(first posted 10/7/2016) Print ads were still a great way to reach an audience during the 1980s, so naturally Car and Driver’s New Car Issues–Domestics in October 1986 and Japanese Imports in November 1986–were filled to the brim with advertising. Put on your Ray-Bans and talk a walk back down memory lane to see how marketers were wooing car enthusiasts.
Let’s start with the October 1986 issue of Car and Driver.
FoMoCo was trying sooooo hard with this car, though their first, best step might have been to call it something other than a Merkur, which nobody could even pronounce. I wonder how many people actually sent away for the Road Test Challenge kit?
Automobile Quarterly was a beautiful hard-bound book filled with useful information and glorious photography, as it should have been for $49.95 ($110 adjusted!). That one year subscription would have provided a grand total of four issues/books, so quite pricey though quite nice.
All the quality advertising in the world will never be able to compete with positive word-of-mouth from satisfied owners. Honda, Toyota and Nissan let their customers do the talking about quality, making the claims far more personal and believable to prospective buyers.
Who would have dreamed back in 1986 that Buick’s blasted Graphic Control Center–so thoroughly criticized at the time for being slow and hard to use–would wind up becoming the automotive ideal thirty years later. Let’s see: unresponsive touchscreen? Check. Confusing sub-menus? Got ’em! Worse ergonomics than conventional buttons? You bet! And yes, cameras would replace good sight-lines and plenty of glass as the way that modern drivers “see” things outside the car.
Franklin Mint was noted for crafting beautiful 1:24 scale models for car connoisseurs. The $120 price for this 1907 Rolls-Royce model would equate to $264 adjusted for inflation. Better keep this baby under glass!
Apparently, Nissan liked the back cover position–great for visibility if the magazine was lying cover-down on a coffee table…
Moving on to the November 1986 issue of Car and Driver, kicking off with a large Ford Motor Company fold-out behind the front cover.
After running a 2-page spread ad in the October issue of Car and Driver, Acura was back bigger and better with an even larger 4-page unit in the November issue.
I miss the days of Precision Crafted Performance at Acura! Though Acura today is about as exciting as oatmeal, there was a lot of buzz and energy around this brand when it was first introduced. Think of the impact this car had on the marketplace in 1987: the Legend was superior to anything on offer from American brands, and it was priced significantly lower than the premium European brands. The Japanese onslaught into the more profitable luxury market was charging full steam ahead.
Hyundai also had an enormous impact on the U.S. market when it was introduced. This audacious ad aggressively touted Hyundai’s low price and ample standard features. Hyundai would go on to sell 264,357 cars in the U.S. for 1987, an increase of 57% over 1986. Of course, the Korean brand’s reputation for terrible quality would soon emerge, and it would take the company decades to fully recover.
This was a car for the few indeed: scant numbers of U.S. buyers could be convinced to bring this thing home. To me, the Milano could well be the worst looking Alfa ever made. Must have been an acquired taste.
Bad Buick advertising is not just a current phenomenon… “Where better really matters”?!?!
This had to have been one of the earliest versions of the Certified Pre-Owned program. Given Jaguar’s lingering reputation for poor quality, it was a smart idea to offer this sort of extended warranty to help used car sales and residual values.
Could an ad look any more 1980s than this?
Nissan was back on the back cover for November, this time with the 200SX.
Whew! That was a lot of ads. Are you ready to buy?
That Pioneer ad is such a blatant copy of Patrick Nagel’s art (famous album cover, anyone?). I still see imagery in the likeliness of his at nail salons to this day.
+1 duran duran still rules. see paper gods.
The last time I saw a Merkur was 2 years ago. It was sitting on the side of a dirt road collecting mold and dust. Sad ending:-{
They are indeed few and far between.
Oddly, I saw a Scorpio flying down the road earlier this week, passing everything in sight. Sadly, it was going the other way on a four-lane, so there was no getting a picture.
More sadly, it had hit something up front, with a glaring opening where the center of the header panel used to be.
Wow, I remember those GM night vision ads, doesn’t seem like 30 years ago. That technology is more common today but I wonder why anybody thought it would be practical to have that on a screen that takes your eyes off the road.
Phil L
You know GM does not get credit for allot of innovative ideas they had back then. I personally loved the digital dash boards of the 80’s. The Riviera’s futuristic CRT command center. GM had the most reliable A/C units of any car of the time etc.
