CC TV: Favorite Car Commercials of My Childhood

By
– Posted on January 2, 2015

In my Pulsar article earlier today, I mentioned how I pored over a brochure for the Nissan Pulsar range as a five-year-old. That should give you some idea of how early and how firmly my interest in cars was cemented. “Car” was one of the first words to come out of my mouth, and during my toddler years I had become proficient in identifying cars by manufacturer. My discovery of “Which Car?” magazine in 1995, a wonderfully informative Aussie magazine that ran from that year until the early 2000s, provided me with a reliable reading resource. It was this magazine that my preschool teacher effectively banned from Show and Tell, as each session I would simply bring in the latest issue and read all about the exciting (to me) new cars on the market. Just a year prior, one of those exciting new cars was the “really roomy” new Toyota Corolla. These commercials had me transfixed.

Perhaps it was the use of colors or the catchy jingle, but my brother claims whenever these commercials came on the television I would tune everything else out. I dug these up on YouTube recently and fell in love again. I love a good jingle and with my mother listening to AM radio, I grew up with a lot of them and remember many of them to this day (“Want any mattress, always for less, factory direct is how you buy it here at Makin’ Mattresses!”). I don’t think I had a great deal of affection for these Corollas though, even at the time. My mother’s test drive a couple of years later of a spartan Corolla sedan would leave an indelible impression of apathy towards this nameplate. Opinions change, though, and I can appreciate the clean lines of this generation. My disdain towards Toyota has also eased with the launch of the latest Lexus models, many of which have impressed me greatly. I don’t imagine they will be using any jingles in their commercials, though…

Are there any car commercials you remember fondly from your younger days?