(first posted 1/15/2017) Over the years, many automakers have invested large sums of money to identify and cater to niche markets with special editions. Subaru hooked up with LL Bean, Ford with Eddie Bauer, Lincoln with Gucci, Bill Blass and Givenchy; in fact, there was even a dog-friendly Honda Element that didn’t limit its target audience to the two-legged.
You really don’t see as much of this anymore, for several reasons: first, manufacturers no longer have the kind of mad money it takes to design, produce and market vehicles that disrespect the economies of scale. Also, the once-vaunted “halo effect” is increasingly irrelevant to consumers–after all, is the average Altima or Civic buyer the least bit influenced by the existence of the GT-R or NSX? And then there’s the matter of political correctness; seriously, if a car maker offered a model geared toward a specific gender or other personal demographic today, howls of protest would reverberate, boycotts would form, and the offender would be made to attend automotive sensitivity training conducted by a newly formed Federal Department of Indignation Resolution.
During the Eisenhower years, no concept of political correctness existed. Women took their cues from television, film and magazines. Their role models were more Elizabeth Taylor than Elizabeth Warren. And although relatively few women worked outside the home, Chrysler’s marketing department had noticed that those who were part of the workforce had buying power, and that those who were not were nonetheless increasingly influential in major purchase decisions.
1954 Chrysler La Comtesse Concept
Chrysler decided to test the waters with two concept cars, the Le Comte and La Comtesse. Although both cars were based on the New Yorker Deluxe Newport and featured a huge, clear-plastic roof panel,the bronze-and-black Le Comte put forth a distinctly masculine look, while the La Comtesse was dressed in demure pink and ivory tones.
Heartened by the positive reaction to the La Comtesse concept, Chrysler assigned development of a production version to their Dodge Division. Taking a rib from a Royal Lancer hardtop coupe, Dodge created a special edition, saw that it was good, and christened it La Femme.
The La Femme option package debuted on the 1955 Royal Lancer two-door hardtop. Exterior distinctions included Sapphire White/Heather Rose two-tone paint and gold-tone “La Femme” script on the front fenders.
Substantially more effort went into the interior appointments. Seats were upholstered in pink-and-silver rosebud pattern cloth with pink vinyl trim. On the passenger-side seat back was a trapezoidal compartment designed to store the pink calfskin purse that came with every La Femme, and whose brushed-gold medallion was large enough to accommodate an engraved, owner-commissioned monogram.
The purse contained a coordinated set of accessories, including a compact, lipstick case, cigarette case, comb, cigarette lighter and change purse—a veritable festival of faux-tortoise shell plastic, gold-tone metal and pink calfskin, all sourced from Evans, a Chicago-based manufacturer of women’s accessories. According to DodgeWiki, “Guards were eventually posted on the Dodge assembly-line at the time when Dodge La Femme spring special models were being assembled, because the stacks of fine-quality cardboard boxes containing the La Femme accessories were prime objects of theft.”
But wait…there’s more! A compartment on the back of the driver’s seat held a complete rainwear ensemble, including a vinyl raincoat, rain bonnet and umbrella patterned to match the rosebud interior fabric.
For 1956, the La Femme package returned, this time done up in a Misty Orchid/Regal Orchid two-tone exterior treatment and La Femme-specific seat patterns, headliner, interior paint and carpeting. Seat upholstery featured white cloth with a lavender-and-purple looped pattern, headliner cloth of white fabric with random tiny sprinkles of gold paint, and loop-pile carpeting in shades of lavender and purple.
The boxes behind the seats were now gold-toned, and held only a rain coat, rain cap and umbrella; the rose-leather purse was not available for 1956. Perhaps to compensate, a higher-output D-500 engine was now available.
There would be no La Femme option for 1957. Since La Femme was an option package, the models so equipped were rolled into the total Royal Lancer production numbers; however, it’s reasonable to assume a total of fewer than 300 La Femme models produced over a two-year period, far less than Chrysler’s projections.
So why the disappointing sales? Other than the dubious viability of the whole gender-specific concept, Dodge didn’t exactly go out of its way to promote the car once it was produced. While special-edition Chryslers and DeSotos were enthusiastically promoted, there wasn’t much buzz about La Femme other than a few print ads and the 1956-57 brochures. What’s more, it was difficult for potential buyers to find one; since Dodge had allocated precious few of them to dealerships nationwide, most Dodge dealers could only hand prospects a single-page sales sheet or perhaps a color brochure.
