If Paul’s 1994-96 GP post yesterday got you CCers down, here’s the antidote: Pontiac in its prime. While the cars themselves looked awfully good, the wonderful artwork by Van Kaufman and Art Fitzpatrick, seen in advertisements and dealer brochures from the ’50s through 1971, made them timeless.
What’s the polar opposite of the rather plain blue 1994-96 GP? Why, a pink-and-black 1958 Chieftain convertible, of course. This one doesn’t appear to be a V&F illustration, but still looks pretty cool. In ’58 the Chieftain wasn’t even the top-of-the-line Pontiac, but it still had flair in spades. And how about that matching interior on the left?
Life was a beach in 1959 if you had a copper ’59 Bonnie convertible. Gas was cheap, cars had fins, and Studebaker was still in business, thanks to the Lark. My grandmother had one of these in Catalina trim, but it was even more dramatic, in metallic lilac with a white interior. Yes, you could get colors back then. You were spoiled for colors!
Some of Van and Fitz’s most excellent artwork were the nighttime shots, like this ’60 drop-top Bonneville. In fact, my favorite V&F picture is the one at the very top of this post, with another ’60 convertible speeding towards a marina with docked boats. A far cry from today’s brochures, which usually show a black or gray car in a plain background, with no people or interesting architecture around. Sometimes, you’d think you were reading a Kenmore appliance catalog!
Not so with the Poncho brochures of the ’50s, ’60s and early ’70s. The images shown here are some of my favorite pictures from that time period. They were so neat.
Even into the beginning of the Great Brougham Epoch, you could walk into a Pontiac showroom and come out with your own small piece of automotive art. Sadly, 1971 was the last year the V&F team illustrated for Pontiac, though later on they did similar work for Opel in Germany.
If these lovely images don’t take the sting of later badge-engineered Pontiacs, check out the earlier V&F post on CC, which you can find here. And there’s always the Pontiac section at oldcarbrochures.com, if that isn’t enough for you. I don’t know about you, but I feel better already!
I love these old GM ads. Not only did they sell the car, they sold you the idea of a life changing experience should you buy that car. Saturday afternoons by the beach, Saturday evenings at the swankiest of eateries. A new dynamic lifestyle awaits you at your local GM dealer. Tom is correct about todays car ads. Gone is the age of optimistic potential.
In the same vein, the EMD locomotive ads for the 1960’s were bold and daring in their own way and are worthy of a discussion on these pages.
I kind of think the young executive, rushing towards his new Pontiac Ventura and his pretty lass has some explaining to do when that Poncho digs it’s open rear diff into the soggy 18th green!
Not to hijack Tom’s wonderful piece but to supplement it, here is a link to a Classic Trains Magazine profile on Tom Fawell, the EMD artist who brought to life the 1960’s/early 70’s EMD locomotive lineup in a series of paintings in a bold way. http://www.tomfawell.com/ctr-b0308.pdf. His paintings of EMD SD-45’s, GP-30’s and the like are the polar opposite of these Pontiac works of art…….the locomotives look like they are charging forward in a dramatic style, headlights piercing the night sky. As genteel as the Pontiac ads are, the EMD ads depict something menacing is coming to town….
GM was really on the top of it’s game back then in so many ways. I think all of these various advertisements depict a proud and strong company, looking forward to the future.
Michael, if you’d care to do a post on some of the EMD advertising, you’re more than welcome to. I think all of us here at CC would enjoy it.
I was going to say the same thing as Tom. I’m surprised to not be familiar with them. Maybe I saw one once long ago, but if so, have totally forgotten about them.
My Uncle retired from EMD in Countryside. He may have some stuff he could scan if you do a feature.
Ah, yes. When gas was cheap and Pontiacs were Pontiacs. That ’65 Bonneville really brings back memories of my old ’66 Catalina, the only “full-sized” car that I’ve ever owned. I recall with fondness the crank-operated wing windows, the giant ashtray that slid in and out on ball bearings, and the high-beam indicator that looked like an Indian in profile. A nicely-detailed car! It was such an easy car to drive, (one-finger steering) and for such a big car, it was relatively easy to park. The big advantage in parking came from the pointed fenders up front and the vestigial fins out back; I always knew exactly where my bumpers ended.
