A CC reader sent me these terrific shots taken by Squire Haskins at the Texas State Fair Auto Show in the years 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968. The Texas State Fair is held in October, so the cars are from the new model year just starting. This top shot is from 1967, and yes, I would like that Buick GS with that mod interior.
I’m not going to keep them perfectly sorted by year; it will be pretty obvious by the model year of the cars.
Four polyester clad bunnies standing on a Buick, with nary a gray blobby CUV in sight….I’d like to have seen those shows!
Love those costumes on the models! It’s been ages since I saw the freestanding ashtrays.
Growing up in Dallas, my family and I often visited State Fair of Texas every autumn. Even my elementary school had a day off so we could visit on quieter day. The auto show was the first thing we beelined to after entering the fairground beside seeing the Big Tex giving everyone a big welcome. We never learnt lessons from the previous year every time not to overdose ourselves on the fried foods. C’est la vie!
Texas has been a very important market for pick-up trucks and SUVs that some manufacturers chose to hold the world premieres of their trucks and SUVs at the State Fair. To give the context, during the 1980s, roughly half of annual production for Chevrolet/GMC Suburban had been sold in Texas (according to D Magazine).
You are right. Trucks used to get revealed in Chicago but the State Fair has become an important marketing event for all the OEMs.
Was that robot the inspiration for the Iron Giant animated movie c. 1999?
I miss new car shows – the last one here was c. 1990 if I’m remembering correctly. The new Miata roadster was on display. Pre-internet, so this the first I’d heard of it.
The man at the Lada exhibit got mad at me when I removed the distributor cap on a Signet (essentially a Soviet-built Fiat 128) to discover that it was still using points and condenser.
Wow, thanks for these! They slightly predate my birth but are riveting. Although the pictures were taken at different times (such as during hours where there are no visitors), it’s interesting that VW is pretty clearly the most mobbed, of the photos were visitors are present. I would not have guessed that in 1960’s Texas.
The “personalities” of the makes are pretty evident too. VW is techy/smart/bookish. The Chrysler displays just look stodgy. AMC looks dorky (when you are bragging about “molded ceilings”, well…..). Cadillac is the most elegant and looks like a ribbon winner, I presume for the “Best Display” or something like that. Buick looks fun and youthful, more so than the “Youngmobiles” at Oldsmobile.
Look carefully at the AMC display, and it’s possible to see how the corporation was already downplaying the Rambler name. On the back wall of the display is a list of the models. It specifically refers to the Rambler Rebel and Rambler American, but does not put the Rambler name before Ambassador and Marlin. AMC was trying separate those two from the Rambler moniker.
No pretty girls by the AMC’s. A Rambler is sexy enough to sell itself.
Forgot to add……what would all these models be talking about? Looks like most have a mic and a speaker nearby, usually under the car. Sure must have been quite a racket in a big metal fairgrounds building, all of the amplified models talking over each other……
I’m here for that Simca 1000 tucked away behind the Polara cutaway. I also spot the recalled Kelsey-Hayes aluminum wheels on a Road Runner and possibly a GTX as well, which is somewhat curious, as the recall notice was issued September 13th, long before the fair started that year (the 28th).
Nice call! I spotted the mystery car, figured it had to be an import, ruled out Hillman, and figured it was likely a Simca. Chrysler’s alliance with Mitsu came a few years later.
What great pictures!
I remember seeing pictures of the Freddie Ford robot before, and after looking it up a bit, it seems that Ford still owns a working example… described on this webpage:
https://corporate.ford.com/articles/history/freddie-ford.html
The “robot” was quaint by today’s standards… it there was a button-filled “control panel” nearby (probably shown on the left of the picture), and spectators could push a button, which would “ask” the robot a question. And then the robot would respond with a corny joke. It was quite popular, apparently, and made the rounds of auto shows and state fairs for several years.
My kingdom for a couple of hours in any of those shows….
I wonder if the way the two young ladies stand in the pictures of the 68 Toronado is in any way related to FWD…..
Great pics! The Cadillac does not look particularly elegant high centered on that stump. The wheels don’t seem to be hanging out of the body as badly as I would have expected, perhaps they gave it a little help to maintain a modicum of dignity.
“Oldsmobile’s Savingest 88 Youngmobile”: one would sound out of their mind reading that aloud.
Dodge Rebellion Operation ’67 sounds like an insurgency…or a short-lived band name.
I like the pop-top A100, and that the model’s beehive hairdo seems to match.