Of course, the real problem may have been that the La Femme was the answer to a question no one was asking. Indeed, mighty General Motors had flirted with the same idea with their 1953 Pontiac Parisienne and 1958 Chevrolet Impala Martinique concepts and took a pass on producing either one. In fact, I can think of only one manufacturer that has managed, albeit off the record, to market to women with any success. (It’s true that the Mazda MX-5 Miata, VW New Beetle, and Mini have somehow acquired the reputation of being “chick cars”, but almost certainly not by manufacturer intent.)
Even some dubious ideas just won’t die; in September 2016, at the Cosmopolitan FashFest event in London, SEAT and Cosmpolitan magazine jointly introduced the the Mii concept, complete with “eyeliner” headlamps, handbag hook and “jewel-effect” rims. It was not received enthusiastically.
It’s a safe bet that the era of automotive micromarketing is over, as manufacturers focus on improving cost effectiveness, efficiency, and (so they claim) build quality. Perhaps they finally realize that virtually everyone, regardless of gender, race, creed or political persuasion, wants to drive something that’s reliable, efficient, well-built, fun to drive, and easy on the eyes. In other words, they’ve come a long way, baby.
After looking at these LaFemme pictures, I think my testosterone levels have dropped significantly.
Joking aside, for the era of the mid-50s it does appear this concept has some merit. However, the lack of distribution and advertisement gives the appearance of someone at Chrysler signing off on production but someone else not being real hip on the idea. Maybe a watered down version of McNamara and the Edsel?
The Piper Tri-Pacer for 1957 was offered in Pasadena Rose over Daytona White, which looked very similar to the LaFemme… it was a one-year oddity…
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/rampside-classic/rampside-classic-1957-piper-tri-pacer-shades-of-la-femme/
Thanks for finally doing a CC write up on the car!
The Piper Tri-Pacer was one of my favorite model planes produced by Monogram circa 1960. Streamlined wheel pants and covers, of course!
Even if I were female in the 1950s, I’d hesitate to buy one of these. I’d be concerned that when the time came to sell it, I could realistically expect to sell it only to another woman, and I’d take a hit on resale value.
I strongly get the feeling that during the design and development process, no actual women were involved in planning this thing. I can’t imagine if they were somebody wouldn’t have vetoed it.
Still, is the #PinkBeetle much different?
That’s a lot of lipstick on a car. Probably too much to be of interest to a large section of motoring women. By overdoing it they were narrowing the niche way to much. Only real life Barbies may apply! (Bumper sticker: I like to be like Barbie, that b**** got everything!)
Renault seemed to understand that with their Renault 4 La Parisienne. By taking their simplest car and choosing some lovely styling elements they indeed increased the sales of their little practical hatchbacks to women. La Parisienne was like pret-a-porter vs. LaFamme haut couture.
Renault 4 La Parisienne
I’d be so tempted to hotrod one of those, though. That upholstery would be a hoot with a Hurst shifter and stuff going on in there. 🙂
Usually the real problem with ‘marketing to women’ is it’s usually one color, one big option package, usually no choice of engine, drivetrain,. other options etc, so there’s likely to be a deal-killer in there for gals who are actually into cars. For the time, the colors really weren’t that ‘out there’ though: I’m definitely not a friffy person, but it actually looks pretty nice, that shade of peachy-pink is actually pretty tasteful, ….maybe a little overboard with the interiors, but for any given customer, it’d have to catch the right person at the right time unless Daddy’s spoiling someone. 🙂
Sometimes I think of like the Cameo pickups: I don’t know how well those sold, but something that seems an unlikely combination for women to those men trying to go ‘What do women want’ may have hit something, there: nothing overboard there, but if a gal needs to drive a truck maybe a few touches to *not* seem all stone butch about it have their appeal. 🙂
(Something they could maybe learn from these days, actually, when they style trucks these days it kinda looks like a testosterone contest narrated by tractor pull announcers or something. Maybe they could do something a bit more retro with those huge grilles for a start. 🙂
There’s a photo further down the thread of a Fiat 500 with those plastic eyelash headlights. Surely, that’s a ‘chick-car’ and it coincides somewhat with the whole color thing.
I’m writing, specifically, on how the Fiat 500, although it’s not overtly being marketed to women, has the widest color palette/interior choices I’ve seen for any recent car. Surely, that has to appeal to women who want to have the most individual possible vehicle.
