Nice Camaro; I approve. But as a family vacation hauler? With two little kids, lost in the dark cave of its back seat with no side windows? And how much fun must it be to get them into their baby/kiddie seats?
Seems kind of a waste of advertising dollars. They might have swapped cars with the Impala Sport Coupe in the background.
As a full-sized young adult, I once rode from NYC to southern Florida (and back!) in the back seat of a 3rd-gen Camaro. These kids, being small, have it pretty easy.
No way, that baby is a lap child all the way. Safer that way if mom holds on to it if there’s an accident. One arm for the baby, the other to brace against the dashboard.
Not to stereotype (well, ok, to stereotype), this may be the first time I’ve seen anyone in loafers and whatever Dockers were called before they were called Dockers leaning against a Camaro.
I remember many rides in the early 70s where my sister and I had the back seat and my stepmom held a baby/toddler on her lap. Dad’s 72 Mark IV came with one of those nasty seat belt buzzers so she had to at least buckle the lap belt. But then I knew people who just kept the lap belt buckled and jammed it into the seat crack. It was a different time.
Not so different time, I see people with their seatbelts wrapped around the back of the seat and plugged in to silence the warning.
Idiots.
I just don’t get why anybody would not wear a seat belt. Is it just because they just don’t like being told what to do? Compared to the old-style fixed belts, you hardly know you’re wearing them these days.
@ Peter, I talked to an old guy in the 90s who had a wrecking yard and he NEVER wore a seat belt bc he saw MANY peoples’ ‘remains’ in cars that were wearing them. Experience trumps GVT ‘experts’ ANY DAY!
Yup that was my immediate thought the baby is in mom’s lap where it is “safer”.
We called those trousers “chinos”.
They were called chinos.
The couple overlooking the scenery on the ledge are the Camaro owners, the family found the Camaro as pretty as the scenery and had their picture taken with it. Out of view is their Caprice Estate wagon.
My aunt and uncle had a 67 Camaro as their car for many years with two kids. Then they had a third kid. The finally got a new car when the fourth kid came alone. But that first gen at least had rear side windows.
The Indiana-California-Indiana trip that 6 year old me took in the back seat of a 64 Olds Cutlass (a seat shared with my 4 year old sister) was luxury travel in comparison, even without air conditioning.
The cramped back seats of early second gen. F-bodies looked like they were in a dark cave. The 1975 and up wrap-around rear window helped the claustrophibic effect, but it was still a miserable ride. In all fairness, these cars were designed for something completely different than family vacations. Incidentally, the 1975 wrap-around rear window was supposed to be part of the original 1970 1/2 design, but difficulties forming the rear quarter panels delayed the feature.
Those kids would be with their own kids riding in the back of a Ford Explorer in the early 90s. And those kids would be with their first children in a Hyundai Santa Fe about right now.
And the original dad would still regret selling his Camaro for a Pontiac Safari wagon just like my brother who regrets selling his ‘68 Cougar or my brother-in-law who regrets selling his ‘72 Mercury Capri.
I agree 100% with the kids not having as much fun to see out the windows on that car, but most kids at that age would lose interest in about 10 minutes anyhow. The first thing I thought of, like so many comments above me, is putting child seats in/out of there. Then I realized the times were so different and mom would have been holding the infant and the little girl would have been climbing all over the car! Not safe for anyone! Unless it was just me or me and a spouse, I wouldn’t ever take a Camaro on vacation.
Off topic, but props to the model casting.
The kids do look like the parents.
When our kids were little, we had to carry them in and out of everything from a Geo Metro to a Mustang.
Now that they’re grown, we have tall vehicles with four doors and tons of backseat room, and safety features.
All there being used by nobody.
It’s all about getting them into the dealership. The Camaro gets that man with the young family in the door, the wife takes a look at the back seat and says no way. That of course is the salesman’s cue to take them over to see a Malibu or Impala coupe.
+1
GM cynically trying to lure young families with a car that may appeal to the new father. But doesn’t really serve the day to day needs of the couple and kids.
Who knew that Jeb Bush posed in a Camaro ad?
No, that’s an Osmond.
Forget about the kids, where does the luggage go? It had about 6 cu ft.
The family drove from Catonsville MD to Canoga Park CA in June 1966 when we moved. It was in a 1964 Galaxie with the parents in the front and a 12, 10, and 8 year old in the back along with two goldfish in a styrofoam container on the back floor. The fish did well for two year olds and made it all the way to San Diego and a backyard pond from 1968-72, I remember the container between my feet but don’t remember much of the scenery we drove past unless the car stopped along the way and we got out.