The GM, Chrysler, VW, etc. photos are delightful and “of the time,” but I’m in FoMoCo heaven with all these images! Those were my peak years for devouring the brochures and knowing every option, every color name, etc.
No snark from me about anything in this time capsule–just a whole lot of appreciation. I guess the little kids are nearing retirement and the models (hopefully) enjoying golden years. Thanks for posting these, Paul, and I hope donor will sense what an appreciate audience these photos will have today. Hooray!
I grew up on the East Coast in the late 60s, and was raised to believe that folks in what was derisively called “flyover country” simply did not buy foreign cars. I’m working hard to get over that bias, and the photos of the immense crowds in the Volkswagen booth help.
I would have expected to see Volkswagen just as ignored as the poor Simca in the Dodge booth.
You were raised to believe a falsehood. VW and other imports sold quite well during the great import boom of the 50s. IIRC, Jason Shafer has made references to a VW dealer in the Missouri town he grew up in.
Lots of thrifty Midwesterners were attracted to the VW’s economy.
It appears that there’s an event happening at the VW booth, maybe a raffle or something to attract the crowd.
Many of the shots were obviously taken before or after the show opened, hence the lack of people.
Did your parents actually use the term “flyover country”?
In the 70s and 80s, import sales in “flyover country” did lag that of the coasts.
Yes, “flyover country” was a term I heard often in my youth. My father was a salesman who traveled to such places and despised them. After a meeting with Sam Walton, he described him as a “pickup-driving hick in overalls”.
East coast elitism/snobbery was a real thing; maybe it still is. I’m surprised you didn’t encounter it more, having spent part of your youth in Baltimore.
I encountered it in Iowa. We had some relatives in NYC that were a bit reluctant to come visit us, as they thought it was still the frontier or something like that. They were a bit surprised at how sophisticated Iowa City was, being a university town.
People in Baltimore never seemed to go anywhere except to the ocean. I’m not even sure they knew what was on the west side of the Appalachians. The derision I heard there (other than about Blacks) was for the “hillbillies” from Appalachia. Beyond that, they seemed clueless, but I never actually heard any derision about it. Yes, they were snobbish.
I just never heard the term “flyover country” until much later.
We just had a post about this issue:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/qotd/qotd-what-was-the-first-foreign-car-in-your-immediate-family-and-when/
Jason Shafer’s grandfather bought a VW bus in 1959. Jim Cavanaugh’s parents bought a VW K-G and British Ford in the 1950s. There were quite a few other responses from the interior of the country like that.
My goal in life, as I enter its end stages, is to reduce, and hopefully eliminate, all of my biases. Thank you for helping me with that.
I grew up in a little Arkansas college town of 13,000 or so souls that had a VW dealer by 1968. Datsun, Toyota, Fiat, and Mazda had arrived by the mid-70’s.
I attended the State Fair of TX in 2019. No, the car displays were not this elaborate, no pretty women, and full of crossovers that may as well have been all the same vehicle. I asked a guy at the VW display where the GTI was. He seemed offended.
My Chicagoland west suburban neighbor had a Simka dealership by at least ’65 that I know of, and another was a Rolls Royce dealer. The Simka dealers eight year old son could tear down a VW engine and rebuild it as well. A guy I worked with in a factory had a ’54 Jaguar and so did a student at high school. Our family dentist collected Ferraris, and by the way I saw a used Ferrari for sale at a Ford dealership in ’69. There were many, many more, believe me.
Interesting that, during the height of the muscle car era (1968), Oldsmobile and Mercury choose to highlight the non-muscle versions of the Cutlass, Montego and Cougar. The 1968 Cutlasses on display feature the wire wheel covers, instead of the styled steel wheels now found on 90 percent of restored 1968-72 Cutlasses. Not exactly how we would expect buyers of a “Youngmobile” to spec their new Cutlass.
The male and female presenters for the 1968 Mercury Montego don’t look particularly stylish or glamorous – but they do look like people who would actually buy that car.
Buick was apparently going all-out to attract young buyers interested in muscle cars, judging by the display for the 1968 GS. Despite this, Buick was a minor player in the muscle car market during those years.
Models at the 1966 and 1967 Dodge displays were apparently chosen for their resemblance to Pam Austin, the actress/model who appeared in the television commercials for the “Dodge Rebellion” campaign.
As a design geek I’m loving the displays and fixtures, and as a longtime admirer of fuselage Chryslers I’m wishing I could wander through that display in the last pic.
×2
Talk about a COLORFUL interior in that ’68 Skylark GS…….WOW, groovy baaybee!