And, I must say, most of those 500 color combinations are very attractive.
I am not picking on you, but why is color choice strictly a “women’s appeal”? Some guys are comfortable enough with themselves to actually like bright colors. And full disclosure, I have a laser blue 500, and a Miata. They are “chick cars” in that women come up to me to say how much they like my cars. I never got that once in my Ranger pickup. I did have a lot of guys look at me in the truck with what appeared to be lust in their eyes. Just sayin’…….
Oh, it’s most certainly not strictly a ‘chick-thing’. I agree completely that offering a myriad color palette for a car model is great, regardless of gender. With that said, it just seems that offering more colors would most likely be higher on the scale of preferences for women as opposed to, say, maybe more performance-oriented options. Face it, women just seem to have a more acute sense of taste and fashion than men, and color-coordination is one of those aspects.
In fact, someone else mentioned how popular Jeeps are with women buyers these days. As I replied, I don’t think this has gone unnoticed by FCA (the Jeep Renegade, mainly) and another point is how many colors the Wrangler is available. Maybe not as many as the 500, but it’s still a whole lot more than most other vehicles. I would wager that has gone a long way to appealing to women buyers, as well, who can get an even more individual, personalized Jeep.
Well, I definitely think just-plain-more-choices rather than one special edition package ‘for women’ is the way to go. And it’s good for everyone general, unless maybe you’re buying used. 🙂 If we do care about color more, it can also mean pickier about it. (Certainly for me, if I see a wonderful putty-beige car that, oops, you can only have an automatic, or is ‘No sport suspension for you, girls,’ then it’s not the color that wins out. )
I mean, I *care* about aesthetics and it’s a real positive, but it doesn’t *override* much in the way of performance or practicality concerns.
Japan has a recent history of cars marketed to women. Attached should be a picture of the Honda Fit She’s, which came out with high hopes but did not sell in quantity over the three years it was available. I find it interesting that the color pink is associated with women in other cultures and wonder if this is universal.
Maybe so:
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(07)01559-X.pdf
In Japan there’s been fads for all kinds of things coming in all kinds of colors, actually, there is, with a certain element of tongue in cheek at times, something in international car gal scenes about applying femme colors to pretty badass cars. 🙂
Don’t look to Japan for anything gender-related. Most macho industrialized country by far.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/10/26/national/social-issues/japan-slips-10-notches-111th-wef-gender-equality-rankings/
Pink only became strongly associated with feminity in the 20th century. It has less to do with gender than marketing. If you can split your product line into female and male sides, theoretically you can sell double the product, as men are less likely to use things associated with feminity.
It is an easier job if it comes down to just colour and trim on a product.
The problem is that cars are a high cost item and in the 1950s two car families were not as common as people think, so a gendered car was not going to be a big seller for practical reasons.
This marketing works better for low cost personal care items, like razors, vitamins, moisturisers etc. and is one of the reasons “metrosexual ” grooming items have been invented over the last two decades. It give business twice the market opportunities that it had when mainly women were targeted.
My daughter wouldn’t be seen dead in a pink car. She never rode the (secondhand) bike we got her as a teen, because it was pink. Why? Purely because of the stereotype. Refusing to ‘conform’. Colour, yes, by all means, but pink, no way. Her colour is yellow, and twice she’s made a 500km round trip to get the yellow car she wanted. No white/black/silver for her. Like my late aunt who henpecked her husband into trading a blue/red interior Morris 1100 for a blue/blue when it was only a year old. Some people are finicky about colour. Surely it’s not just in my family.
I remember when the Jazz first came out in Australia there was quite a range of pastel metallic cars featured in the TV ads. I can’t recall seeing the pink on the later one in this ad.
And here is the Subaru Stella, marketed to young women and housewives.
Finally, and my favorite, the Mitsubishi Mirage Hello Kitty Edition, a limited run that, sadly, was not available in the US. Hello Kitty Wheels!
I see this more as an example of the Japanese love of kawaii (“cute”) than an attempt to market to women, although there is definitely overlap between the two.
Oh, I agree-as witnessed here by the Suzuki Lapin (the “i” is dotted with bunny ears). This model, which does come in other colors, has been popular with young urban women, although I believe it was not marketed specifically to them. Which fits with what I experience watching my daughter-in-law the geologist: She would be aghast at the sight of the Dodge, while she would pick up this Suzuki in a minute. Funny thing, people like to decide for themselves what they like and will buy.
