Elpad Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 I been guilty of posting many newspaper-and magazine ads from different era to multiple threads on the Buick forum. Perhaps we can gather them all together under this topic. I know I enjoy them and I believe I’m not the only one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted January 27, 2019 Author Share Posted January 27, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted January 27, 2019 Author Share Posted January 27, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjaminhuf Posted January 27, 2019 Share Posted January 27, 2019 (edited) An ad from Nov. of 1945 advertising the 1946 Buick. It's high resolution, and so if you double click on it and enlarge it you should be able to read the text. Edited January 27, 2019 by benjaminhuf (see edit history) 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted January 27, 2019 Author Share Posted January 27, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjaminhuf Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 From October of 1945, I think this might be the first postwar advertisement for the 1946 Buick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjaminhuf Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted January 29, 2019 Author Share Posted January 29, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil morse Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 On 1/27/2019 at 2:09 PM, benjaminhuf said: An ad from Nov. of 1945 advertising the 1946 Buick. It's high resolution, and so if you double click on it and enlarge it you should be able to read the text. I'm curious what prompted Buick to create this ad in 1945 reassuring buyers that Buick still had the engine in the front. What rear-engined car were they afraid of? Too early for any threat from the Tucker. Or were they concerned that people would think that after all that military production, post-war cars would be designed like army tanks with the engine in the back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjaminhuf Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, neil morse said: I'm curious what prompted Buick to create this ad in 1945 reassuring buyers that Buick still had the engine in the front. What rear-engined car were they afraid of? Too early for any threat from the Tucker. Or were they concerned that people would think that after all that military production, post-war cars would be designed like army tanks with the engine in the back? I think probably this is just the person who was writing the ad trying to make a little joke. As you know in late 1945 it had been 4 years since people had been able to buy a car. It had been so long that it was by then a strange thing to think about even getting a new car, or even seeing one. But the ad is trying to say, I think, "Don't worry! The engine is still in front. It's just a car. It's just a little better than the pre-War Buicks is all. Bring your money and buy it!" Edited January 29, 2019 by benjaminhuf (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil morse Posted January 29, 2019 Share Posted January 29, 2019 Perhaps ... but there seems to be more to it than just making a little joke. The copy rather pointedly says that the '46's have "their engines out front where good engineering sense puts them." As if to say, "don't be tempted to buy one of those crazy cars with the engine in the back -- that's bad engineering." Who knows? I also found it interesting that the same ad refers to the "bonnet" rather than the "hood." Very British, what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjaminhuf Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, neil morse said: Perhaps ... but there seems to be more to it than just making a little joke. The copy rather pointedly says that the '46's have "their engines out front where good engineering sense puts them." As if to say, "don't be tempted to buy one of those crazy cars with the engine in the back -- that's bad engineering." Who knows? I also found it interesting that the same ad refers to the "bonnet" rather than the "hood." Very British, what? Good point. Well, I have another possibility that's far-fetched, but....Iirc right after Nazis were finally defeated in 1945 the Americans realized in the summer of that year that somehow and at some point Germany would need to be revived economically. There was a huge partially-damaged factory in Germany that had been meant for producing the "people's car," and there was some thought that it could be returned to that. I think for a brief time this huge factory was offered to American car companies for a small sum if they would revive it and make it work. I think all of the American companies passed on the opportunity, saying that they didn't want to make a small rear-engined car for a bombed out country....But probably almost no one in the US would have known in late 1945 about what several years later became famous as the VW Bug, and so that theory doesn't seem to hold water. Maybe the ad writers stayed up late and just got a little wacky? Seems unlikely too, but they didn't repeat any of these ads as far as I've seen so far. And often Buick had ads running twice a month, which meant they had to come up with well over twenty ads a year. It's a lot of work to come up with a new headline about the same car every two weeks. Edited January 30, 2019 by benjaminhuf (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty Roth Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 It could be that the "Engine --- Out Front" refers to Buick engines being ahead of Lesser Engines, mostly flatheads, in other cars. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil morse Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 21 minutes ago, Marty Roth said: It could be that the "Engine --- Out Front" refers to Buick engines being ahead of Lesser Engines, mostly flatheads, in other cars. They clearly were playing on that double-meaning in the ad copy, but that doesn't explain the direct references to the actual location of the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted January 30, 2019 Author Share Posted January 30, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted January 30, 2019 Share Posted January 30, 2019 On 1/29/2019 at 3:14 PM, neil morse said: I'm curious what prompted Buick to create this ad in 1945 reassuring buyers that Buick still had the engine in the front. What rear-engined car were they afraid of? Too early for any threat from the Tucker. Or were they concerned that people would think that after all that military production, post-war cars would be designed like army tanks with the engine in the back? Perhaps a reference to the Volkswagen or the Kubelwagen. We'd just finished fighting a war in Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil morse Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 1 hour ago, RivNut said: Perhaps a reference to the Volkswagen or the Kubelwagen. We'd just finished fighting a war in Germany. Yes, Ben mentioned that possible connection, too. I also wondered about that, but I can't imagine that very many people in the US were even aware of VW in 1945, let alone enough people that Buick had to be concerned about it. Apparently, the first VW was imported to the US in 1949. So it seems very unlikely to me that VW had anything to do with that ad. I can't figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 I reread the entire ad and I get the feeling that the ad is stating that Buick engines and engineering are at the front of the pack. Could be just a WAG, but ..... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjaminhuf Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 (edited) GM seemingly ran almost no ads for the first five months of 1946. This was probably because a 113-day strike meant that they had no cars to sell and so no need to run ads. But by June of 1946 things were getting back to business.... Edited February 2, 2019 by benjaminhuf (see edit history) 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted February 2, 2019 Author Share Posted February 2, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjaminhuf Posted February 3, 2019 Share Posted February 3, 2019 (edited) August 1946 and January of 1950. Edited February 3, 2019 by benjaminhuf (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted February 4, 2019 Author Share Posted February 4, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjaminhuf Posted February 5, 2019 Share Posted February 5, 2019 1946 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 11 hours ago, Elpad said: Where did the artist who drew these illustrations in the mid 50's find the tiny people to pose with the cars? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted February 13, 2019 Author Share Posted February 13, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted February 24, 2019 Author Share Posted February 24, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Hmmmm, having previously owned a 1977 Century with the odd-fire 231 V6, I question the "extra smooth vigor" claim. I suppose when accelerating it was not noticeable, but at idle and just off-idle I would not call it 'smooth'... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elpad Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Elpad Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 Ahhh! The first car that I had after I got married back in '68. Quite different for a 21 year old kid. Much different than the Mustangs and Chevelles that my buddies were driving. Same color and everything. Brought my first child home from the hospital in it. Dare I say that I'd love to have it back. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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