I can never get enough of that beautiful artwork, either. It was one more facet of the one GM division that was hitting on all cylinders through all of the 60s. Delorean related (in On a Clear Day You Can See GM) that he was aware all through the 60s how Chevrolet’s advertising was a rolling disaster, and what a struggle it was to get control of it when he moved to Chevrolet. In their own way, the ad campaigns for Chevy of the 70s were just as memorable, even if they lacked this kind of artwork.
Now that beats reading the morning news at breakfast. Thanks, Tom.
I’ve always thought that 1961 was GM’s stylistic peak, and the illustration of that black (or is it gunmetal grey) Ventura bubbletop coupe proves my point. What a gorgeous car, with the complementing white and black upholstery making an inviting chiaroscuro.
The 59 and 60 Bonneville ads are fantastic. They indeed hint at the good life that awaits you in a new Pontiac. The classy girl at the beach and the nice summer evening at the club are all within your reach.
Maybe, all that was exagerated, but it illustrated the American Dream. Now, it’s gone. The US, I’m sad to say, has been reduced to a 3 world country. Instead of dinner and dance at a nice supper club, an uncouth individual (in cut off flannel shirt and ball cap)encourages us to slop inedible food and drink, then take something to undo the gastric damage.
The ads of today spell it all too painfully.
Dave, isn’t that the truth? I am old enough to remember when women in offices – secretaries, file clerks – wore dresses to work. Right now, I’m looking out of my office door at an overweight phone rep wearing doubleknit stretch pants. When she walks, the rear view is like watching two VWs trying to pass each other. Think I’ll forego lunch. Okay, rant over…
Im afraid you are correct. The modern world is a place of sideways caps and people that cant dress themselves. There are a few left that cling to the mid century asthetic. We mostly drive european sedans. 🙁
maybe…. and maybe unexplainably so—-but those dolts drive european sedans, too.
I agree with you Dave, but I wouldn’t categorize ol’ Larry as uncouth 🙂
Thanks for the memories, Tom…. appreciated.
After DeLorean left, new Pontiac managers declared “muscle cars are out, people want luxury”. Or, they demanded versions of cheap Chevys. So, they competed with Chevy, Buick and Olds. And then went up/down in sales and image, until its demise.
IMHO the ’65-’66 Bonnevilles, Grand Prixes etc… are among the most beautiful big cars ever !
I certainly remember seeing a lot of these ads back in the day, maximizing the appeal of those Wide-Track Pontiacs.
I got to wondering if anyone else here is old enough to remember seeing the series of ads that Cadillac did in 1950 or so, each showing the car with some fancy piece of jewelry from Van Cleef & Arpels. I saw several of them by google-imaging 1950 Cadillac advertisements.
I have seen them in old magazines and on the web. Not sure if they were part of the same series, but the jewelled Cadillac crests remained in ads at least through 1962. After that, the pictures in the ads were more real-life shots, although elegant ones.
When I was a kid, my father had a cousin who had a collection of National Geographic magazines from, I think, the 50’s through the 70s. Every time I went to her house, I’d go right to the shelves and look for the car ads. While I love these Pontiac ads, I just don’t remember if there were many in the NG magazines, but there were definitely Cadillac ads, and I distincly remember the jewelled crest series. I loved every one of the ads from the early 60s to the early 70s.
I recall a Pontiac magazine ad in about 1968, in which Pontiac declared that “They were proud of their hoods.” In the ad, several model cars were shown, along with clean cut fellows in sports coats and a more modern hairstyle than old guys would wear at the time. Obviously, they were referring to the long hoods of the cars, and potentially the young men being “hoods.”
Like the 1964 movie, “Kitten with a Whip”, with Ann Margaret. The two delinquents in the show were very well dressed by today’s standards. One guy with a jacket, tie, and snap brim cap, the other surfer type with chinos and a sweater. They’d be be well dressed for any social affair now.
I can faintly remember the jewelled chevron with the Cadillac crest in the 1950’s, also the Cadillac ads of the mid 60’s which encouraged previously owned Cadillacs.
For your viewing pleasure…
Had relatives with NG collection, and I literally couldn’t put them down gazing at the ads..
I got in trouble for not getting in the car to go home afer mom said 3 times, “we are leaving now!”