I love the concept of the Lapin, and I’m a guy. For those not in the know, Lapin is French for rabbit.
Eeek!
Great article. The LaFemme is often viewed as a footnote car of the 1950s (if it’s viewed at all), so it’s great to read a full discussion on it.
I really wonder just who the 300 original owners were. In my mind, I picture a small-town banker’s wife — but who knows? And after the banker’s wife grew tired of it (which probably took about 2 years), who on earth were the 2nd and subsequent owners? The few LaFemmes that have survived must have interesting — or lonely — stories to tell.
Regarding the car itself, I think the ’56 interior is much nicer than the ’55 all-pink version. Even for its intended audience, the pink was likely too over the top, but then again, I’m probably not the best judge of such things.
“In fact, I can think of only one manufacturer (Subaru) that has managed, albeit off the record, to market to women with any success.”
I can think of another. Who can forget Ford’s riff on the title of Helen Gurley Brown’s groundbreaking best seller, in 1966?
And then there was this commercial, also in 1966: https://youtu.be/i3hBjfFySck
But to be fair, this was an example of targeting an existing model to a particular market segment, and not a dedicated model like the La Femme.
IIRC it was also a way of squaring the circle of roaring demand for Mustangs with sufficient capacity to build them except for a shortage of Windsor V8s.
The auto companies are still marketing toward women but they are much more subtle about it. The rising popularity of pickup trucks is due to the fact that they are building them to satisfy the wife first and her husband second, although the howls of protest from hubby for having to buy such a fancy truck are not very loud.
I’ve heard the same thing about automatic transmissions when they first came on the scene in the 1950s. Supposedly they were to satisfy the wife, but the husbands didn’t protest very much.
This would have been the perfect car for the “ladies” in the 1995 movie “To Wong Foo” !!!!
I also remember that Lincoln offered a designer package on the Mark IV in the ’70s that consisted of white paint and lipstick red accents. Wonder how many men bought those.
“Taking a rib from a Royal Lancer Hardtop Coupe….”
Now *that* was a clever bit of writing–gave me a nice smile while reading an essay that broadened my knowledge of these by about 300%.
I still mean to get a grasp on how many mid-1950s women–other than those with preschoolers–were working outside the home in any way. I keep turning up all kinds of (non-UAW) light-assembly photos where they’re plentiful (lots for RCA making radios and TV’s), so who knows?
It’s a safe bet that the era of automotive micromarketing is over, as manufacturers focus on improving cost effectiveness, efficiency, and (so they claim) build quality. Perhaps they finally realize that virtually everyone, regardless of gender, race, creed or political persuasion, wants to drive something that’s reliable, efficient, well-built, fun to drive, and easy on the eyes. In other words, they’ve come a long way, baby.
Haven’t manufacturers been doing that for 30+ years at this point? It seems to me all three criteria are met and then some for some time, leaps and bounds better, even in the worst car you can buy, than any other consumer product currently available frankly. Ok, perhaps gender marketing isn’t the brightest idea to dredge up from the automobile’s golden era during the golden era of identity politics we’re in, but at some point automakers are going to need sell on criteria other than panel fit tested with a feeler gauge.
Besides, it’s really not over, otherwise you wouldn’t have nearly as many segments of car you do today, have you ever seen a minivan ad not marketed specifically to parents with families? How about sporty car ads, always on a twisty road, desert or racetrack piloted by someone rebellious or dangerous(as they perceive themselves)? Small cute econoboxes driven by 20-somethings? These don’t appeal to a specific gender necessarily but it’s definitely micromarketing. Only difference that makes it seem more egregious on this 56 is that Dodge(and pretty much everyone else) only had one car line to build off of and the femme details were clear and obvious to note over a common Dodge.
it goes much further than that. Psychographics have been the hot marketing thing for several decades now, with potential buyers parsed into ever narrower groups based on a wide variety of values. “Yuppie” was just the starting point.
The crude gender-base attempts in the 50s were just the starting points, even if unsuccessful. Frankly, it’s all about the micromarketing these days.
Paul, I should have written “the era of overt micromarketing…” While product planners still design niche models for a target demographic, you’ll no longer see their ad agencies blatantly pitching them to a specific gender (trucks excepted). I’m always amazed by the number of young women who buy Jeeps, which are hardly advertised as woman-friendly. Go figure. Frankly, auto makers don’t care who buys their cars, as long as they sell.
