1961 Oldsmobile F-85 Ad
After staring at literally thousands of vintage car ads, one of the most striking differences between vintage and modern ads is how much vintage ads focus on the simple pleasure of just getting in your car and driving. People are always smiling, often grinning from ear to ear in vintage ads! The activity being depicted was originally called motoring, and later generations called it cruising. Whatever it goes by, it is all but extinct now (at least on four wheels).
1905 Ford Model F ad
The genesis of this trope is as old as the auto itself. At the dawn of the automobile era, every car was a luxury car, even Ford, and every drive was a thrilling adventure for driver and passengers alike.
1937 Buick Ad
This driving for the sake of driving (joie de drive, if you will) permeates almost every automotive ad from the early 20th century until roughly the 1960s. Of course, like all ads, these are pure fantasy. The protagonists in the ads seldom have to deal with blowouts, boiling radiators, vapor lock, and breakdowns, all of which were common occurrences when traveling by car well into the mid-20th century. But it doesn’t matter, because look how much fun everyone is having!
1946 Mercury Ad
What is joie de drive? It is the simple act of getting in your car and driving for the sake of driving. The destination, if there even is one, is secondary at best. For most of these ads, no destination is shown, implied, or even necessary.
Joie de Drive takes many forms. On nice Sunday mornings after church, Dad would sometimes take a long way back home, detouring to some back country roads. There was no purpose to this, no extra stops. Just enjoying the drive, and maybe a chance to listen to a few extra Neil Diamond songs on the 8-track player.
1960 Studebaker Lark Ad
You don’t have to have an open-top car to experience joie de drive, but it helps.
1958 Chevrolet Ad
You don’t have to roll down the windows to experience joie de drive, but it helps.
You can even experience joie de drive in an Edsel.
The joy of leaving your car behind.
Alas, I think we (both advertisers and consumers) have largely lost the concept of joie de drive, as colorful cars with grinning drivers have given way to utilitarian SUV and trucks in dour, colorless shades of gray. Nothing wrong with SUVs or trucks, but such vehicles are inherently more about the destination than the journey: Dropping off the kids, going to the store, returning home with a few bags of mulch, or driving up to the campsite or trailhead. What happens between the departure point and destination is now considered a chore best left for Elon’s AI to handle – certainly nothing to be enjoyed. No one jumps in an SUV or pickup just to go for a joy ride.
1957 Chevrolet Ad
And yes, I realize that most 1957 Chevrolets spent most of their time being used for the exact same mundane purposes back in the day. But at least the ads at least focused a little more on the joy of the journey and not just the joy of the destination.
1958 Plymouth Ad
I feel blessed that I still own a car that exists simply for the pleasure of driving. On a nice summer evening, Mrs. H. and I (not pictured above) will still put the top down, drive around to nowhere in particular and, if we’re very lucky, get to experience a little bit of joie de drive.
Exactly why I own my Skylark. I enjoy driving it. When I stop enjoying it, that’s the time to sell it.
That has been the situation on pretty much every car I have every owned.
Great article! I miss and appreciate the use of fun and enjoyment of driving in past car marketing.
Dress codes have certainly changed. In most of these photos, men are wearing suits and ties. Even when driving convertibles, like the Lark. Could you imagine the ads of today where folks are going off road dressed like this?
Lol, now a days you can go out in public in pajamas and it’s “normal”
My ultimate joy of driving would be in a 61 black Imperial LEBARON! With 61 DeSoto, OTT excessive chromed GRAND FINALE of Exners fabulous finned fantasies! 🏆. Had two (83 and 85) Fifth Avenues. Great formal styling and pure luxury. Much like original LEBARON! Curious if you are descended from famed LeBaron coachworks family?
Yes, for going for groceries, I take the SUV. For fun drives, I take the ’51 MG or the ’91 Miata – many more smiles per gallon.
I agree 100%. In the early days the goal was to put people in cars, like Sloan said, was to make money. Then in the fifties was to make people spend more money in cars, with luxury features and today everything is being put upside down to cause confusion, including driving, sold as a chore like changing diapers.
