Automotive History: The Brougham – An Indictment and A Defense

brougham badge

(First published Jan 9, 2014) Brougham.

Such a seemingly simple word certainly incites strong feelings around here.  After a recent piece on a ’72 Mercury Marquis Brougham (CC here), it seemed appropriate to further investigate the history of the word, its associations and why it provokes either euphoria or nausea.

Henry_Peter_Brougham

The use of the word “brougham” in regards to transportation hails back to the early to mid-1800’s when Lord Henry Peter Brougham of England commissioned the design of a carriage with a front mounted window.

Brougham carriage

Whether the incorporation of a window was his idea or simply a design element he made fashionable is unknown.  Lord Brougham would later become Lord Chancellor of Great Britain.

1905_Hedag_Electric_Brougham_photo2

Upon the creation of the automobile, use of the word was transferred to automobiles having an enclosed passenger compartment and an open driver station.  Automobiles of this type were generally expensive and chauffeur driven – presumably, those who could afford such a car did not want to ride with the hired help in the same compartment.

 

1916 cadillac brougham

image source:  www.gmheritagecenter.com

General Motors can be credited (or blamed) for transitioning the term “Brougham” to a specific automobile, rather than a type of automobile.  In 1916, Cadillac had their first Brougham; it is interesting Cadillac also offered the $3,600 six passenger “Berlin” that year, while the rest of the world was mired in the Great War.

So what is the definition of “Brougham” as it applies to automobiles produced since, say 1965?  Webster’s doesn’t give an automotive related definition, nor is there a definitive definition found online (although Urban Dictionary has a few definitions that thoroughly mangle and butcher the English language).  In the interest of facilitating fairness and promoting clarity, and for the purpose of this article, “Brougham” is being defined as:

Any automobile clearly identified as such by its manufacturer via badges or name in addition to being documented as such.

To look at it another way, any car (two- or four-door) laden with a vinyl roof, wire wheel covers, and falsely luxurious pretenses does not automatically constitute it as being a Brougham unless it is so stated by the manufacturer.  Thinking in analogies, you can put red lights and a siren on a four-door sedan but it is not a true police car unless the manufacturer certifies it as being such.

1970 Ford Full Size-03

While we all know the Ford LTD of 1965 was the first hatchling of the Great Brougham Epoch, the name Brougham did not officially appear on a LTD until 1970.  There were a plethora of cars with Brougham on the brain throughout the 1970’s and even 1980’s (Chrysler Cordoba, anyone?), but the reasoning for the admittedly strict approach outlined above will soon be evident.

Sound reasonable?

One might be inclined to believe that The Great Brougham Epoch was the exclusive domain of the North American market.  That, like many other stereotypes, can be easily disproved.

Holden-Brougham-1

For instance, typing “Brougham” into the Google search tool at the top of this page yields this Australian market Holden Brougham, no version of which was never sold in the United States.  With Australia having been ensnared in the tentacles of the Brougham, who else may have joined the party?

 Daewoo_Brougham

A wikipedia search for “Brougham” gives us this Daewoo.  Similarly, it was never available in the United States.  Arguably the United States has had a higher Brougham populace, with products ranging from the

 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham-10

Cadillac Eldorado Brougham of 1957 to

1975 Valiant Brougham

the unlikely Valiant Brougham of 1975, to

1994 Cadillac Full Line Prestige-46-47

the 1996 Cadillac Brougham.

 CC-131-095-800

The Great Brougham Epoch started with the 1965 Ford LTD (CC here).  Its appeal was predicated upon offering as standard what would ultimately come to be the definitive elements of Broughamantic posturing – nicer trim, a few chrome embellishments, and a jazzier sounding name – all on a car with humble origins.  And it worked.  For 1965, Ford sold 105,729 examples of the new LTD, a car that was nothing more than a Galaxie wearing slightly nicer garments and fancier cologne.  The flood gates were opened with Chevrolet following suit with its 1966 Caprice and Plymouth, with the 1967 Fury VIP.

As the years unfolded, nearly all the other United States car manufacturers jumped aboard the Brougham express, giving the car buying public something a little nicer and a little more pretentious, if not always classier.

 50 Years

In an effort to better understand the jubilation and repulsion of Broughamification, the popularity of Brougham consumption was analyzed, as seen below.  Using 50 Years of American Automobiles, 1939 to 1989 by the Editors of Consumer Guide, Brougham sales by brand were tabulated for the years from 1965 to 1988.  In an effort to create as objective a review as possible, only those cars having the word “Brougham” in either name or trim level as found in the book were counted.