A few months ago, a friend of mine and I were walking through a parking lot, and saw a young woman getting into a Jeep Patriot. My friend asked me: “Do men buy Jeeps any longer?”
I laughed at first, but then I started noticing the demographics of many newer Jeep models — heavily female. It seems that Jeep has achieved the status of a chick car without trying to, and without anyone noticing.
Great point about Jeeps appealing to today’s females, although I’m not so sure it’s escaped FCA’s attention. I look at the new Jeep Renegade and can’t help but think the female market played a big part in that vehicle’s creation.
OTOH, I can’t think of a vehicle that’s more of a polar opposite to a Dodge La Femme than a Jeep (any Jeep). My sister, in fact, wanted to buy a Wrangler for her next vehicle but her husband talked her out of it. She got a new Grand Cherokee, instead.
Yep, that’s how I spend my days. Although there’s a growing and justified concern among marketers that they’re both slicing niches too fine, and also presuming more about their customers than they really know.
But back in the days of Vance Packard and The Hidden Persuaders, targeting was really crude and based on making the product “attractive” to the consumer versus trying to figure out the reasons why different consumers might want to buy the product you already have.
My favorite example of this is the 1957 Lady Lionel “girl’s train”. Sank like a stone, because the last thing any women interested in a train set wanted was a pink locomotive and pastel freight cars…
This car would be a Huge Hit in certain sections of the French Quarter here in New Orleans.
It would be bigger than beignets!
The concept of marketing cars specifically intended for women is clearly valid. There are identifiable distinct preferences in vehicles by gender
http://www.forbes.com/sites/michelinemaynard/2012/04/24/the-top-10-most-popular-car-brands-with-men-and-women/#3cac6c9c3256
The trick is in identifying what’s currently fashionable to women. Look at the list in the link above, identify the common factor(s) and
Bob’s yer uncle!. Well, you know what I mean…There was a lot of pink in the world in 1955-56, and it’s not like Dodge had the corner on pink cars. Pretty much everyone was offering some shade of pink as an exterior color then and some of them even brought the pink inside (I’m thinking Thunderbird and the 55 Studebaker).
All other pink cars could be sold as something that anyone who liked pink cars could buy, but Dodge wiped out what in 1955-56 would have been a huge part of the potential market of buyers.
In about 1958, my grandma wrecked her blue Kaiser and bought a used 55 DeSoto Firedome sedan in pretty much the same colors as the 55 La Femme, only with black/white interior. It was probably a relatively inexpensive used car, difficult to sell in a midwestern farming community. As much as Grandma loved pink, she had the pink parts repainted beige sometime in the early to mid 60s.
One nit, I don’t think a 383 was offered in the 56 Dodge. From what I have seen, the Dodge hemi was enlarged to 315 cid and 260 bhp for the D-500 option that year. Even the Chrysler 300’s engine was only a 354 cid unit. The 383 was part of the B block that came out for 1959.
Jim, I’ll have to recheck my sources, which state that the 383 D-500 was available. On the other hand, I ain’t gonna argue with a lawyer!
The 383 absolutely did not exist in 1955-1956. The Chrysler B series engines first appeared in 1958, as a 350. And the 383 version first appeared in 1959.
The ’55 D-500 had a 270 CID hemi, the ’56 D500 had a 315 CID version of the same engine.The D-500 designation continued to be used by Dodge for some years, and in 1959, it did use the 383. Maybe that’s where the confusion comes from, as the D-500 package used several different engines over the years.
That sounds correct. The La Femme might have had D-500 availability; it just wasn’t a 383.
Corrected. Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. (Which is more penitential than “mea altima culpa”, by the way.)
…and infinitely more than “mea sentra culpa,” of course.
Not to mention “Mea Micra Culpa” – that would convey entirely the wrong idea!
I remember pink and grey being a stylish combination in the mid 1950’s (‘his and hers’ colours?). There was a family near us who had a pink & grey Bel Air and had their 50’s ranch home painted the same combo.
I’m guessing that the most popular application for pink might have been on fifties’ Cadillacs.
The least popular might have been at the zenith of the musclecar craze when one of Chrysler’s ‘High-Impact’ colors was Panther Pink/Moulin Rouge. It sold very poorly (maybe not as bad as La Femme, though) and early seventies’ pink Chrysler musclecars are actually now a sought-after rarity.