Not first hand, but like others here, I had relatives that had a series of National Geo’s from like 1948 through 1967 in their garage-rec room, I recall those “jeweled” Cadillac ads, with their custom one jewled V-and Crest, by Van Cleef & Arpel and the women in their ads with gowns by someone or other, memorable ads.
I’ll bet the original renderings are quite valuable. Are these from brochures or advertisements? They’re so beautiful that I’d certainly like to frame a few of them for my man-cave.
All the ones I posted came from the brochures, though the advertisements were quite similar. Here’s an ad:
I think there are very few distinctive ads series running today. I noticed (barely) a new Jaguar XJ ad the other day, in one of the January car mags, and remarked how dull and ordinary it looked. You’d think someone would really make an effort to sell an $80,000 car.
When I was born I came home from the hospital in a 60 Pontiac, although I didn’t come home to the lifestyle shown I’d like to think my baby basket is in the back seat of that convertible!
OH man…. that ’68 Ventura IS the sh*t!
Love that big ol’ boat fastback…. anyone know if there’s a difference between this Ventura and Pontac’s Executive from the same model year ?
I know that the Executive replaced the Star Chief (last seen in 65?). A quick check on Old Car Brochures confirms that the Executive was on the Bonneville’s 124 inch wheelbase and was a budget Bonnie. The Ventura was on the 121 inch wb and seems to have been a notch up from the Catalina.
Yes. The Ventura was essentially a fancy Catalina, while the Executive was a less fancy Bonneville.
Thank you, Gents.
The few Executives I’ve seen (and fallen in love w/ all of them!!!) are the 2 door fastback variety and to my eyes do not look cheapened. Perhaps my eyes just gravitate to the big sloping hips and beautiful fastback/rump.
It’s like that w/ the ladies for me, too–gotta have the ‘right’ amount of ballast, you know!
Well, the Executive wasn’t really cheap, just less plush than the Bonnie. Think Impala instead of Caprice. The Exec had the longer wheelbase too.
Executive and Ventura sure confused me, I prefered the Catalina/Bonneville names, only. Star Chief was dated by mid 60’s.
According to his own account we can thank Mr J Wengers for prematurely ending the reign of VK/AF. Apparently scouting international locations and developing the idealised renderings didn’t come cheap. Likely the best relics of the era.
Beautiful art work. As a collector of car brochures, these were some of the nicest. I always had a soft spot for Pontiac’s of this vintage. It’s amazing how much the proportions of these cars were “stretched” in some of the art work to really get that long low wide look.
I still remember when I was young finding a 62 in the junk yard that looked (at least in my young eyes) too good to be there. I tried to convice my dad to buy it, but he was only interested in finding spare parts for his car, not bringing home another. I at least was able to walk away with a few keepsakes from the car, the old steering wheel hub and a few trim pieces. Later a friend of my Dad’s also had another 62 Pontiac, that I wanted but dad wouldn’t let me buy it for he wouldn’t let me because he knew the floor boards were gone. This friend had a reputation of “shoddy repairs” and my dad knew he had done a poor job. Maybe one day I will come home with a 62 Pontiac….
Here’s a great one showing a Grand Prix driving hit man on his way to a job…..
Never saw that one before. Nice.
Ha!
that is one bad-ass!
The girl walking by and the guy putting gloves on, looking aroung to see if the coast is clear….I doesn’t bode well for the blonde…..
They always fall for the ‘bad-boy’.
Seriously, thou these two could be Charles Bronson and Jill Ireland.
These cars and ads are what made Pontiac so hot during the 60s. I especially like the ’65s and ’66s with their fastbacks and bulging hips. The ’69s follow closely behind.
But I wouldn’t refuse a nice one from any year between 1959-69!
These Ad’s were great-not only were they selling cars but they were selling a “lifesytle”. Life Magazine was a great display source for all of Detroit’s iron from the 50’s to early 70’s. I so enjoyed the Pontiac Ad’s but the Cadillac Ad’s were my favorite..back then they truly said “You Arrived”. My former 65 Coupe DeVille came with it’s original brochure thanks to buying it from the original owner. Not only did Cadillac market the new models in the Ad’s but they also featured older models as well to possibly hook the buyer that could not afford to buy a new one. Pretty creative.
The Life & NG collection at a certain high school in West Chicago is missing all of its car ads. Some jerque evidently tore them out & took them home.