As such, there is no official Brougham for Ford in years one would typically expect, nor are there any entries for Lincoln or Buick.  Perhaps Buick did slap a Brougham tag on some of their cars, but nothing was documented as such.  The same applies to Imperial.

There were a handful of instances (with Ford, Mercury, Plymouth, and Oldsmobile) where the base model production totals were clumped together with the upscale Brougham trim.  In such cases, the production was assumed to have a 50/50 split between the two trim levels.

As this book only covers cars produced by AMC, Ford Motor Company, Chrysler Corporation, and General Motors, the examination is limited to them only.  However, as these makers were the prime purveyors (or perpetrators) of Brougham, that is sufficient.

Let’s start with Ford.

Ford Mercury
1965
1966
1967 7,514
1968 8,369
1969 40,748
1970 160,934 51,412
1971 110,310 59,713
1972 110,682 117,104
1973 259,422 145,287
1974 118,524 72,851
1975 67,110 43,818
1976 65,909 41,790
1977 39,830 66,986
1978 70,307 36,398
1979 19,040 35,309
1980 11,172
1981 14,686
1982 18,145
1983 33,675
1984 53,906
1985 52,082
1986 14,290
1987
1988
Totals: 1,022,068 925,255

The peak of Ford’s Brougham affair occurred in 1973.  Oddly, the duration of Mercury’s illicit Brougham dalliance lasted twice as long as Ford’s.

1983 Mercury Marquis 1

The spike in Mercury Brougham sales in the 1980s stems from the Fox bodied Marquis.  The culprit of Brougham sales prior to 1980 was primarily the full-sized Marquis line, although there was a Cougar Brougham and as well as a Montego predecessor.

 1967 Mercury Brougham

The first Brougham from Mercury was the 1967 Mercury Park Lane Brougham.

For 1979, the LTD II was the last standing Brougham at Ford as no Panther bodied LTD or LTD Crown Victoria was christened as a Brougham.

Chrysler Plymouth Dodge AMC
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971 3,020 9,294 20,000
1972 30,934 20,500
1973 44,366
1974 25,678 68,545 18,226 24,971
1975 26,039 35,626 25,456
1976 39,837 5,609 26,882
1977 76,342 22,533 67,072
1978 44,559 15,507
1979
1980
Totals: 287,755 135,333 162,437 65,471

With Chrysler’s acquisition of AMC in 1987, the attempt at an Ambassador Brougham is being clumped in with Chrysler.  Yes, there were very broughamy AMC’s, but they just weren’t officially Broughams.

1971 Dodge Full Line-14-15

Dodge and Plymouth both dipped their toes into the Brougham pond for 1971 with the Dodge Coronet and Plymouth Satellite, but the water must have been too cold.

1975Gran Fury Brougham

With the restyled full-sizers for 1974, Plymouth and Dodge came charging back, to join brother Chrysler in the Brougham escapade.  This time Dodge and Plymouth shared the Broughamance between the mid-sized and full-sized offerings, such as this Gran Fury.

Chevrolet Pontiac Oldsmobile Buick Cadillac
1965
1966 13,630
1967 12,750
1968 15,300
1969 17,300
1970 16,913
1971 23,893 15,200
1972 27,314 20,750
1973 24,800
1974 18,250
1975 18,882 18,755
1976 30,702 127,246 24,500
1977 63,366 189,491 28,000
1978 54,140 183,808 36,800
1979 56,458 255,886 42,200
1980 33,623 217,977 31,959
1981 37,712 305,497 39,800
1982 33,004 331,102 37,330
1983 34,976 383,704 43,500
1984 49,756 514,726 44,150
1985 55,479 517,946 55,450
1986 71,437 54,279 517,268 49,137
1987 74,982 14,871 305,926 65,504
1988 55,271 53,130
Totals: 201,690 569,573 3,869,459 0 725,108

During the 1980’s, Oldsmobile was rightfully blasted for their shamelessness in using the Cutlass nameplate on just about everything.  Yet when it comes to Brougham, Oldsmobile was like the boy who doesn’t hit puberty until age 15 and then grows into a giant.  Not starting to use the Brougham moniker until 1975, Oldsmobile would soon be completely intoxicated by the name,

1977 Oldsmobile-Omega Brougham

even going so far as using it on the Chevrolet Nova based Oldsmobile Omega

1980 Oldsmobile Omega-06

and its front-drive replacement.  Oldsmobile was brazen enough to use the words “Cutlass” and “Brougham” on both its Supreme line and the Ciera.  In 1984 and 1985, Oldsmobile was out-broughaming the rest of General Motors combined, by a factor of five.