Here’s a link to a website dedicated to those pink Chrysler musclecars:
http://pantherpink.com/
Pink was a very popular color during the 50’s and not exclusive to women – not to forget Elvis’s many pink Cadillacs. My parents put in a new bathroom in 58 – all pink fixtures, accented by sky blue tile with a black border. Terrible but popular at the time. Neighbors had a kitchen redone with all pink appliances.
Happy to find this piece this morning (still AM in PST). I can believe that this car was not marketed in any significant way. As a kid, despite intense attention to car mags and a huge collection of brochures, I had no idea the La Femme existed – until reading collector mags decades later.
Your parents’ pink bathroom reminded me of my mother’s pink repaint job of my parents’ bedroom in the mid-fifties (presumably my father went along with it), complete with complementary green cotton carpet and pink and green accessories (and how I remembered that green carpet, as it wound up in my bedroom years later when mom redid their bedroom in pale yellow with gold carpet). We had a very colorful house, although mom insisted on always having white bath fixtures and kitchen appliances and white tile. But as you point out, these colors were very popular and stylish back then. Which reminds me, my last house in San Diego when we acquired it in 2003 was a 1950 custom-built ranch-style home, with the original all pink master bath and all sky blue secondary bath (fixtures and tile), as well as dark green tile with white trim and the original stainless Chambers appliances still in the kitchen. We had hoped to use and restore some of these original touches, but their poor condition unfortunately dictated a complete renovation. Nonetheless, they were a quaint reminder of how contemporary these bright colors were back when.
While still living in San Diego, I occasionally came across a ’55 La Femme parked in a residential area on the northerly edge of Balboa Park, as well as seeing it being driven around a couple of times. I was vaguely aware of these models as a kid, probably from the advertising, but I don’t think I had ever seen one “curbside” until this rare sighting. And it was in remarkably good condition even with the passing decades, a source of endless fascination to me. A great in-depth writeup from Imperialist today, a pleasure to reach back to a forgotten automotive marketing concept.
And I`ve seen a `57 Rambler station wagon in pink, gray and black. On a backroad in Howell, NJ .A rather snazzy looking color combination.
The ’55 Chevy was available in a very sharp color combo of a coral-y sort of pink over metallic dark gray. I’ve seen a couple of those “in the metal” and I think it showed up in some of the advertising for the car.
I caught this Fiat 500 on the street a year or so ago. Seems like the place to post it.
CC Effect: I was killing time in a mall the other day and walked into Spencer Gifts for the first time in maybe three decades. One of the things that caught my eye were those exact headlight eyelashes.
There’s a “Nissan Versa” , where I work, wearing these.
I love this article since it would seem to get to the core of how critical proper marketing is to car sales. I wonder if the problem with the La Femme wasn’t so much the targeting of women consumers, but all the frivolous geegaws that were included with the package. Style changes are very rapid (especially for women’s fashion) and I can’t imagine how fast all of that extraneous stuff would go out of style.
Really, what kind of ‘statement’ would a woman driving a car like the La Femme be making? Was she successful, single, independent or married with a husband and a happy home life?
The irony is that, without all that extra frou-frou, the La Femme might actually have sold (at least better than 300 units). The two-tone paint job, even in pink, was actually quite tasteful. It’s a shame Chrysler didn’t continue with a substantially decontented package just to see if that was the case.
As someone else pointed out, there’s nothing particularly wrong with targeting specific market demographics to increase sales; it just has to be done in a rather more subtle manner.
Peter buys a man’s car https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nviB2Rlm-uY
I can see why GM never fully went down this road, the model in the 1958 Impala Martinique is wearing what looks like the “Spousal Death Ray Stare”
LOL. Definitely doesn’t look happy about her husband’s choice for her new set of wheels.
That would have certainly been the look I would get were I to have bought a Cosworth Vega while my wife was out of town…
“You better not call me ‘real people, not actors!'”
How `bout ‘real actors, not people’.
That’s actually Jeanette Linder, the woman who was responsible for creating and designing the Martinique. She worked in GM’s Chevrolet interior styling studio at the time. Her car was part of GM’s 1958 Spring Fashion Festival of Women Designed Cars (ugh..) at the GM Styling Dome that Harley Earl championed for.
Needless to say, the photos of the car along side her do seem contrived:
I was actually wondering if anyone knew who the model might be. She doesn’t really look like the typical female the car companies would use in their ads or displays.
