This is a topic that has appeared fairly often at CC and I’m pretty sure it’s always welcomed. I’m talking about the introduction of new year models and the excitement their arrival used to cause back in the day. A different era when new models were the talk of the town, with their arrival providing a buzz one could feel in the air.
So here we have a series of photos taken on Oct. 19th, 1956, with the new ’57 Chevrolets on display. The location was Capitol Chevrolet, at 5th and Lamar, in Austin Texas. Shots taken of the exterior suggest there was plenty of traffic arriving for the occasion, while interior images show the excitement of such events. All images are part of the collection of Rescuing Texas History from the UNT.
I can remember when the dealers covered their windows for a few days before the actual introduction date. It was a really big deal when I was a kid.
Me too!
There must have been a lot of young nose & fingerprints in their windows.
ahhhh, what a sweet memory! And the car-hauler trucks were covered too! I wanna go back!!!
I recall being much more excited about the 57 Fords when they came out. I thought they looked like rocket ships from the future!
That makes sense the Ford was fresh, and except for some bug eyed headlights, was a great looking car. While the ’57 Chevy is a great car in all respects, the styling was mostly old had in 1957. This picture really says it all….
Little did anyone in that photo know these carry-over Chevys that competed with all-new Fords and Mopars would become uber-classics by the next decade…
Once I saw a `57 Ford, I’d never even look at a Chevy!! The Ford was so much better looking IMHO. (Outsold Chevy that year too!)
I know dealers would become very secretive around the new arrivals, even covering their windows as David points out.
But they cover the cars themselves?
Also, wasn’t there other big hoopla like search lights, music, etc?
Thank you Rich for providing these cool pictures
I remember seeing a car on a city street that had its front and rear covered. I got enough of a look to see the bumper mounted tail lights. Weird. I later realized the car was a new ’68 Impala.
My big deal was dad taking me to the dealership in mid-September on a Sunday morning after church to show me the new cars. I’d go to school for the next four weeks with a rather smug feeling that I knew what the new Chevies looked like, and my car-crazy friends didn’t.
I wasn’t alive then, and here in Uruguay things were (and are) tremendously different. But i would have thought that the first batch shown would be of top of the line models. Only true in that the convertible is in the center, but there’s a 210 4 door sedan, and in the farthest position, there’s a 150, probably a 2 door sedan. So, they were already prepared to show you whatever your checkbook could stand.
I used to sneak around the dealerships to try and catch a glimpse of them where they were stored before they were moved into the showrooms.
I have particularly clear memories of the unveiling of the all-new ’65 Chevys in Iowa City. I was pretty blown away, but I just couldn’t figure out why they added that little bright metal accent strip on the top of the “hips” of the low-end Biscayne. That just seemed all wrong to me.
Yes, there were spotlights, and coffee and donuts were served; it was a real party. I wrote about it here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/auto-biography/getting-religion-auto-biography-part-3/
For me, the real big deal was dad taking me to the Pittsburgh Zone meeting where the dealers got the big rollout of the ’66 Chevrolet line. This would have been sometime in July. Got to meet the guy my father worked for, all the while not realizing that dad was going to be out of the dealership by that September.
(In retrospect, I think dad knew at the time, because taking your kid to the Zone meeting was a really off-the-wall thing that no other dealer did, so I’m assuming dad’s attitude at that point was, “who cares?” That, and his bringing home a maroon Corvair Monza for me to mess with (including driving it thru the neighborhood, as long as I limited my driving to about a ten block radius of the house) made the summer of ’65 really odd.
How quickly it all came crashing down.
This is before my time but it seems like there was a glimmer of new-model-time excitement mostly around the car magazines’ October issues dropping, as recently as the turn of the millennium.
GM got into the habit of its’ new model introductions at NAIAS in January not going on sale until fall, Ford mostly introduced midyear launches to reach dealers by spring there (most notably the Escort and later Focus which always changed at midyear) and now it’s standard for new-model intros online months before they reach showrooms.
I get the distinct impression that like so many other things the launches are more about boosting the stock price than generating sales excitement to move the metal.
Ah, the excitement of late summer and waiting for the manager of the Mercury palnt. who lived down the street, to appear driving an early line build of the newest big Mercury. that and the auto magazines predictions, sometimes wildly off base, predictions of “next years” models. It was a great time for us not yet old enough to drive gearheads.
I vividly recall the excitement of my parents visiting the Rambler dealer in 1961 in response to an invitation to test drive the all new Rambler American. Thank God my parents didn’t succumb to the temptation. I didn’t think it was possible to design a car uglier than our ’59 American, but somehow AMC succeeded.
What was ugly in “59”, come “62ish”, was “purty cool”.