I think history should revisit specific models with praise instead of calling it junk.
My friend’s mom had a Riviera with that CRT. As a kid I thought it was awesome. Maybe even more awesome than the talking cars. 😉 As an adult I think what a pain it would be to use that blasted touchscreen for everything, but yes they were way ahead of their time with that and a lot of other stuff. You don’t tend to see that kind of risk-taking innovation today. The market is a lot more competitive so I suppose it’s harder to take those kinds of risks now.
I SO don’t miss the 80’s…
Between the ad’s of the 80’s, the music of the 80’s, and the cars of the 80’s, I now recall why I drank so heavily in the 80’s… 🙂
I’m LITERALLY going to have a shot in honor of this comment! Cheers!! ???
My 30th high school reunion is coming up. They promised lots of ’80s music. Pass the bottle, mate.
Yes, Jaguar was in fact the first to introduce certified used (ahem… pre-owned) cars. They started the program back in 1985, as did BMW — I’m not sure who was actually first.
I agree about the Acura — whenever I look at 1980s Legends, I can’t help thinking how influential that car was, and what the auto marketplace would have looked like had Acura not debuted in 1986. Their ads were probably innovative in their own way: In 1986 and early ’87, Legend ads stretched for 8 or 10 pages, and I’m pretty sure that was uncommon back then. Within a few years I think it became much more commonplace for new cars to have enormous multi-page ads.
They were Hondas world wide so nothing would have changed except the badge.
Those car bras used to be super popular, I don’t think they would work with modern car styling.
And man those Mitsubishi pickups have all bit completely disappeared from existence. I did see a ram 50 a few months ago.
Those bras didn’t work, period. I had one on a Mustang, it caused more damage than it prevented. One of the dumbest car fads of the 80’s.
In the words of a local radio morning show character back in the day: “What’s this about a bra?? I ain’t drivin’ no boob!”
As I was on a limited budget in my early 20’s, I only had *half* a bra on my ’88 Mustang – they used to sell just the part that capped the leading edge of the hood. More dirt, grime, and even a few bugs got trapped under there – such that even with some NuFinish and elbow grease, I couldn’t buff it all the way out. Back then, though, that was the look.
Yes, I was really ready to buy one for my GTI, but then I found out that you were supposed to take if off when it rained. Uhhhh, no – there was no way I was going to do that. So I skipped it.
When I used to sell these bra’s in the ’80’s, I would tell people before they bought them they had to be removed in the rain (not such a big deal in SoCal), and whenever the car was washed, because any dirt or debris (and moisture) that got trapped under it would damage the paint, especially if it wasn’t tight enough. Just flapping could damage the paint if not kept tight. It was also a good idea to have a good coat of wax under the covered area. And after a while as the rest of the paint faded you would have a less faded section where the bra was fitted.
They were good for hiding damage cheaply. Most people would buy them even with the warning, I would also tell them to lay it out and install it on a warm sunny day so it would be wrinkle and flap free. A lot of people would come back after a while complaining about their damaged paint by not using them properly.
They would be a good idea for a long road trip in the summer if installed tightly on a clean car to avoid chips, but leaving them on all the time as most did was a really bad idea. Eventually word got around what a PIA they were and sales faded away.
Another big seller in this time period were dash covers and sheepskin’s. I used to tell people to use a few dabs of silicone in a few places to hold the dash covers in place so you could drive with the windows open. You had to go for the expensive good quality sheepskins as the cheapies would shed fur and cling to clothes.
LeBaron GTS. From hyperbole to hyperbowl in one ad.
Nice try, calling an early Hyundai a status symbol. I know I’m getting old when this seems like current events to me.
Remember the commercials that went with that theme? The neighbor bragging about his awesome car. Hyundai owner asks where it is…well it’s in the shop. That would have worked for Toyota or Honda but it was ridiculously ironic for Hyundai at the time.
The heaviest steering I’ve ever experienced was on the early Hyundai Excel. At first it felt more like fighting a dead hydraulic PS pump than an unboosted rack in a small car, but then I encountered it in a second car, then a third, then I stopped shopping Hyundai Excels.
What, no Valentine One ads? Those were *everywhere* in the car mags back then.
