Jalopnik: james garner

Jalopnik's 9 Favorite Vintage Mazda Commercials

Murilee Martin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EDT

When an automaker builds a car named the Cosmo Big Run Genteel, you know they're going to make some good television advertisements. Yes, we're talking about Mazda here!

We've got babes eating flowers, elephants climbing onto flatbed trucks, Patsy Cline singing, and James Garner!
When you're done here, you might enjoy our favorite Datsun ads, then continue with our top Toyota, Renault, General Motors, British Leyland, Ford/Lincoln/Mercury, Honda, Citroën, AMC/Jeep, Mercedes-Benz/Porsche/BMW, and Chevrolet ads.

1978 GLC	1983 Cosmo Big Run	1988 929
Bongo Multivan	Titan	1989 RX-7
1980 RX-7	1980 Cosmo	1967 Cosmo Sport

The 1988 Mazda 929: James Garner Says It's 8 Grand Cheaper Than The Competition!

Murilee Martin — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:45:00 EDT

Remember the late-80s Mazda 929? It was supposed to be big, fast, and capable of blowing away Infiniti, Acura, and Lexus on the showroom floors; Mazda managed to meet the first two goals, but the last proved elusive. What to do? Bring in James Garner!

Creative Car Hire for Fun and Profit with Jim Rockford

Davey G. Johnson — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 13:45:00 EST

Okay, admittedly, Suzanne Somers isn't a woman we'd generally go out of our way to seduce these days. But back in '74, she was quite the looker, and let's face it, being Jim Rockford isn't entirely unlike being a blogger. Well, except that we can't afford a trailer in Malibu or a gold Firebird Esprit. And the closest thing we have to Angel Martin is Wert. But we're thinking that we could afford to dress like Rockford; In fact, if we're lucky, maybe we'll be able to find one of Garner's outfits in a thrift shop. Then we'll just have to put together a rental-car-and-coathanger budget. – Davey G. Johnson

Because Every Luckless Angeleno Needs a Firebird, a Mobile Home and a Mike Post Theme Song

Davey G. Johnson — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 17:15:00 EDT

Mike Post and Stephen J. Cannell were no doubt two of the giants of 1970s/80s television. This show, combined with this theme song, were a one-two punch the likes of which wouldn't be seen again until the A-Team. Which, admittedly, came only a few years later, and as awesome as it was, wasn't nearly as witty. Meanwhile, Jim Rockford gives us hope that one can be poor, awesome and happy in Los Angeles. Click here for the unfortunately-unembeddable more-stupidly-amazing version of the title sequence. Same visuals, funnier phone message, and a better, harmonica-infused version of the theme.

Related:
Why One Needs a Mercury Park Lane [Internal]