As a young man, my stepdad was involved in an accident that threw him from the car, which saved his life (he would have been crushed if he remained buckled in). So in our family, seatbelts were something evil to avoid at all costs. We had a 1974 Mazda Rx-4 wagon, and regularly fit 9 people in it. Five adults, two infants on laps, and two older kids, including myself, in the trunk, with luggage on a home-made roof rack. We would drive from NYC to North Carolina and back that way. It was a very different time.
No windows in that era GM cars was a bummer, The one time I rode in a 67-70 Eldorado we couldn’t see anything either.
On the other hand in middle school we got 4 boys in the back of a Camaro, because circa 1977 12 year old were skinny. Kind of like getting 3 people in the back of a Mazda2 because their average hight was 5’1″ and average weight 105lbs.
The TV commercials with the “Chevrolet, building a better way to see the USA” jingle at the end were the first Chevy advertising I can remember. I didn’t pay attention to the actual car being advertised, but it usually seemed to be a big one like the Chevelle or Impala.
I rode in the back of a early-’70s Firebird a few times; it wasn’t just the lack of window but also the very low seat with hardly any legroom that made it unpleasant, even as a small kid. I actually liked riding in back of personal-luxury Broughams with little opera windows which I thought were cool. I could lean forward and look out if I want, and many of these had reading lights back there so I could read comic books at night.
I was curious about this image’s context, so I looked up the ad it was taken from. The ad’s below, and the heading says “If you want a Corvette, but you need a back seat.”
I sort of get it in this context, though it’s hard to wrap our heads around it now. Aimed at guys who had sports cars when younger (not necessarily Corvettes), but are now married with kids, and also on a budget. I can see this line in the ad having appeal:
“For a low Chevrolet price, you can get a Camaro. With a back seat for practicality.”
I recall my father telling me that when my older sister was a toddler, he had looked at buying a used Porsche 914, and tried to convince my mom that my sister could just sit on the wide console. Mom vetoed that move, by the way.
And I bet Scoutdude’s comment above is probably right too. Families like this could come into the dealership to look at a Camaro, but then when mom vetoes the Camaro, they could find that a Nova better suited their needs.
“Packed? All aboard!” says Dad. He starts the engine. “Are we there yet?” ask the kids. He pulls out of the driveway. “Are we there yet?” And so, at 10 second intervals, until the cute Camaro pulls in and stops. “Oh, Dad, are we THERE?!”. “No, children. We’re at Honest Don’s Used Cars, trading in!”
Reading the copy the ad makes sense, the Camaro can be used with a couple of young kids. At least you knew that the kids couldn’t open the door and fall out of the car. It was this practicality that sold so many Mustangs. The might not be the ideal car for an extended family road trip but they were useful in day to day activities. I crammed my two Jr and high school kids in the back of our ’07 Mustang on occasional drives to LA.
Back in the 70s, our family went from Michigan to Colorado and back. In an El Camino. Mom, dad, and 2 kids about the same age as those in the ad. There weren’t even seat belt laws yet. As an adult it seems a large back seat would have been practically required. But I think back to how much I enjoyed cuddled next to my folks or on their lap at that age. Little kids usually like that.
We also used to ride around in the back of grandma and grandpa’s station wagon, with the seats permanently folded down as a play area. Different times.
Thanx Troy, and some good points made! Our family moved from Windsor, Ont. to Vancouver thru the USA, in 1959, in a brand new green Chevy station wagon! 4 boys sleeping in the back, and parents on the front seat.
Nice laugh, Paul! Who in advertising came up with this one? I remember an ad for GMC showing a pickup truck in 1987 outside of a two-car garage with some boob smiling and saying, “This GMC is me.” In the other bay was a 1987 Fleetwood limousine. Sure! This guy is in his twenties, cannot even use proper English and already owns a limousine. He did not even look well connected to a rich relative. Funny stuff.
But then, stupid advertising is not new and will never cease. i cite the attachment that I proffer to the CC Family.
Whether you like it or not – I know many of these cars becoming family rides for their owners, when its teen owner discovered that their teen girlfriends were going to need a spot for their new baby. I easily remember many a Firebird and a Camaro being used as a young family’s daily ride.
I don’t remember the Camaro as comfortable. But I was skinny & tall. Our 73 Chrysler was very comfortable, & easy to parallel park. And what a view & ride.
Sheesh, clearly Bob and Nancy just made a day trip.