New car introduction I remember in the late 40s 50s and 60s. Detroit auto factories shut down for “chance over ” in June/July in order to start production of the new models to be shipped to the dealerships by September. The dealership would cover there windows for about a month in October. Radio and TV adds informing us “coming Oct the 10th the all new 1957 what ever” the interest people had, it was a fun time. I miss those days.
My Dad took my brother and I to the local dealer to see the new ’58 Chevys and the showroom was full of people just like in these shots. Dad never went to these events but I think he wanted to see what the new models were like as he was scheduled to get a new one as a company car. I was in the third grade and remember looking outside at the leftover ’57’s and thinking I liked them better. When Dad’s new car arrived it was a Delray painted dark green as were all his company cars up to that time. He worked for Oliver farm equipment. He never liked that car. Six months later he changed jobs and got another new Chevy, this time a blue and white Biscayne. That was the best looking company car he ever had. It’s in some of our home movies, so I get to see it again.
I am surprised no one has mentioned that today it the 60th anniversary of the introduction of the Mustang. Showrooms were sure full when that happened.
+1 on no mention of the Mustang’s 60th Anniversary, Rick. 😢
That said, I believe there was something mentioned on CARBUZZ about a new GT500 being unveiled tomorrow (4-18-24) based on the current S650 platform, so stay tuned…
I too recall in 3rd grade going with Dad, in our case to Marsden Chevrolet in Towson, to see the ’58 Chevys. They were really different that year with a new and bigger body, cool scalloped rear end with 4 or 6 lights, and most of all the new quad headlights. I recall seeing a big 2 full page ad for them a day or so before in the Baltimore Evening Sun on my best friend Scott’s kitchen table, just cross the street and being super impressed by the ’58 changes. One of the cars in the showroom the next evening was a red Impala convert, and one was a new white Corvette! New car introductions meant good times back then!
Once upon a time, dealers knew the neighborhoods they were located within. They were smaller dealers surrounded by smaller markets. Each of these markets had churches, schools, fraternities, sports teams, and folks shopped and did most of their daily errands in the same neighborhoods. Even in Chicago, there were a thousand neighborhoods, each with a Catholic parish number, and each their own enclave.
Folks grew up together, fought in two world wars together, had kids all about the same age, went to the same corner bars, and had similar values.
So when the TV announced that the new Chevrolets were arriving – they thought about their neighborhood Chevy dealer. The guy they grew up with, went to church with and lived with. In turn, that guy used the mail daily, and did business within the same neighborhood. If Sam, the Chevy dealer sent you an invite to see the new Chevrolets, it wasn’t a blind invite – you knew Sam and he knew you. You not only knew the Chevy dealer, you also knew the mechanic at the Packard dealer, you dated the daughter of the guy who owned the Ford dealership, and you were a Lodge brother with the local Rambler dealer. The Fourth of July Picnic last year, you hung around and had beers with the guy telling you that he’s going to be opening a Nash dealership with his brother-in-law, who you knew from grade school.
There was no air conditioners in the houses, so you sat on your porch after watching Milton Berle, and chatted across the driveway with your neighbor every night as your kids played ball in the street until dark.
So this is how I understand how your parents would visit Marge and Chuck at the Chevy dealership for punch and cookies and see the exciting new cars in their showroom. You knew these people. Seeing the local dealerships once a year was like a little county fair for one night. The cars are pretty and the dealership was air conditioned on a hot October night.
It’s one thing to look at pictures of the event, it’s something else to having been there, not only on opening night, but for the 2-3 days beforehand while the staff cleared out the showroom of the remaining old models, papered over the windows, had an outside cleaning crew come in to completely clean the showroom and wax the floor, and moved the new cars from where they were stored on the second floor over the service department wing of Hallman’s Chevrolet to the showroom.
Of course, since the cars had to come down the ramp, then outside, and into the showroom side of the building, this was done at night after the dealership had closed. The place was really strange the day or two before the grand opening because you’d be talking an empty showroom (and Hallman’s was large enough to hold 25-30 cars) with the salesmen’s office functioning, but nothing else in there.
The 1957 grand opening I don’t remember well, no doubt having to do with my only being six years old at the time (yes, I was still there), but my memories are very good for the ’59’s and ’60’s. I can’t place exactly when, but the grand showings they did in the Fifties were dying out as I entered my teens, and were definitely dead by the time the ’66 cars came out. In 1965 the big deal was Hallman’s opening a new separate building for the paint and bodyshop, and there was more hoopla on that (in mid August) than the new cars two months later.
