Jalopnik
All of this talk about Super Bowl Car Ads has us thinking about our favorite car ads of all time. Though the Iron Man Trailer wasn't a car commercial it did have cars and explosions. The Audi R8 The Godfather spoof was kind of funny. We're sort of partial to the Woz Datsun 280 ZX and its retro campiness. But none of these are all time favorites.
Our two favorite ads are not actually real car ads, they're classics from the SNL archives. The first is the Adobe Car:
Adobe. The sassy new Mexican import that's made out of clay. German engineering and Mexican know-how helped create the first car to break the $200 barrier. At this price, you might not expect more than reliable transportation - but, brother, you get it! Extra features: like the custom contour seats, or the beverage-gripping dash. And the money you save isn't exactly small change!
The second is the Chameleon XLE:
Introducing the Chameleon XLE for 1993. Finally, a luxury car that doesn't look like a luxury car. Inside, the Chameloen XLE has everything you would expect in a luxury sedan of its class. Soft leather seating, a contoured instrument panel, and fine wood. But there's more - much more. Authentically distressed fenders give way to a partially padded roof of blistered vinyl. While under the hood, a simulated transmission-fluid drip whispers, "Hey, not worth the trouble." This is craftsmanship no one will steal. This is engineering for the inner-city driving experience.
Maybe that's just us. What are your all time favorite car commercials?
Comments
Circuit?
Although it's for gasoline and not cars, the Shell Oil Ferrari commercial can't be beat: [www.youtube.com]
not so much a car commercial but wasn't there an avis ad where oj simpson flies int o the driver's seat via an open op or sunroof? it's all very vague but i remember being very tickled by it as a youngster.
apart from that, the audi ad mocking the self-parking lexus.
This one...550 owner comes out of a coma, sees Boxster:
[vids.myspace.com]
Corinthian Leather takes a back seat to no other commercial...
The UK Vauxhall Corsa 'hide and seek' ad.
But only because the music was 'Touch Sensitive' by The Fall.
Otherwise, most car adverts just make me want to grab hold of some marketing manager, nail his bollocks to the windowsill, and throw him out of the window.
The Nissan Maxima commerical in the 90's. Where a Maxima just got out of the car wash and got chased by a bunch of birds trying to bomb it. The Maxima pulled into the garage just in time, closed the door, and one of teh birds flew into the door beek first. Classic!
The SNL parody of the diamond cutter in the back of a Lincoln, substituting a mohel doing a bris, is, in the words of the parody "poifect".
There was a great commercial for the Goodyear Eagle F1 tires several years ago. It featured Derek Bell driving four supercars on a winding mountain road. It had a very "Top Gear" feel to it. I couldn't find any video of it, unfortunately. That Shell Ferrari F1 is great, too.
I gotta go with the Mercury Mistress.
@harumph: proofread prior to posting please.
This is an actual 300ZX commercial from the 1990 Super Bowl totally awesome
[www.youtube.com]
dogs looooove trucks!
-Nissan
The Smart ForTwo-"We have no backseats, so you won't be killed from behind" commercial!
[www.youtube.com]
2 commercials for my favorite car: E39 M5:
Camera vehicle:
[www.youtube.com]
Star:
[www.youtube.com]
The full three minute version of the little kid and the 911 comes to mind.
@SwatLax:
The entire BMW films series....
That "Camera Car" one was great. I think what makes it (and the Porsche spot I nominate) great is the story telling that happens in such a short time. Without having to resort to "borrowed interest".
I would have to say the VW Cabrio commercial, with the four kids driving at night...I think it is called "Pink Moon".
@maxforrest32: [www.youtube.com]
@MarionCobretti:
I forgot about that one...amazing...again, a complete story told in just a few minutes.
Well, these are 3 commercials, but they refer to each other. First BMW makes fun about Audi, Audi fights back - and Subaru owns them all. Just genius!
[www.youtube.com]
@cyclopticgaze: amazing...
@MUSTAINEGT: I'm amazed it took that long, it's really the perfect choice for the dragons out there.
@bozoerrebbe:
The Royal Deluxe II.
[www.youtube.com]
I think it was just last year, but the one with the guy frozen in the Mustang. With Just a car in it is the Carl,s ad with the burger dripping down some very large breasts. I think it only lasted about a week before it was pulled.