I had an 88 non-turbo version of the Impulse once, with “Handling by Lotus”. Nice car, but let down by the trucky drivetrain. That car would be incredible with an LSX swap.
Speaking of that Pioneer ad being so 80s, the Aiwa ad sticks out to me as one of the first ads from this period to skate where the puck was going- many, many ads of the early 90s would follow its structure and layout.
From a 30 year out perspective (holy crap, these magazines are 30 years old, and I owned a copy of them) the Japanese cars just look far and away more modern than pretty much anything else presented.
A cop in an IROC Z28 is my worst nightmare? Like I’m going to try to outrun him? Yeah right! Dumb ad.
Yeah really! What was the popular phrase in the eighties about that very subject?
“You may be able to outrun the cop car, but you can’t outrun the radio.” (Or something to that effect).
Scrolling through these ads before my morning cup of coffee it looked like the one for Toyota Camry said “It doesn’t take shit from anyone”. Which made me think man Toyota was really pissed about the new Accord and Taurus. Then I realized I was reading the caption for the Conquest.
I had one of those Bonnevilles. Although the interior was astoundingly cheap (like door panels falling off cheap), the powertrain was bulletproof. I did have to replace the transmission at 260,000 miles, but I can’t even really fault that. I remember saying at the time that if they would produce the exact same car new, I’d buy it and probably drive it for fifteen years. With better safety equipment and a more durable interior, I probably still would. The last I saw Bonnie, some old gent was driving her with somewhere north of 330,000 on the mile-o-meter, with all the windows down because the firewall and insulation was disintegrating and it got HOT in the cabin.
I loved the steering wheel controls. Blasting Slayer, suddenly muting it for drive thru fare, then having it back full volume instantly while peeling away was a treat for an idiot teenage metalhead girl.
Raina (It’s always rainy on Pitts)
You know I never understood why the all new 1987 Bonneville did not receive as much praise as the 1986 Ford Taurus. Both models replaced old looking boxy forgettable ones (The Ford LTD / 1986 boxy Bonneville).
I get that the Ford Taurus came out the gate first, and had a better rear end than the Bonneville, but in my opinion that’s it. Both cars had some cheap parts for sure. I always thought the overall execution of exterior and interior of the Bonneville looked very smooth and aerodynamic-narrowly beating out the Taurus IMO. The Bonneville to me had the better advantage by using GM rock solid 3800 V6, with the Taurus having the crappy problematic Vulcan 3.0 V6. The Bonneville rode smoother and more refined than the Taurus, had an exterior that challenged the Taurus. Both were about the same size and similar price, with the Bonny a few grand more.
Anyway I get the Taurus was the star and sales hit of the late 80’s, but the Bonneville should be considered right up there in the mix. Really loved the broad long dash board “hood”, and SSE trim was amazing. The faux wood grain trim also looked more real than most!
I liked the Bonnevilles, but they weren’t in the same class as the Taurus from a design standpoint IMO. Pretty anonymous 80’s aside from the fascia, taillights, and interior.
Bonneville was based on H body, that was already a year old, shared with 1986 Delta 88 and LeSabre. Those two cars were not hits with auto media, since they had floaty handling and aimed at eldery buyers.
The similar new for ’85 FWD C bodies were met with worse criticism, especially the DeVille.
Designed for older folks, perhaps, but I drove mine like a demon on a rented Nazi mule and it did put up with it for all those miles. That 3800 was immortal and the suspension tough enough to withstand airborne whoopdies several times a week. I often wonder how long it would have lasted if we had babied it.
My grandmother had a Vulcan-equipped Taurus with enough problems that Ford cut her a deal on a new car in ’93. She picked a new Taurus and it gave flawless service until it was totalled in 1999 by a girl going 80 while doing her nails.
I thought these Bonnie steering wheels were a stunning design when they were introduced. Oddly, back in 1958, when Ford introduced the Edsel with it’s optional Teletouch Drive (gear selectors in the steering wheel hub), many people derided the car due to that feature. Isn’t it interesting how people’s opinions can change?
People were mad for gadgets in the 50s. I tend to think the Teletouch Drive got panned because it simply wasn’t reliable more than peoples tastes of the time.