Regardless, it offers an opportunity to mention how well Mary Barra seems to be running GM and speaks volumes about how the once completely male-dominated auto industry has changed. If Barra came out with some sort of La Femme or Martinique, the odds are it would work.
Coincidentally enough, her Martinique concept was voted by the public to be the most desirable of the 9 (?) cars shown in that exhibition.
Here’s a link to an article from last year that talks about how Harley Earl supported using a small group of women (Jeanette Linder was only one of them) at GM’s design studios:
http://keranews.org/post/damsels-design-women-who-changed-automotive-history
Apparently, it only lasted until Earl retired in 1958 when GM design returned to business as usual. The timing with Chrysler’s foray into the La Femme seems coincidental.
Guess I’ll be the one to post this 1950s gender directed marketing effort in this comments stream.
Lionel O gauge trains had these; American Flyer S Gauge (my brand) didn’t stoop to those levels. At least I don’t think so.
Yeah! The infamous Lionel ‘Pink train set for Girls’ A sales disaster, they were only marketed in `57 and `58. They also had a blue train set for boys,I believe they were re-issued by K Line in the mid `90s,but without Lionel built locomotives. If you have the original Lionel pink train, complete in its original box, you`re probably sitting on a small fortune.
There are likely several contributing factors as to why the La Femme wasn’t successful, but I would wager a very large part of that has to do with the fact that for both years, they were introduced long after the model year started. The 1955 model was first shown late that January, but wasn’t available until that spring. Dodge pulled the same stunt the following year, not announcing the car until late January. It was this time, however, available for order shortly thereafter. The way the cars were presented one would think Chrysler was intentionally limiting the car into “special edition” status.
The 1955 La Femme was predicted—after a fashion, as it were—by this bit in a 1951 Tex Avery cartoon, “The Car of Tomorrow”. The entire cartoon is well worth your time; it can be viewed here (my favourite bit is at 2:06)
Know that one well!!
Gender-specific, certainly, but a nice example of a unified design. Each item went together and had a location where it fitted for storage. Thank you for a remarkably complete article on a sometimes obscure vehicle.
Indeed, I was a little surprised at how much was devoted to the La Femme at the WPC museum, considering how low the take-rate was.
Did any men buy these cars for themselves? I might have. I think they’re swell. BTW, my dad’s first car was a ’53 Ford he had painter pink. Drove it from Brooklyn to Cambridge, Mass.–got it as a high school graduation present from his folks, upon his acceptance for admission to Harvard. And he was a man’s man.
The packaging is very tastefully done, if overt.
Interesting to compare how marketing a car specifically for women may seem sexist, when cars and trucks have been used as tools by marketers selling masculinity and virility enhancement to men for decades. Men usually don’t complain, as such cars have helped many of them in the love game. 🙂
“Mercury, the Man’s Car” comes to mind for the male sexist image.
Reminds me of the 1956 Dodge Texan (“Sold only in the Lone Star State.”) Anybody ever seen one of those?
Yes, in a junkyard in western New York 1994, rough shape blue four door sedan, the only one I ever ran across.
That’s a long way from Texas!
Yes, there’s a surviver 1958 Texan in my neighbourhood in Sweden, imported from USA some ten years ago.
Wow!! Gotta fine some pics..
How about the 1961 Buick Flamingo show car?
Please tell me that someone, somewhere, has one of these today with a license plate that says CHERCHEZ. Or CHRCHEZ, in a state that limits you to 7 characters.
Excellent history of a model that’s always intrigued me. The thinking behind this car has always struck me as “at least they meant right”. But having a bunch of men design a car around what they thought a woman wanted and needed is like having a butcher plan a menu for a vegan restaurant :). Nonetheless an interesting car though.
Dad owned a 1955 Dodge Royal Lancer 2 door hardtop. Three-tone: White roof, black mid section and some sort of pinkish “Desert Rose” or something like that on the lower part of the body. A cool looking car with V8 power, but ultimately a piece of junk.
Who says marketing to women is a bad thing? Perhaps for cars, but this sure fits in nowadays.
I don’t think you’d want to cross a woman that owns any or all of these!
Down South, where I live, we have pink Mary Kay Cadillacs, with pink shotguns on gun racks in the back.