Barring Circuit, I nominate the RS4 "emotions" commercial.
[www.youtube.com]
hilarious (NSFW) [youtube.com]
Great BMW one [youtube.com]
Can't forget the Rube Goldberg Honda ad [youtube.com]
This one for the 85 Vette made a real impression on me as a kid: [www.youtube.com]
The commerical looks like something out of 80s EPCOT.
I ended up getting a C4 (94)later and wished I could have analog gauges.
"If you could be any kind of car you wanted to be.....
......and, of course, you'd be a Porsche."
Either that or the econobox commercial where the guy in the gas station booth blows his load for the miniskirted hottie he'll never see again (cause her car gets such good mileage...er...yeah).
Hmm, cannot decide which Audi Commercial to post here. They are all so well done. So my Top3 here:
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
[www.youtube.com]
SUPER POTENTIAL!
[www.youtube.com]
@MarionCobretti: Thanks for that, as I hadn't seen it before. It doesn't involve revving engines or burning rubber like most, but I did get goosebumps as the kids hopped on his bike and rode away, so my subconscious is saying they did something right.
Would have cost $16.2 million to air last night.
not for a car, but takes place in a car:
[www.youtube.com]
Never aired, but still a good commercial:
[www.youtube.com]
another good one...
Nissan 300zx GI Joe
[www.youtube.com]
I'm just embarassed that I recognized both Wozniak and the 280ZX Malaise Edition from that photo.
G.I. Joe steals Barbie. [www.youtube.com]
@bozoerrebbe: The "paradox" commercial was pretty brilliant as well
Though I only recently found it, the Grace Jones Citroen CX advert is just mindnumbingly brilliant... and disturbing. [www.youtube.com]
I really liked the Nissan 350z commercials they were showing in theatres after it was unveiled. The ones where a 350z ran a closed city course in Europe somewhere? Brilliant stuff.
"Oh, it's you Bob."
[www.youtube.com]
Nissan Sentra commercial
Alright, the suspense is killing me. Is that Jack Tripper hawking a 280Z?
Obviously: Circuit.
Other honorable mentions:
R8 Godfather
Lexus GS adds from this Super Bowl
A4 "The car for people who can park themselves"
Nissan 300ZX ad with Van Halen's "You Got Me" with GI Joe and Barbie (the full version: [www.youtube.com])
The best "SUV Commercial" ever produced:
[www.youtube.com]
I can't believe no one has mentioned the Ford GT commercial. Simple and capital-A Awesome.
@killerknut: stupid me, wrong link: [www.youtube.com]
I love the Renault Ballet of Destruction! Instead of perfectly synced driving on the salt flats there passing too close and clipping mirrors off, side swiping, whipping the tail into each other and to end it all two cars jumping over mini vans and colliding in mid air Head on!
[gizmodo.com]
A video doesn't seem to exist anywhere on the interwebs, but the "Me and My Shadow" commercial for the Nissan 240SX. I believe it aired only once, during the Super Bowl, in the early '90s.
It was a white 240SX followed by a black one, doing perfectly choreagraphed slides, spins, etc. Great video.
That, and just about any Porsche commercial in the last decade or so.
SPORTTRUCK!
I'm also a big fan of the SNL car for OCDs. It has a sink in the center console for you to wash your hands 50 times while driving, and an unlimited amount of buttons to constantly push. And I believe Will Ferrell was the actor in it, so it's wonderfully overstated. Not to mention the fact that the exterior was a 3rd gen Taurus.
@POLAR: I like what they've done to my car!
@bozoerrebbe: Agreed. While many of these commercials are memorable & great, only fine Corinthian leather and the 'poifect' get universally quoted.
I have to agree with CYCLOPTICGAZE & POLAR.
The Shell Oil Ferrari commercial is a work of art.
And Corinthian Leather has set a standard for luxury we commoners will always dream of. As for me, any of the old 50-60s "See the USA in a Chevrolet" are cultural classics.
The Nissan "Toys" commercial gets special points for using the 300ZX as the hero car after it was withdrawn from the US.
OTOH, Nissan's insane early 90s management and marketing soon drove it into the arms of the equally insane Carlos Ghosn. So it's a lose/lose.