I was born on October 15, 1956. I saw the comment about today being the 60th anniversary of the introduction of the Mustang. The introduction of the Mustang is the car that got me interested in cars. Another anniversary is today is the 55th year since the introduction of Ford’s Maverick. Not as notable but to a 12 year old car nut it was the highlight of my year!
I’ve read that there used to be a lot of interest when new Holdens came out in the fifties. But I don’t remember those days. By the sixties, when they came up against the Falcon and the Valiant, the feeling was more like “About time!”
For example, here’s a 1960 FB Holden. This was an extensive remake of the 1956 FE model, and introduced the wraparound windshield just as Detroit was saying goodbye to it. Five and a half inches higher than a Falcon! Out of date when introduced, but a cult classic today. Holden finally caught up with the US-designed HD model.
I remember my cousin bringing us to the back room of the Chevrolet dealership to see the new 57’s they all had car covers on them.
Dealers in the 50s and up to about 1969 didn’t get cars they got one loaded version or the model year the customer ordered his car which took 6 months to get. some people waited until the loaded version came up sale usually the next year
Funny how the ’57 Chevy wasn’t popular when new then it took off like a rocket and is still very popular .
As kids trying to peek past the butcher papered dealer showroom windows was always fun .
-Nate
In a kind-of-CC-effect, just this morning I was out driving in an unfamiliar rural area and came across a little business that had a weathered 57 Chevrolet station wagon atop a sign pole. Unfortunately, I was unable to stop for a photo, and cannot even remember what kind of business it was.
But that sighting kind of bookends with this post, showing 57 Chevrolets at opposite ends of their normal life cycle.
In response to the above subscriber, I have say that Ford cars have never been reliable. In the past, they had so many problems in terms of ignition switch, tire explosion, bouncing too much, catching fire etc… 2021 cunsumer magazine gave Ford products very low rating. Besides, in 1945 World War 2, Henry Ford supported German Army by sending them auto parts to fight against allies & the United States. It’s in his biography & documented.
Clearly the 1957 Plymouth was the most exciting car from the “Big Three”.
Sure, it had many teething problems, but it was years ahead of Ford or Chevy styling wise, both inside and out. The Chevy especially looked at least 5 years older than the Plymouth, especially in those fast moving times.
The 57 Chevy had more iconic styling than the homley ford’s and plymouthsput together and much more remembered and note worthy by the entire world general motors has always had more style and design beauty and innovation over ford’s or Chrysler products more reliable longer lasting and more trouble free.
Capitol Chevrolet is still around, but it’s been a long time since any new car dealership has been downtown (5th and Lamar would be considered downtown), though I’ve lived in Austin long enough to remember Mercury, Chevrolet, and Toyota dealerships still downtown, but probably by the early 90’s they were gone, though a few used car lots persisted.
I enjoyed reading Curtis Redgap’s account of the rollout of the ’57 Chryslers at the Allpar website. He was the son/grandson of a dealer, and likely ’57 was the highlight year for Chrysler’s new look. It seems like such a throwback, though I do remember the excitement upon the rollout of a new model year of cars, in comparison to today,
I remember seeing the first Camaro in 1966. It was on the New Jersey Garden State Parkway. About a month later I noticed the neighbor down the street bought a 67 rally sport. I rode my bicycle down the block, and when I got to the front, I could not believe that it had hideaway headlights. I guess that was a limited edition? You don’t see any anymore.
My Grandfather worked at the Ford plant in Dallas, Tx on Grand ave @ I – 30. He was a WW 2 vet and that probably how he got the job. I have a pic of him and some of the Men he worked with back in tha day at the plant. He’s the only Black Man in the pic out of about maybe 20 men. From the pic above integration hadn’t happened yet, I guess. Anyway my Gran was a big Man 6 ft + and nice gentleman, he and his White coworkers would go deer hunting together during the season and come by the house. He and my grandmother drove Ford, he pickup and she 4 door galaxy 500. I miss them both Much and my they rest in Peace and God rest their Souls. 😎🙏🏼
I remember as a 17 year old in 1970 being excited when the new Chevy’s were coming out in September of that year.
In Driver’s Ed class we had a shiny new Impala sedan all green inside and out and marveling of the design and powerful 350 V8 and me driving a new car the first time in my life breathing in that new car smell.
In flint during those times we would drive by the fisher body plant at night to get a glimpse of the new models as they rolled down the line before they made the dealerships. Never thought it would change
The Ford plant in Germany in WW2 was taken over by the Nazis, just as GM’s Opel factory was. Henry Ford was a pacificist, and had to be “convinced” by his son Edsel to build military products for the U.S and the Allies., the B-24 and the Jeep being the most notable. Ford and GM were compensated by the American government after the war, for the damage inflicted on the German factories in the later stages of the War.