All car designers of today could take some inspiration on the good use of COLOR to $ell product! Far better than today’s utterly BORING white/gray/blACK..IMhO as a retired designer.
OTOH, as “my” color back then was Marine Forest Green; not to much choice then either…for me. 🙂 At least my ’88 IROC-Z has color inside and out. DFO
If this were held today, there would be only pick up and full size SUV
And who would bother going? Before Covid, already the annual motor show in my state capital was a dying thing.
Believe it or not, the auto show remains a hugely popular exhibit at the State Fair. The Detroit Three in particular go all out with their displays and new model introductions, especially trucks and SUVs, which enjoy outsized popularity in Texas. In fact, some manufacturers do extensive consumer surveys and focus group research at the State Fair to tap into the psyches of some of their most loyal customers. Even as some other auto shows decline in popularity, the State Fair seems to be eternal in its appeal.
As a small boy, I attended a similar show in my hometown and seem to remember that Ford had a display featuring their overhead cam 427, and they even started it up. But it could have been another engine, I guess.
Anyway, for a budding car nut the show was heaven…the possibilities seemed unlimited!
The Mercury Montego display caught my eye. Better not slip and fall off that platform or you’ll skewer yourself into a kebob. Ouch! I especially enjoy the simple sculptural aspect of the various displays. Current auto shows while better at grabbing one’s attention use cinematic fantasy instead to do so.
You had me at the 67 Fords. I would have traded my light green Galaxie 500 convertible for that aqua XL trim convertible in a heartbeat.
On one photo there is a sign promoting the “toy motorized Mustang.” It is for the 1967 model, judging by the Lincolns and Mercurys in the background of the photo.
I believe that I had that Mustang…it was a blue-gray 1967 fastback. The headlights and tail lights would light up when the battery-powered motor was running. Now it is probably worth at least three figures in excellent condition. Mine, of course, is long gone.
I thought that was a body under the 4 door TBird. What were they hiding?
The false ceiling of the Cadillac stage is not exactly elegance in action, but it does attract attention.
I was wondering if there were engine leaks being shielded from the visitors?
I was also drawn to the Mercury sign that said “The Man’s Car”. Wow! Quite reflective of the times, I suppose, but I am also a little stumped about what the marketing message was there. Is a Ford a woman’s car?
Interestingly enough, it does remind me of meeting my future (and now deceased) father in law in about 1992. I had just started grad school, and my wife of almost 26 years now, was the first person I met when moving into my apartment complex.
I met her parents when they came to town for a visit. They were 52 or so, almost my exact age now (!) and had a 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis. White with the turbine alloy wheels, grey half vinyl roof, and grey velour seats that completely enveloped you, really quite a good looking car as Panthers go. He told me they had driven Mercurys since the 60’s because “they are put together better than a Ford”, and “A Mercury tells people a lot about you”.
I didn’t ask him to explain either statement, though I wish now I had. But, it seems he probably was drinking the Mercury advertising Kool Aid! My wife had a 1987 Mercury Lynx at the time, which he had selected of course. Maybe he thought I was a punk, driving my little foreign job (I had a 1991 Prelude at the time)
That was one of Mercury’s marketing themes for 1967 — this is their full-line brochure cover:
Seems like an odd message to apply to an entire model range, even for the times. The brochure’s first page expands on the theme a bit, but after that there’s only scattered verbiage devoted to the “man’s car” theme (like saying “this is a car for the man who…”):
Great shots, great 60’s fashion and great upside down volcanoes on the ceiling of the Cadillac display.
At first I was hoping this was a rerun of a Kevin Martin story that I’d somehow not seen. Miss that guy..
The more I see of the Ford Allegro the more I’m convinced the 70 Camaro front end wasn’t just parallel thinking. Come on, even the stripes are the same!
Last time I went to an auto show was 2018 in Denver, dull would be an understatement in the contrast to this. Automakers used to at least showcase their more interesting colors on display cars, now even the roped off cars look plucked from a dealer’s greyscale front line.
A circus ringmaster in the Cougar booth. OKeh, someone’s great idea at the agency.
Excellent, excellent photos. Nice that some shots were taken, evidently before opening or after closing, to really show off the cars without spectators.
Freddie Ford the robot. something for the kids.
Thanks for posting these.
Freddie Ford the robot. something for the kids.
To scare them!
Look at all the boring gray cars!!!! – Oh wait, those photos are black and white. 😂
Seriously, what a great collection of shots! I have to agree with JPC on that Aqua colored XL convertible, and although ‘boring’ white (presumably… it could be cream or yellow) ’67 Mustang GT Fastback are personal favorites.