That ’58 Chevrolet driver is waving at a crop dusting helicopter pilot.
To quote a line from the movie North by Northwest: “That’s funny, that plane’s dustin’ crops where there ain’t no crops” .
I would have used that moment to wind up the Chevy’s window and then hold one’s breadth as long as possible. Same advice for any people in the farm house under the helicopter.
Most – but not all – crop dusters, spray over crops.
She’s also driving off the road.
I think she actually is angry over dropping her cigarette out of the window and trying to flag down the pilot for his help.
I suppose the helicopter could be larviciding mosquitos with DDT. I was talking with some older cousins about that practice recently, and they said as kids they would hear the mosquito plane coming and would go outside to watch, getting drenched in the process.
Wow! Every single person on that bus is captivated by that yellow ’57 Chevy! You’d think Elvis Presley was hanging off the driver’s door…?
Today, we do see SUVs being driven speeding, but not down roads – on back roads, speeding through forests, blasting through rocky streams, and terrorizing the wildlife the occupants obviously don’t give a damn about. There are dozens of SUV ads on television blasting through nature as though it is an expressway. Land Rover has one of their products backing towards a cliff at full speed, and using its backup sensors to tell the driver that he is about to do a Wiley Coyote off a cliff.
SUV ads are showing how much fun it is to speed on back roads, race over sand dunes, do donuts in Arches National Park, and how it gives massive power to the tiniest Hollywood acresses. They do these road-kill stunts while talking to us as though we are their passengers and they are reminding us that they can drive over Bambi as well as any male driver.
Over the past thirty years, we’ve gone from seeing Wrangers and Renegades parked in a pine covered forest, to seeing a Honda Ridgeline destroying that same pine covered forest.
In what can only be described as a true historical irony, a horse could just as easily replace an SUV in many of these offroad ads.
Thanks for the reality check. Driving on a crowded freeway or city street doesn’t exactly engender joie de drive, eh? So ever since the freeways and streets got really crowded in the ’70s or so, we’ve seen the endless SUV-offroading boom. Even if 97% of them never leave the pavement, it’s the idea that they could.
And in recent years, the overlanding/off-road craze has only accelerated, stressing a lot of pristine nature and making campgrounds jammed.
Where do we go next to get away from the teeming hordes? Space! Or the depths of the ocean. Submersibles are a hot item these days.
Steer me to that coast hugging road the F-85 is on. It surely isn’t West Virginia, but it looks like almost heaven to me. I don’t think I’d care what I was driving.
When I worked at the Ford garage, I remember Ford published a magazine called Ford Times. Each edition would outline some trip a person could take just for the sheer pleasure of driving. This being a magazine dedicated to showcasing Fords, there were always photos of Fords in idyllic settings.
https://www.motorcities.org/story-of-the-week/2023/remembering-the-ford-times
That is either the extremely rare supersized Oldsmobile F-85, or it is being driven by Thom Thumb and his wife Thumbellina.
Also in the F-85 ad, a sloop rigged boat is about to nose into the dock with both sails still up and seemingly powering the boat. Usually at that point one would be running on the jib or main alone (not both) and ready to back the one sail if needed. Maybe the wind is blowing directly from the dock, but what if the wind shifts; that’s a lot of sail up in close quarters.
The key lesson in docking a sail powered boat with no motor is PLAN AHEAD for all possible wind conditions.
I know, I know… this is a pretty ad picture and sail boats are only pretty when the sails are up. Maybe it’s a good thing I never went into advertising.
I’ve got and endless supply of ad trope posts planned, and one of them is around sailboats. I’m sure you will enjoy picking that one apart!
It may well be that my attitudes toward driving were crafted by Madison Ave in the mid-20th century, and if so, so be it. Still, I’m glad to have come of age at a time when there was pleasure to be taken from the process of driving and not just the product.
That Wagoneer ad (“Live a Grand Dream”) is just flat out depressing to me in contrast to the what the classic ads promote. And the pervasive concept that driving is something that we might just as well let the robots take car of is certainly aligned with the generational lack of interest in driving. Again, perhaps this is just as well for any number of reasons (I am very open to understanding those reasons), but it doesn’t mean that change isn’t hard and that it’s not much fun to feel more at sun set than sun rise.
