In 1979, FIAT launched the Ritmo in the UK, using the name Strada. Given the investment in its manufacturing and the reputation FIAT had in the UK for quality, the emphasis on the manufacturing processes and equipment in the advertising was a good way to answer any questions.
The strapline “Hand built by Robots” is now considered a classic; the press advertisment is good but I suggest the TV advertisement is perhaps one of the best ever. From pressing and casting to a ballet of robotic transfer equipment and paint sparying to a closing sequence aping The Italian Job (check this link to an iconic Britsh film, set in Italy and featuring the famous chase of Minis across the roofs of Turin). Using this format to emphasise quality also makes an interesting counterpoint to the German way of showing reassuring figures in white coats poring over a car or a component.
So, QOTD is, can you better this?
Is this what the Yugo was based on?
Nope, it was the Fiat 127.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_127
Many would argue the first true supermini.
No, that was based on the smaller and older Fiat 127. The Fiat Ritmo/Strada was in the same class as the VW Golf, Ford Escort, Opel Kadett etc.
Consider the UK domestic car market back then. Workers on strike more often than not, and when they were at work, the quality was on par with something produced in the eastern bloc (or worse!). I think as a car compnay at that time, yes, I’d advertise the fact that we were producing a product a bit more precisely than the ham-fisted hammer-wielding line workers of the UK (i.e. British Leyland) in the 70’s & 80’s.
Private Eye got there before the Beeb, with a spoof press ad showing a motorway pile up and the caption ‘designed by computers, built by robots, driven by Italians’.
But don’t forget ‘Minis have feelings too’ – the 1986 version is obviously the one to remember as it features real Minis, not the modern nonsense efforts – ‘if it isn’t a real mini, it isn’t a real mini’ – http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZSPXa4cqCE
And there are too many classic Saab ads to mention, of course
As a child, I loved Warner Brother’s Wile E. Coyote vs. Road Runner cartoons. I suspect Mom is responsible, as the first car of her own was a Jamaica Blue 69 Road Runner (I unfortunately do not remember that car personally). As such, I always thought this was fairly clever:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-Yvcv6ktEBo
I always wondered where that dead, rotting, coyote carcass in the trunk of my new ’69 Satellite came from…
Sounds like you got a relavitly good one then 😉
I don’t know. That dead, rotting, coyote carcass was pretty bad.
Pretty good videos. I seem to recall Car and Driver, back when they still had an edge, suggested the best thing to do if you woke up with one of these was to “torch the sucker”. Not sure if the car was really that bad or just Fiat’s reputation in North America.
They weren’t a common sight in these parts.
I’d like to nominate a tvc featuring a 131 Mirafiori going over a waterfall for real, then driving away for real. Apparently that last part was unscripted. I’ve seen still frames in a book, but I couldn’t find it online.
Love this one though, my dad has a next gen Ritmo that’s curbside-parked in Rome and not driven for six months. It starts perfectly for him every year.
Small piece of trivia, the name is an emasculated hydrid of Italian/English for ‘move quick’.
Thanks, Roger
Whoa! Those hydrids are nasty little buggers in their own right, but when you emasculate them, WATCH OUT!
‘Cromulant’ just wasn’t the right word.
Sometime in the ’90s Honda made the best car TV advertisement ever. It was a “domino effect” shot using almost every part of the car and was apparently shot in real time, with out computer aided effects. Look up Honda domino on youtube if you’ve never seen it. Bet you’ll agree it’s one of the best.
Re: The Fiat Strada
Can’t say I’m a fan at all of clever or slick advertising, if the product itself being marketed, is so mediocre. If you are going to charm me, don’t do it on such a disappointing car.
In fact, I find the Strada ad promotes automated manufacturing as much as the car.
To North American tastes, the Strada seems very much like a budget econobox in this commercial. Makes the VW Rabbit or Plymouth Horizon seem quite robust. As a viewver/consumer, I am glad that the cheapness of this car can still be seen, if you are paying attention.
I applaud advertising where the ad writing and art direction are slick and the product is equally clever and innovative. Like say, the Apple ‘1984’ campaign. Innovation ad, brilliant product… at least for that era.
What good is this Strada ad, however slick, if it’s selling a car that helped sink Fiat in North America? Can’t be ideal, if the ad campaign is more memorable than the car.
In the spirit of today’s earlier comparison of an imported hatch with an ungainly AMC product:
Fiat was sunk here long before the Strada showed up.
When J-Lo did the 500 campaign and it became a Pop Culture subject…a co-worker of mine…mother of 2, mid-30’s so not really old enough to have remembered Fiat’s “glory”(?) days…piped up with…
“Fix It Again Tony!” Even she associated “Fiat” with “junk”.
Frankly I’m surprised to see as many of them as I do, given the rep they’ve had to overcome…
I remember the commercials here in the States showed the Strada driving around various “Italian” locations, with casting agency “Italians” viewing it with wonder while making imaginary snowballs (as Tom Wolfe would have said,) accompanied by the Grand March from Aida-those were a hoot! Of course, after watching one of those commercials, my Dad told me about “Fix It Again, Tony.”
I seem to remember these had a fairly good reputation, as far as Fiats go, and I believe there were several Abarth versions as well.
I’m reminded of the great Brock Yates quote though when describing 70/80s European small, inexpensive cars……”little Shi%boxes”………
Here you are a few ones I fondly remember
– As per my handle, the first ads depicting the Seat Ibiza. Not “the best, but they do smell like 80s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZL4wHTMLMc
– The, another 80s spectacular ad for the Citroën CX (it’s in french but was exactly the same in Spain): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULB2EoYdE38
– Then, this wonderful Isuzu Gemini series, Dancing in Paris: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBbT_28RvIk
And finally, a real Spanish oldie (I think from 1974): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNodbTluzWk (it goes basically as the man speaking about the virtues of his new Dyane 6, and his wife saying “But it hasn’t been even registered at the DMV”)
Ow wow…the Isuzu “New” Gemini ads are simply awesome! And it’s all analog — done without the benefit of special effects or CGI…
Fiat was known for quality in the UK? Whoa… the Brits must have had low standards. But I guess when you compare a Fiat to any BMC product…
Further to the Not the Nine O’Clock news sketch about driven by Italians.
Try this one- built by Roberts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU-tuY0Z7nQ
Hi Roger,
the reputation FIAT had in the UK for quality and durability was not great, so an advert showing high investment/high tech and therefore high quality manufacturing made sense.
Especially as they couldn’t use the styling to advertise it!
Virtually indestructible 1.5 liter motor and a good 5 speed transmission, pathetic rustproofing. But think back to all of those reliable Big-Three cars of that era… oh, wait…
I bought a new, 1978 Buick Turbo Regal and it was the last purchase of a GM car I will ever make.
Ray Charles for Peugeot.