That Quality is Job 1 Ford ad made me laugh out loud. I was 4 years old when these ads came out and I distinctly remember them. So much so that my young mind thought that the brand name was Job 1 and not Ford. For years I would refer to them as Job 1s, I guess that was a pretty successful advertising campaign. For 4 year-olds at least…
These always struck me as odd. If you have a quality product, word-of-mouth does the advertising for you on that score. You never see Toyota or Honda advertising quality – with them, it’s a given.
Some of these ads make me glad we’re clear of the 80’s, but some of those cars still seriously give me a case of the wants. The Conquest in particular–I always loved those (and the Starion from which they were rebadged) and still do.
Also, it occurs to me how far we’ve come (and not in a good way) in racing. The Toyota and Ford ads, where they show a racing model and the production car on which it’s based? Wouldn’t work anymore, especially not in NASCAR. Everything has moved completely away from a production base, with a very few exceptions.
So much great stuff, here.
I remember seeing a new Chrysler Conquest on the showroom floor of Star Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge in Nashville (which, coincidentally, was also the first time I had ever seen a Yugo GV!), and thinking it looked aggressive in all the right ways. I loved the fender bulges, and I remember my brother saying something to the effect that it reminded him of a Japanese take on an American muscle car – in a positive way. That always stuck with me. The Conquest / Starion had a mystique about them, and it’s crazy to think that Mitsubishi was building cars like that at one point.
I also seem to remember the Toyota Corolla FX16 hot hatch getting quite a bit of positive press at the time.
“ I remember my brother saying something to the effect that it reminded him of a Japanese take on an American muscle car ”
That’s exactly how Mitsubishi intended; the North American market was their focus with that car, even without a strong dealer network established. The Japanese affectionately refer to them as “Americanized”, believe it or not.
I had an FX16 back in the day; same model as in the ad, in fact. Loved that little car. Great engine and the best manual shifter I’ve ever driven. Plenty of happy memories.
My favorite is that Buick ad. Is this the ultimate old man ad? I love the not so old guy doing the Frankenstein walk out to his car covering his head with a newspaper. They could have given him a walker to be even more realistic! Still though, I find these cars to be attractive, with some very good features, a strong beautifully detailed V6 motor under a forward opening hood. Buick was one of the first modern American makes to make an attractive under hood appearance. A solid, comfortable, quiet, well built, spacious sedan. I bet it would deliver everything that the Jaguars featured in the next ad could,with better reliability at one fourth the cost. Despite that, I haven’t felt compelled to buy an old Buick-yet!
As a one time owner of an ’87 Electra, I’m often puzzled why “the kids” think us Buick owners are Old…., Hold on a sec……”Hey you little Bas#$#, Get off my Lawn!!”…..?
Haaaa! Made me laugh…
Um…I must admit I never even noticed that ad. Must have scrolled right past it.
Ha! I completely missed that guy the first time around, but it’s hilarious now that you point him out. I’m worried that he has some serious medical condition now, though; “If you experience complete paralysis for more than four hours while standing in the rain, consult your doctor or Buick dealer immediately.”
Is the Franklin Mint still in business I wonder? I remember all those ads. The Buick Park Avenue looks quite nice, it came out much better than the comparable Caddys.
Yep.
http://www.franklinmint.com/diecast/index.php?v=diecast
I’m particularly fond of their Mustang Cobra II. 😉
Naturally my eyes were immediately drawn towards the 1967 GT500, but I scrolled down to find the Cobra II – and it comes with Farrah Fawcet, but wait there’s more! – The Wagon Queen Family Truckster… The Ultimate Panther Platform Car! (I’m surprised it doesn’t come with a mini Chevy Chase ;o)
A friend had Franklin’s Duesenberg – nice model, but had a 4×4 stance. I think their later cars were better.
Something like 30 years ago I was contacted by the Franklin Mint because I owned a 1962 Rambler American that they wanted to model. Then they changed their minds and wanted to do a 1963 Rambler Classic (said their research showed it to be more popular) and asked if I knew anybody that had one. As it happens I did, so made the arrangements and they went over the car with a fine-tooth comb taking measurements and photos. Even put it on a lift to do the underside. Part of the deal was that both I and the car’s owner were each supposed to receive one of the resulting models.
They never sent them. (I’m sure the model is long out of production.)
I found the following picture on a site that sells used Franklin Mint models. My friend’s car is on the left side of the 3rd shelf from the top.
