I can’t believe I just watched this all the way through. What a period piece; chock full of non-PC nonsense. And the very final line is a curious zinger.
And if you’ve wondered about why Dodge chose Knotts for their “The Dude” package, well now you know.
I liked Mr. Whipple’s hat. You buy a hat like that, I’ll bet you get a free bowl of soup.
Can’t believe what they did to that Dodge pickup at the end! Mid 1960’s GM owned 52% of the automotive market… other 48% shared by all the other manufacturers put together… Govt. told GM it had to make less desirable products or be broken up as a monopoly like they did to AT&T which ended up in 8 pieces…
Ad reminds me of this dealers-only Chevelle SS ad… which also made GTOs look good:
I’d like to learn more about that. Got links?
’66 Chevelle SS ad:
https :// http://www.youtube.Com/watch?v=SJIRitKQYrM
Fantastic! Makes me want to time travel back to 1965.
Cool how they got Jim Rockford to do a J-turn at the end.
Since I believe the film is now public domain, why does OsbornTramain have to plaster his name across the picture like that?
He did a video a while back explaining this. He buys a lot of original films and digitizes them for use on his channel, which apparently takes quite a lot of time. Because he’s put in the work for his own channel, he adds his name so people are less likely to steal his work (or at least others will know which channel it came from).
I am pretty sure the film is not in the public domain; copyright in the U.S. lasts for 95 years after publication, plus works published before January 1st 1926 are in the public domain.
As Aaron65 explains, OsbornTramain puts a lot of sweat, time, and money into obtaining and restoring videos, and if he doesn’t prominently mark them, other people republish and monetise them, siphoning off the revenue stream that allows OsbornTramain to carry on doing what he’s doing.
This is my favorite corny Dodge promo film from the period:
Tom, how could you??
My thought exactly. Tom, what were you thinking??
I actually thought Tom did a great job with this. That’s one of his admirable talents–taking something potentially mundane and making it fascinating!
That blows up my perception of Lehrer as anti-establishment. He lives in my town but keeps a pretty low profile locally.
He should also be everyone’s go-to guy for all of your concrete needs.
I didnt believe you at first, until you provided concrete evidence.
Great entertainment!
Some Dodge dealers evidently had “movie nights” where these films were shown. The ad below is promoting one such event at a dealer in Lancaster, PA:
Wow, I have no words….
Did they sell 146,000 trucks? And did this film help?
The most striking thing in the whole video isn’t the plethora of curves (and the attendant schlock humor) but the rectilinear aquarium-on-wheels that Dodge fashioned of their cab-over model — maybe the widest phone booth ever made!
This would have been shown at auto shows and new model year intro? I’m kind of surprised they trashed the truck at the end. It sure didn’t appear anyone would walk away from it…
General Custer should have driven a Dodge truck.
At 16:11, the designer of the Town Wagon!
Amazing that Dodge had such an extensive truck lineup but never achieved much market share during those years. The had their successes, notably the A series compact vans, motorhome chassis, and they did fairly well with their oddly styled pickups. Their larger commercial trucks however did not sell well. I was told Dodge’s commercial trucks were quite good, but their dealer network was weak. Too few dedicated open-all-night commercial truck centers to sell and service trucks like Knott’s LN-1000.
That was a curious nod to an aging platform! And not too much attention to the LCF with it’s same vintage cab, which had another 10 years left.
Even after watching this, it escapes me how BBDO and Dodge thought Knotts was the spokesperson to take them to the next level.
Chrysler tried to buy Mack trucks in 1964. This would have given Dodge the real heavy-duty trucks they needed to fill out a full line. The deal was quashed by the Justice Department, who believed the deal would violate antitrust laws.
This despite the fact that International, GM, Ford, and White were all larger than Mack, while Dodge was practically non-existent in heavy trucks.
Loved the video, Paul. I will watch the Tom Lehrer one later. Too much work to do this morning. Don Knotts was a gem of a comedian. He added elements of history and fine music into the gags, too. I was hoping that he would have caught up with the chief and sold him a new Dodge truck. PC be damned! let’s enjoy laughing at one another’s mores with kind hearts! I agree in that I cannot believe what the did to that green pick up. Did anyone notice that there are no seatbelts? They were not required on light-duty trucks that year.
I like the A100 pickup with cabover slide-in camper. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that setup on an A100.
1964 was a very non-PC year:
Great clips ! .
I didn’t see any driving that Mr. Knotts couldn’t have done ~ go to Palmdale any weekend and see kids thrashing American pickups like this, no big deal .
I’m surprised to see a two axle YARD GOAT pulling double bottom trailers ~ I know they’re empty but seriously .
I’m off to share these great old cheesy & corny films with some other Baby Boomers .
-Nate
It’s not a YARD GOAT. It’s a Dodge COE over the road semi truck.