Terrific article Tom! And now I’m off to get in a little more Joie de Drive while I still can 🙂
Why are they smiling? Because on a hot day riding in the car was a way to cool off with the 4-55 non-freon based A/C systems (e.g. 4 windows down, 55 mph). In many parts of the country, many cars started to have real A/C systems before most houses had them, so riding is a car was truly a way to stay cool when the house was stinking hot (the other option was to go to the movie theater that was one of the first businesses to be regularly cooled with A/C).
Yes, “With no particular place to go”, thanks to Chuck Berry, we enjoyed our wandering along paved roads. Hmmmm…..with self driving cars – “Please enter destination”. “I’ll wait”.
I made a point of raising my son up on the road, we’d go just to see what’s new somewhere .
He’s still hard at it with his family, they just came back from a three week road trip, over 5,000 miles, lots of camping and many pictures of his children smiling .
I’m getting older & stiffer but I still like to go driving just because, the 15’ers have made it much harder for the average working class stiff by endless gouging on fuel prices .
We’re planning a So. Cal. TT run for October, I hope to have my old VW ready, if not I for one enjoy driving my pickup truck, it has AC and a CD player….
Anyone can still do this but it takes ever more effort these days .
I’m really digging all the colors in these adverts .
-Nate
Great assortment of ads here. Though in all fairness, the “joy” depicted in ads extended far beyond cars. Ads for everyday products such as cleaning solutions or vacuum cleaners always showed joyful people and happy prose.
Here’s one example. Now, I actually enjoy yardwork, but even I’d never describe mowing the lawn as “pleasure packed.” And adding to the comment above about dress codes, how often do you see someone these days mowing their lawn in a button-down shirt?
I like the bus in the 57 Chevy ad. The depiction of the left rear quarter is a dead on portrait of the GM “Old Look” radiator grille, coolant fill door, rearmost window and engine air intake.
I can hear the scream of the 6-71 drowning out the road noises!
I got my license in 1976, and have never tired of driving or find it a chore. I’m 63 now and have never stopped driving for pleasure. Of course amongst all of us here at CC, I’m likely preaching to the choir. I’m sure many of you feel that way.
While annoyed with traffic, I still even get great pleasure out of a mundane commute in my Civic, especially on Federal Holidays when traffic is light. Drives in the Mustang are almost 90% for pleasure only… I call it “following the front of the car” – No destination is required.
Even in our newly acquired Mazda CX-5 on a routine weekend’s errands, my wife and I most often take Supertramp’s advice and “Take the Long Way Home”. So “joie de drive” pleasure can even be had in a CUV. (Of course that CUV was specifically chosen because it is one of the more fun ones to drive, so there’s that.)
I still wonder around in my cars or truck. Rarely pull out the motorcycles anymore. As far as the next adventure place, space and the ocean’s are very unforgiving, no second chances. I’m all for exploring the unknown but it’s solid ground for me, the occasional flight is OK but only with seasoned, well experienced pilots. I guess if I got picked up by aliens that would be interesting although I find aliens space traveling from some far off place to Earth highly, highly unlikely.
Great article! Being in the Old Fart set, I do enjoy drives as does my wife. Whether it be a day trip such as to The Catskill Mountains of New York or a weekend jaunt, we’re all for it. In 2021 we drive to Tennessee. Round trip we logged 2368 miles, saw the Virginia Creeper in southern Virginia amongst the sights that we enjoyed that a “fly over” does not achieve. In 2019 we ambled up the west side of Lake George on Route 9N behind a middle-aged couple enjoying the day in their Chrysler Sebring convertible at 45 MPH. Both of us stopped at the northern end of Bloomer Mountain to admire the view where we conversed about the pleasures of a drive. By the time Meline and I reached Montreal it was 4:30 PM and we went into the jarring traffic of the afternoon rush hour. No “Joie de Drive” there! What a comparison. We grew up on road trips. We had scenery, Coca-Cola ice cold in bottles with cocaine in it (YIKES!) and so much more to do. My brother and cousin and I would read license plates for state of origin or locale within a state (no such thing anymore). Bring back that type of driving. Our children got used to it when they were small. No electronics allowed until we settled into the hotel room for the night. They each had a three-ring binder with pages for recording their days’ sights. Colored pencils and sharpeners to draw what they saw. Odometer mileage and hotel names were entered and the special places to which they went, whether a water park, art museum or historical location. The three of them look fondly at those times. ROAD TRIP!