BF Goodrich dry road tyres, the worst tyres Ive ever had they have no grip whatsoever on Australian road compounds when it rains, fine on dry roads but when it rains park the car.
Turbo Impulse:, Translation: World’s most bitchin’ Chevette! ?
Night vision is still neat. I know you can get a $250 FLIR unit for your Android phone. It maybe possible to attach it for car use.
For the sake of clarity – night vision and infrared imaging are similar but very different technologies. Night vision (think military-style goggles) requires a certain amount of ambient light and simply amplifies what light is available. Infrared / thermal imaging has sensors tuned to long-wave (or short-wave) infrared energy (LWIR or SWIR) and requires no light to operate because it’s sensing heat.
The FLIR One (phone attached unit) is an infrared imager, not a night vision sensor.
Yes, I’m a dork- I worked with sensor technology for the military for a long time and now run a product line of thermal imaging systems for the fire service – with FLIR as a direct market competitor. 😀
Had a Pioneer cassette deck in my 81′ Aspen. Speakers too. Beautiful sound. It rocked! Unfortunately, some else noticed it too…probably while I was cranking Loverboy in the parking lot( some lessons you have to learn the hard way when your a teenager)….while I had it parked at night, at my apartment, in a blinding snow storm It got lifted. When I came out in the morning, snow shovel in hand hoping to drive off to work, I noticed the drivers door wide open….”dang, I’m sure I closed that last night”…the entire inside of the car was full of snow! Bast—-!!!could have a least closed the door…It took me a bit to realize someone yanked out the deck and “carved” the speakers out of the rear deck, and door panels…what a hack job! Worse, they stole the drivers headlight bezel too??? Left the Philips screws where they fell in snow. Didn’t think Dodge Aspen bezels were so “rare”. Weird.
Car stereo theft was so rampant in the ’80s and ’90s, with mostly interchangable units and many people replacing factory head units and speakers with aftermarket gear. Most of the aftermarket radio/tape/CD units and some factory ones had removable faceplates, entirely removable chassis, codes that had to be entered before it would work after not being attached to power, and other anti-theft measures, all of which disuaded me from buying an aftermarket stereo that would just get stolen someday.
I can’t imagine there’s much market for this stuff anymore, given that the audio system is too integrated with the touchscreen, remote controls, steering wheel controls, and unique-to-each-car shape for generic aftermarket replacements to be an option anymore.
At least they opened the door. A friend had the hatch window smashed on his Ford Laser but the removal was neat. They stole the wheel covers as well. He didn’t bother replacing those.
When I was selling cars I had that IROC-Z ad on the wall of my office. “Your worst nightmare!” Love it.
Didn’t hurt that I was driving one at the time.
“Your worst nightmare.”… Giorgio Moroder as a cop!
Who would have dreamed back in 1986 that Buick’s blasted Graphic Control Center–so thoroughly criticized at the time for being slow and hard to use–would wind up becoming the automotive ideal thirty years later.
Ironically right when Buicks were rapidly getting the old people’s car stigma, where such gimmicks were negatively compared to the purposeful analog designs in German cars. Now if you make fun of LCD displays in modern cars, calling for real analog gauges and tactile radios/HVAC controls, you’ll get the requisite “ok boomer” response.
Always loved the styling of the Conquest TSi, with those deep dish alloy wheels, and their central Pentastar design. They still look modern, and were such a refreshing change from the flush-faced wheel designs, so common at the time.
They still look modern and were such a refreshing change from the flush-faced wheel designs, so common at the time.
I’d say the deep concave wheels date it, but in a good way. Modern wheels are flat as a pancake, no dish or concavity whatsoever, just look at the C8 Vette
You’re right. I was thinking of the popularity of modern aftermarket deep dish rims.
So choice!
Your cover image reminded me of when Florida Highway Patrol got Mustangs & Camaros in the late 80’s. With manual transmissions. Makes it hard to multi-task when chasing or pulling someone over.
Lets see – radio in your stop, lights, maybe siren, spotlight, flashlight, maybe radio, baton, ticket book, hat, oh yeah…..neutral & parking brake… second gen was automatic.
How did Chevy know that my worst nightmare IS in fact some greasy-looking porn-mustached stripper-looking-dude in a Camaro parked outside my home?
“Put on the red light.” as Sting said. He was a member of The Police after all.
Is this dumb or did I just BLOW YOUR MIND?