Muscle Car Advertising

By: Robert Tate I started collecting automobile advertising in 1969. I was a sixth grade student at Mac Dowell elementary school and during the fall that year, the 1970 models had just came out for the buying public. I was fascinated with the wild colors and the great designs that GM, Ford, and Chrysler offered. However, before that time period in the late 1960's, Plymouth featured racing champs, Ronnie Sox and Buddy Martin,which was a great performance advertising piece for Chrysler. Plymouth no. 1 super stock racing team combined their talents with Plymouth GTX, Road Runner and Barracuda in competition at drag race events across the country. Sox and Martin were two of the most significant teams in automotive performance history. The pair were a dominant and highly visible force in the super stock and pro stock ranks during the late 1960's and early 70's. As part of the promotional effort, Sox and Martin drag racing clinics toured dealerships across the country to offer racing advice to their fans.




The Plymouth Road Runner Bird and Chrysler offered fans the most famous cartoon character name used on Plymouth models in the 1960's and 70's. Jack Smith was the man who conceived the idea of the Road Runner and Plymouth models. Mr. Smith was the product planning manager for Chrysler in the 1960's . It all began in mid-1967 after the new 1968 Plymouth models were completed and released to the buying public. Bob Anderson was newly appointed to general manager for Chrysler-Plymouth sales and marketing. Mr. Anderson wanted to dazzle the youth market beyond the inroads being made by the 1967 Plymouth GTX which was challenging the muscle car of the Pontiac GTO. Jack Smith and Bob Anderson were the two people responsible for using the cartoon bird from Warner Bros that became a great tie-in success for Plymouth advertising to spread the word. In the late 1960's, Plymouth dealers had various promotional give-away items for buyers and fans of its super car programs. Below is an original 1967 Road Runner decal sticker that was given out by Plymouth dealerships across the country and is very collectible and rare among enthusiast today.




The 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302 was a high performance model produced in 1969 and 1970 for the Trams- Am racing series. Ford has recently revived the Boss 302 for the 2012 model year. The world Boss was chosen because it was a hip and contemporary word from the 1960's that describes "The Best". Ford also used the name Boss in their advertising for the 1903 Ford touring car which sold for $850. In 1970, the Ford Mustang Boss advertising were featured as two page magazine spreads and one page ads as well. All advertising made excellent visual association with production Mustangs and their Trans-AM and drag -racing connections. The Boss 302 Mustang was designed by Larry Shinoda. The distinctive styling included optional black horizontal rear window shades and blackout hood treatment. It was one of the first production cars with a front spoiler and rear deck wing. A total of 7,013 1970 models were produced and were offered for $3,720. In Trans-Am racing Ford entry was the 1969-70 Boss 302 Mustangs. The factory effort was headed up by the famed Bud Moore, who fielded two cars in the 1970 season, and won the championship that year. Mustang Trans-Am advertising mostly appeared in Road and Track and Car and Driver magazines and is highly collectible today.



The Judge by Pontiac will always be American Icon among car collectors. The GTO Judge debuted in December 1968 and offered a rear-deck spoiler, blackout grille, and decals decorated the Judge body. The GTO was the brainchild of Pontiac chief engineer, John Delorean. Street performance was something Pontiac's advertising and marketing was heavily involved in the 1960's. The Judge name was Delorean's idea that was inspired by the Ferrari 250 GTO, the successful race car. For 1968 the GTO line included the Judge which had a redesigned body line for Pontiac design team with more curvaceous, fastback styling, and concealed headlights were a popular option. A unique feature was the body color and a endurance front bumper that was designed to absorb impact without permanent deformation at low speeds, Pontiac used this feature heavily in their advertising campaign. Kellogg's, the cereal company, and "The Monkees", the TV show, teamed up with Pontiac in a advertising campaign to feature a guest role on one of the Monkees NBC-TV show, plus a new Pontiac GTO convertible! It was called "Kellogg's TV Screen-Stakes". The advertising featuring this Kellogg's grand prize give away is very scarce today.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A special thanks to Robert Tate, Automotive Historian and Researcher, for donating his story to the MotorCities Story of the Week program. All advertising information courtesy of Robert Tate's Collection. For further information contact Robert Tate at btate@motorcities.org


If you have a story that you would like to donate to be featured as a MotorCities Story of the Week, email Lisa Ambriez at: lambriez@motorcities.org