The Ford GT looks nice in blue and white… nice to see one in other than Gulf Oil livery.
Love the Caddy too, but why put it up on a stump like that? It’s just a weird way to display it.
The Buick GS display on the turntable looks like something out of “The Mod Squad” or “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”. Even the car’s interior is weird. Prediction of AMC’s Pierre Cardin Javelin perhaps?
Anyway, thanks Paul for posting this. I was too young at this point in the sixties and don’t recall going to any car shows, but my Dad and I would do that quite often once I became an adult. It’s funny, but even though the cars are now classic, and the displays are more modern, these pictures do not seem all that dissimilar to what you see at a car show today!
That method of mounting makes the Cadillacs look like they are “floating” on air, particularly as they revolve. Perhaps that is supposed to make the cars look more glamorous..?
That sorta fits with the whole “Jet-Smooth” thing, but as I recall, that was a Chevy thing… 😉
Own a Cadillac…and you’ll float above the hurly-burly of the world that is endured by owners of lesser cars.
The clothes are remarkable considering that the Automobile Building wasn’t air-conditioned until 1986. The Dodge Van girl is the only one dressed appropriately.
The display of new automobiles at the State Fair of Texas was from an early date a really big deal; I can recall the hubbub produced by a Tucker (I think) in the late ’40s. There is a family story that my grandfather’s uncle saw a certain Buick in the Buick display, say 1925 or ’26, and told the attendants he had to have a certain one, and now. They told him they could get another quickly but he held out for that one. I wasn’t there, of course, so can only report what I was told.
Nothing to add except that I love these photos and really miss the excitement of going to car shows! The whimsy of the displays really sells the optimism (false optimism?) of consumerism related to the auto industry. I also really love all the old fonts – Chrysler Corporation was my favorite. Love the “Plymouth” font!
Another wonderful throwback article .
I still remember the Boston Auto Show of 1967, I still have the VW joke book they gave me .
I too wish I could just walk ’round in there .
I remember those stodgy women’s styles in the mid 1960’s gah .
-Nate
Great pictures,
A future car guy clutching an armload of brochures at the Ford robot ?
“Do you come with the car?”
“Oh, you!”
“Do you come with the car?”
“Oh, you!”
Thank you very much for sharing. It’s really interesting to see what the manufacturers were promoting in their displays, which included a lot of fairly pedestrian models that were more common than the glamorous muscle cars and loaded luxury cruisers of the day.
I’ve lived in Dallas for more than 30 years and though I rarely make it to the Fair (not really my thing), when I do go, I spend lots of time at the auto displays. One year while attending with my very young kids, I was selected by a manufacturers’ consumer research team to participate in a styling clinic for what I think eventually became the aerodynamic 1996 Ford F-150. So many of my fellow participants were negative in their reviews, preferring a squared-off traditional Ford truck look, but, as history has shown, the new model was wildly successful when it was introduced a year or two later.
Love these!
It looks like Mercury got my 2nd grade teacher – Miss Wentworth – to model for that 68 Montego. Except that couldn’t be her…’cause she was teaching me 2nd grade in 1967. Hummmmmm.
Surprised by the Ford disc brake display.
IIRC, the Maverick had drums all around till ’73 or ’74.
If this is display is for the 1968 model year, Ford may have been promoting that, if you ordered your new Ford with power brakes, you also automatically got disc brakes.
Fantastic photos! The 1968-69 Buick Skylark remains a guilty pleasure of mine. I’d love one now with that mod interior!
Can’t believe there’s a ’67 Chevy Bel Air 4-door on display complete with dogdish hubcaps. I bet it at least has the 283 V8 and Powerglide unlike our ’67 Bel Air 2-door from back in the day.
Never been to the state fair of Texas even though I’ve lived here close to 40 years (though not in Dallas). Way back when I went to a car show in Boston (before I moved to Texas) the year they came out with the A2 Scirocco…I preferred the A1 Scirocco I had at that time.
Never went to car shows in the 60’s but saw many of these on the road. Our next door neighbor had a ’63 Mercury Comet and then a ’68 Park Lane wagon. Of course the domestics were then popular, as well as the VW. Went to a few trade shows (nothing to do with cars though) but in a way they were set up much like an auto show but of course the products were the difference.
My Dad wasn’t into it, but I think car shows were a bigger deal 50+ years ago…..maybe because vehicles seemed to change more (externally).