 

By the definition given above, Chevrolet didn’t officially join the Brougham Brotherhood until 1986 with the Caprice Classic Brougham (CC here).  Ah, both “Classic” and “Brougham”.

indictment-300x225

The Indictment:

The anti-Brougham contingent is absolutely correct in saying the Brougham is crass, tacky, and shameful.  Just look at the examples this name was attached to, some of which can be seen in this article.

If the intention of Brougham was to create an air of prestige in an ordinary car, as was the case with the 1965 LTD, how was this credibly achieved this with an X-body Omega or A-body Ciera?  Was the Ciera a good car?  Yes.  Was it able to create a convincing aura of luxury swirled with a whiff of condescension?  Absolutely not.  It came across as well as Hamburger Helper at a steak house.

Most of the various ads seen above are uncropped to allow full intake of marketing propaganda.  Doing so allows one to understand the sheer audacity being bandied about at the time.  Several of the ads even seem to admit some degree of defeat.

A Valiant styled like European cars?  What European cars?  The Valiant was a great car, but it was about as European as a bowl of grits.  The Omega touts itself as being roomier and less expensive than a Volvo 244.  While that is a valid observation, did anyone actually cross-shop the two?  Neither is being sold on their own unique merits and both appear to be painfully tarted up to gain an audience,

burt-reynolds-facelift

much like the aging entertainer who keeps having plastic surgery in a vain attempt to retain his youthful appearance.

Broughams were the epitome of all that was wrong in Detroit at the time: vinyl tops that promoted rust; wire wheel covers on bottom rung cars; interiors as tasteful as a Las Vegas bordello and in general, promoting luxury on cars woefully short of substance, hardly competitive with European or Asian competitors.

Churning out product like this for so long, it’s no wonder The Big Three eventually lost market share.

defense

The Defense:

Those who are so vehemently against Brougham simply don’t get the point.  The intention of a Brougham is to provide the buyer with something a little nicer, a bit more comfortable, and with a touch more class.  Going Brougham yielded the buyer a car that was tangibly different yet cost little extra to acquire.  To the never ceasing credit of every manufacturer, they did a terrific job of giving buyers what they wanted.  Face it, if the market doesn’t want it, it won’t be purchased – just ask Ford about their efforts in selling safety in 1956.  For the years from 1965 to the late 1980’s, the Brougham was always in charge.

A distinct and generally overlooked factor of The Great Brougham Epoch is the general demographic for Brougham purchasers.  It was a often aimed at children of The Great Depression, a populace whose childhood and early adult years were vastly different from what many of us experienced.  These people appreciated the benefits of a little extra luxury for a minimal entry fee; they also had a different definition of luxury than did their children.

1974 Ford Full Size-06-07

There is nothing anymore offensive about the Brougham than there is in the blandness and sterility of a higher end, non-Brougham car.  A Brougham caters to what its buyer wants, be it a few more conveniences, a more upscale appearance, or a more sophisticated demeanor.  So what if the special talents of a Brougham are applied to smaller cars?  A good business knows its clientele and gives them what they desire – or makes them desire something not previously considered.  So why should a person who by choice or circumstance is seeking a smaller car not be given the latitude to fulfill their desires?  The Brougham was market driven, just as Oldsmobile sales reflect.

Perhaps the Gran Fury ad best encapsulates the Brougham philosophy; it is trying to comfort you in a manner similar to what you have in your home.  Why should a person spend a significant amount on a car simply to be uncomfortable whenever they spend time inside it?  Let’s be honest; a Brougham is purchased because its owner liked it, found it appealing, and truly did not care what people think.  Others could buy whatever penalty box they wanted – Brougham intenders wanted something that appealed to their fundamental desire for comfort.

Broughams were the embodiment of everything that Detroit knew the market was yearning for and they delivered it in abundance.

The Verdict:

jcpenney75

JC Penney catalog, 1975

Style and taste are  very fluid; you may have worn clothes or sported a hairstyle ten, twenty, or more years ago which seemed fashionable at the time but which isn’t any longer.  The same happens with cars.  In twenty years, that silver jellybean in your driveway with its 20″ wheels and obtrusive console will either be embraced as a wonderful creation or will be the source of profound derision.  It’s the Brougham of the future.

I may be one of the few who is indifferent to the allures or allergy inductions of Broughams.  For me, a Brougham is just another form of automotive expression, like a lifted 4×4, a CUV, or a motorcycle.  Think about a Brougham in terms of family – appreciate it for what it is and be aware of its faults; spend time with it accordingly.

Brougham V50