And not just any car, but "THE Car- Buick '59". A car so new it coincided with an advertising agency change to support it- the introduction of Mc Cann-Erickson after over twenty years with Kudner Advertising. Clete Roberts and no less than Bob Hope were engaged in the launch campaign. Watch the bat-winged beauty come down the line and then roar off into postwar suburbia, albeit a highly accessible version.
I must confess that as a child, I was afraid to cross the street in front of a '59 Buick. Although I love them MADLY today with their enormous swept bat wings, Fashion-Aire Dynsstar Grille and Dual-Diagonal Vista Vision Headlamps, I was afraid back then that they wanted to eat me.
And now I say what a way to go.
Bob Hope's connection to Buick lasted into 1960. In the film "The Facts of Life" Buicks costar with ole ski nose and Lucille Ball. The Buicks are seen several times during the movie.
ReplyDeleteHey Jeff, I just saw this "info call" at Hemmings blog and thought about you. They're looking for some information on early Palm Springs races. Maybe you know someone that knows someone that knows something, lol:
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2011/03/28/looking-for-memories-of-palm-springs/
Wasn't that the year they also changed the model names and introduced Electra and Invicta?
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that I'm not the only one that had a bit of the fantods being around one of those. That's one angry front end.