I encountered a ’55 Dodge LaFemme hardtop as a well-used car in Addison, NY in 1980, long after most all mid-’50 cars had disappeared from roads here as casualties of road salt. Driven by a old farmer, I never saw it again. This occurred just three years after a similar encounter with a ’56 Plymouth Fury in Colorado Springs which was also driven by an old man passed by sister’s home, loud exhaust drawing our attention. Does either car still exist? I’ll never know.
and how about the woman’s shoe designer Etienne Aigner edition vw cabriolet
this German special edition of a 1989 mazda 121 is odd. the body color, Momo steering wheel (not shown) and bigger 13″ tires appeal to the Herr while the lilac accents, garish decals and name (little flower) seem aimed at the Frau.
(inset translated from german copy)
The La Femme is just the car to park next to your Pontiac Sky/Yellow/Red -bird to make it look butch.
In the fifties pink wasn’t considered a gender color, it was rather a popular choice for any car also in Europe! Here’s my Tri-color 1955 Custom Royal Lancer together with my wifes 1955 La Femme in Sweden. Note the La Femme $145 option was only available on the Top-of-the-line Custom Royal Lancer 2-door Hard Top! No convertibles! Standard engine was the Hemi head Super Red Ram 270 CI with 2bbl carb boosting 183 bhp, optional 270 with 4bbl had 193 bhp .
The marketing idea continues.
I saw this pink Cadillac on the street recently in Vancouver, and some internet searching led me to conclude that it’s likely a ‘ Mary Kay’ car – a ‘lease only’ reward for high volume cosmetic sellers.
I can’t say I’m a huge fan of pink cars, but this one is actually…umm…quite pretty.
I think these days when folk see a pink car they immediately think “Mary Kay!” – great for their brand, not so good for other folk who might like a pink car. That one’s so sublte it’s more of a slightly-tinted white.
Joke all you want, people. I want one! Where can I get a La Femme?
I thought I was paying attention to cars in 1955 — what red-blooded 15-year-old American male wasn’t ? But the little chromed fin-ette on the rear fender of these Dodges takes me completely by surprise. Huh . . .
Speaking of ad-department “mad money,” every one of those flower thingees in the 3rd image, above, was individually drawn. Why, I can’t imagine, when the desired effect is an all-over pattern. But impressive nevertheless, somehow.
I gather that a couple of those Mopar specials at the top of the page were photographed more recently than production — the Chrysler, at a show ? The big Jeep logo behind gives that away, doesn’t it ? It’s good to know that at least one of those Dodges survived to tell the tale !
Pink appliances were around in the late 50’s – early 60’s.
OMG-I think I’m going to vomit!
(psst…pink plumbing fixtures, too!)
I’d have that kitchen, if for no other reason than to cause boilovers like nwflvr’s; sometimes I’m mean that way.
There also used to be turquoise appliances, and I’d have the hell out of a kitchen equipped with them. Just lookit:
…which, in turn, reminds me of this utterly fab package design from about 15 years ago, here in Canada. It reached out from the grocery shelf and made me buy these frozen cakes. I had no choice.
That cake does look pretty edible!
A friend in Nelson BC tore out the original lavender bathroom fixtures from his 1970’s Pan-Abode a few years back. Unforgivable. 🙂
I still have the original pink sink from 1951 in the basement bathroom. There were still two vendors selling pink toilets when I moved in, but couldn’t find a pink one-piece shower stall or bathtub.
I rocked a pink iPhone SE for a year.
There IS such a thing as too much pink.
and now a days, drive along any road, see “too much/many white cars, suv’s, crossover’s.
Often paired with a “maalox blue” floor, countertop, pull knobs, cabinet pulls, etc etc.
Rather than making it a one-colour-scheme-only specific model, I wonder if they’d have done better to make the interior fabric and accessories an option available on any Dodge? If the colours didn’t clash, of course…
An interesting marketing idea for Dodge! While pink is not my favorite color (being a guy), I still think this is an attractive car that should have sold better than it did. Guess it was the high price keeping it down?
Pink was popular during this era, even in men’s clothing. So, we see pink and other pastels used in auto colors. It doesn’t take much imagination to go from a pink car to a “lady’s car”, as an extention of auto style. It wasn’t just a one-off. There must have been something to this. Other manufacturers saw this as well, but might not have followed through as Chrysler did with this Dodge.
Second cars were becoming a reality, and those were seen as lady’s cars. The Rambler was a fashion hit with the ladies back in 1953. How many two-seater T-Birds were sold to ladies – they looked like a lady’s car, right?
We have a long history of lady auto designers and interior designers. They were often touted by Detroit in advertising as a marketing draw.
So I think it is a natural extention of where we were by 1957.