery of Classic Dealer Ads

Fun fact: Most car dealers pay a small amount into a regional advertising fund for each vehicle they sell. That money is spent on ads and promotions tailored to reach would-be car shoppers in a given area. In many cases, manufacturers contribute additional cash to the fund. And, depending on the franchise, some of that money may be spent by the dealer on store-specific ads.

Up until relatively recently, much of that funding was spent on newspaper ads. Those of us of a certain age well remember the Saturday automotive section in local newspapers. Here in Chicago, the auto sections of the Tribune and Sun-Times were often the thickest parts of the paper.

What made these sections so much fun to peruse was that the ads were entirely unlike the professional, high-quality brand campaigns being implemented at the national level. Instead, the local print ads (most of which consumed a quarter page, though bigger dealers often shelled out the money for full-page ads) were packed with oversize-typeface prices, gaudy graphics, and sensational promises.

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Back then, watching a national-market Ford television commercial and then seeing a local Ford dealer ad in the paper was not unlike leaving a church service and walking directly into a gentleman’s club–though not quite as subtle.

Here, we’ve collected a dozen vintage dealer print ads, all of which were found in local newspapers. If you recall any great dealer ads, tell us about it. The place to leave comments is down below.

More classic car ads

Classic Dealer Ads

1950

1950 Studebaker

Stop-and-Go Madness! A Gallery of Classic Car Ads Featuring Brakes

1958

1958 Edsel

Rand Road Revisited: A Used Car Dealer Gallery

1962

1962 Dodge

Classic (C)architecture: Chicago’s Historic Motor Row

1967

1967 Volkswagen (Canada)

You’re on Your Own: How Your New-Car Salesman Gets Paid

1970

1970 Ford

Model-Year Madness! 10 Luxury-Car Ads From 1979

1977

1977 Buick

Remembering My Old Chryslers: The Infallible Coronets and the ’70s Cars with the Crooked Parts

1977

1977 Mercury

Canadian Confusion: GM’s Short-Lived Passport Dealerships

1979

1979 Chevrolet

Favorite Car Ads: 1949 Ford

1983

1983 Datsun/Nissan

A Brief History of Car Radio

1988

1988 multi-dealer ad

Wreath and Crest Madness! A Gallery of Classic Cadillac Ads

1991

1991 Chevrolet

What is the Destination Charge?

1993

1993 Dodge

Check out the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast

Classic Dealer Ads Gallery

(Click below for enlarged images)

Written by: Tom Appel on August 30, 2021.

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Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast, Episode 36: Cars of 1940, 2021 Ford F-150

Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast

Whether you drive a car, need a car, or just occasionally bum a ride with friends, you’ve come to the right place. Join the editors of Consumer Guide Automotive as they break down everything that’s going on in the auto world. New-car reviews, shopping tips, driving green, electric cars, classic cars, and plenty of great guests. This is the Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast.

Episode: 36

Broadcast date: July 5, 2020

Guest: John Biel

Cars of 1940, 2021 Ford F-150

Host Tom Appel and co-hosts Jill Ciminillo and Damon Bell start off the show by discussing Ford’s recent unveiling of the redesigned 2021 F-150 pickup and the truck’s many new features. Next, we talk about our test-drive experiences with the 2020 Alfa Romeo Giulia. Collectible Automobile magazine Editor-in-Chief John Biel joins us to chat about the great features in the August 2020 issue, including an overview of the cars of 1940 and a retrospective on the 1978-80 Chevrolet Monte Carlo. Tom has a quiz for Damon and Jill on unusual vehicle co-branding tie-ins, and Damon runs down the latest articles on the Consumer Guide Daily Drive blog, including a first-look article on the 2021 Kia K5 midsize sedan.

The Consumer Guide Car Stuff Podcast is broadcast every Sunday on Chicago’s WCPT AM 820 at 1:00 PM CST.

Discussed this week:

First Look: 2021 Ford F-150

2021 F-150 PowerBoost Details

2021 F-150 Trim Levels in Photos

First Look: 2021 Kia K5

Quick Spin: 2020 GMC Sierra 2500 AT4

Forgotten Concept: Lincoln Sentinel

Subscribe to Collectible Automobile Magazine

More Consumer Guide Test Drives

Follow the crew:

The CG Daily Drive Blog

Car Stuff Facebook Page

Consumer Guide on Twitter

Drive, She Said (Jill’s blog)

Tom on the radio:

Tom on the Nick Digilio Show

Tom on Green Sense Radio

Tom on the Stan Milam Show

Cars of 1940

: Jill Ciminillo

: Damon Bell

: Tom Appel

Written by: The Daily Drive staff on July 3, 2020.

Rear-View Madness! Classic Ads Featuring the Backs of Cars

1991 Oldsmobile Toronado Troféo

What would be the the automotive equivalent of a leg man? I’m guessing it’s a wheel-and-tire guy. But whether or not your type is brunettes or redheads, you have to admit it’s always fun to admire the things we love from a new perspective.

For the most part, I’m not sure car marketing types would agree with me on this point. Of all the ads I perused looking for the best rear-end shots, roughly one in 20 actually featured the backside of the vehicle.

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There are probably plenty of reasons for this. Back when cars were substantially changed on an annual basis, there wasn’t enough time to devote to showcasing a car from any perspective but the traditional front-three-quarter angle–as the car was likely to be updated again in just a few months. Of course, the tail-fin era sort of put the emphasis back on the hind quarters.

Today we invite you to reconsider some of your favorite rides while paying attention to the back ends. If you’ve got a favorite automotive rear view, tell us about it. The place to leave comments is down below.

More classic car ads