Don’t forget Volkswagen’s “Fahrvergnügen” ads from the 1990s, which translates to something like “the pleasure of driving.”
I was about to quote that, too! In Wolfsburg those campain planning folks were meant to say driving must be more than just a necessity but always some fun, even in modern Times!
Joe
Joi de drive has never left me. I will admit that it is easier to summon in some cars than in others (a Miata comes to mind) but some of us find our joy in a smooth, torqefest provided by a big Chrysler sedan or even a modern minivan – at least under the right circumstances.
I laughed at the lead picture. Having been a wee tot when our family owned a 61 Olds F-85, I remember the undepicted scene that could have followed this one – where the parents are scowling and the car is at the side of the road with the hood up because it overheated again. Also, I think the couple in the Edsel and the couple in the 58 Plymouth are experiencing a different kind of joy: “Honey, the dealer almost gave this away – aren’t we the most brilliant shoppers. Just think how we’ll make out when trade-in time comes!”
Is it me, or is the lady in the DeSoto experiencing joi de drive in a really minimal way – possibly getting more enjoyment out of the car’s economy and low price. The Studebaker people seem to be having a lot more fun.
Look at the ad for the 57 Chevy. Even the people on the bus are thrilled to be alive and fortunate enough to afford bus fare. The only people who have to sit in the back of the bus are the people who want to.
I really enjoy driving my truck, even just to run errands. I have a 2018 F150 XLT 3.5L EcoBoost. 10 speed trans, 4×4, SuperCrew with 6.5 ft box. I wrote a letter to the editor of Motor Trend magazine, probably 73-74 time frame. I complained about car manufacturers not using more gears in transmissions and no turbochargers, etc. It only took about 35-40 years to get what I wanted! So for those of you that have your old copies of Motor Trend look for a letter from a reader named Randy Cameron.
My goal with vehicles was to always try to have vehicles that were fun to drive.
As a new driver with a motorcycle I started exploring all the great back roads in the greater SF Bay Area. As my motorcycles became larger I expended my travels to up and down the State. It was great for a kid to see new things and experience such freedom. As a young adult I traveled around nearby states and even took one epic, around the Country month long trip. Solo, by motorcycle of course.
I still enjoy driving, more than fifty years after getting my license. Though now I need a reason to drive somewhere. It doesn’t have to be a big reason, but I never just get into a car and drive. My Wife and I take a lot of weekend holidays around the State as well as our annual trip to the Oregon coast. Depending on the reason and destination I’ll take whatever vehicle fulfills the requirements of the trip. I enjoyed my minivans, and I enjoy driving my truck. I’ve mellowed out over the years and prefer a relaxing pace.
Well put Jose ;
When I retired that plan was to travel with my Sweet (I’d courted her in a Metropolitan Nash DHC) first I crashed my bike and spent a year in a wheel chair then came covid, now I just don’t want to drive more than 6 hours at a time, not good for traveling .
I do still enjoy driving, I hit the road @ 04:30 this morning and will prolly log 150 + miles today jut running errands .
-Nate
I have the urge to go for a “Sunday Drive.”
Something our family did on occasion after lunch. Often times out into the countryside or to visit friends or relatives in the city. And unannounced too! Just dropped by to say hello.
The original Miata! (That’s 1990-97).
One can just imagine an ad with scowling driver, angry wife, crying little kids, pouting teen throwing a fit… probably far more realistic than the saccarine stuff shown above – I’d love to see that one!!!
Randerson ;
Just come to Los Angeles……
=8-) .
-Nate