Parking Lot Photo Shoot: 1961 Lincoln Continental

Classic Ads: 1961 Oldsmobile F-85

I must confess I have a bit of a soft spot for the 1961 Olds F-85. It was the baby Oldsmobile, but it was named like a jet fighter plane and bore a close family resemblance to the larger Dynamic 88. Perhaps my favorite part about it though, is that where the 88 has the 394 cubic-inch "Rocket" V8, the F-85 could be had with a little 215 cubic-inch aluminum V8 dubbed the "Rockette". That's just cute. And the little car puts on such a serious face as it goes about its business, riding on its perimeter frame with "Twin-Triangle Stability" on the rear axle.
When's the last time you saw a '61 F-85 wagon? Probably not that many of them around these days. The F-85 would later become the Cutlass, which went on to be America's best selling car a number of times in the following decade.

This ad appeared in the February 3, 1961 issue of Life magazine.

Abandoned: 1961 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88

This classic Olds belongs to my friend's dad in Canada. These pictures were taken in early 2010, and the car's still languishing in the same spot in a field as I write this. It was purchased in 2005, probably for very little money. It never ran, but the body looked solid and the interior was still in good shape. I don't expect it to go anywhere for a while and wish someone would save it.

Classic Ads: 1961 Buick Special

When you view old ads for cars, take a look at who's driving to figure out who that model's marketed toward. This ad for the 1961 Buick Special, their compact model, makes a big deal about the availability of Easy Power Steering. The driver of the car in the illustration is a woman with two children in the passenger seats. Is this a commentary on the sexism of the 1960s that, now with the addition of power steering and a smaller car, parallel parking was now so easy a woman could do it?
Perhaps I'm reading too far into it. Perhaps General Motors simply felt that the compact Special with easier steering effort would appeal to women, many of whom no doubt wanted a car that was more practical, easier to drive and park than the boats their husbands drove. Nothing wrong with that.

At any rate, I'd love to know exactly how power steering makes a car like this more agile at speed. Maybe it's like my dad's truck - almost no steering resistance; you just crank the wheel enough times fast enough and it usually goes where you point it, unless you're going too fast for the tires to grip. With narrow 1960s bias-ply tires, though, your handling limits are going to be pretty low.

This ad appeared in the February 3, 1961 issue of Life magazine.

Classic Ads: 1961 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88

The right tag line means everything. In the early 1960s, Oldsmobile played it up to the hilt. The full-size model wasn't just an 88, it was a Dynamic 88. It wasn't just a V8 engine, it was a Rocket V8. The pair of steel bracing members on the rear axle were a Twin Triangle. And as with many General Motors ads in that era, regular photography wouldn't do. Artists were hired to paint a photorealistic illustration of the vehicle, but with the people and surroundings a bit more impressionistic to call more attention to the car. This method produced some of my favorite advertisements of all time, and the GM illustrators were true masters of their trade.
This ad features a Dynamic 88 four-door hardtop sedan in front of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, built in 1959. I suppose it was chosen as a very distinctive modern structure of the time that represented a place successful, cultured people - just like you, the prospective Olds buyer! - would go.

 This ad appeared in the March 3, 1961 issue of Life magazine.

Classic Ads: 1961 Renault Dauphine

"Economy seems to be the fad right now," trumpets this ad for the plucky little French Renault Dauphine. Economy has been the 'fad' for a long time now, and I don't see it fading away anytime soon as talk of peak oil and climate change continues. And in the United States, a lot of manufacturers toss the magic 40 MPG number around when advertising their compacts. The Dauphine claimed to be able to do that back in the early 1960s - and had the Mobil Mileage Rally numbers to prove it.
This ad appeared in the January 20, 1961 issue of Life magazine.

Classic Ads: 1961 Cadillac Coupe de Ville

This is just a beautiful ad. The 1961 Cadillac Coupe DeVille was advertised in the January 20, 1961 issue of Life magazine. All 1961 Cadillac print ads were color-coordinated with each vehicle matching a beautifully decorated luxury item that made up the background - this one is a Matador's cape that was on display at the Brooklyn Museum. The jeweled Cadillac crest and V symbol superimposed over the cape were created by famous jeweler Harry Winston. Cadillac didn't mess around -- Winston was the owner of the Hope Diamond before the Smithsonian got it; the man knew jewelry. The Coupe DeVille appears to be finished in lovely Lexington Green Metallic.