Corvette Advertising Evolution throughout the
Generations
by Rick Tavel© February 8, 2013 All Rights ReservedThanks to the Advertising photo sources: GM - OldCarAdvertising.com – Oldcarandtruckads.com
“A great sports car is not made overnight. It is developed and refined through years of testing and competition until its handling becomes silky smooth, its roadability flawless, its cyclonic power tempered to absolute reliability under the harshest demands.” While the rest of the automobile industry spent time and resources on radical annual styling changes the engineers at Corvette spent time refining the car.
In order to hype the modern designs, GM revived its fleet of
Futureliners, customized buses designed by Harley Earl in
the 1940’s used in GM's Parade of
Progress, which traveled the United States exhibiting new cars and modern technology
for consumers. The fleet was
temporarily retired until 1953 when the Futureliners
were pulled out of mothballs to exhibit the newest technology and innovations
GM had engineered for the fifties everything
from microwave ovens to robots were exhibited, whetting the public’s appetite
for the products being developed. The
innovative buses toured the country until 1956 when “TV”, one of the technical innovations
displayed in the 1940’s, rendered the buses ineffective. One of the restored Futureliners sold at auction in 2006 for over $4 million.
During the early 1950’s some of the most beautiful, enduring
automobile designs were introduced by General Motors. This is not so much a surprise as an
expectation since the corporation arguably employed the best designers and
engineers in the industry. Harley Earl,
the most celebrated, talented American automobile designer penned not only the
first concept of the Corvette but hundreds of other revolutionary automotive
designs. Not surprisingly in addition to the Corvette, three other of Earl’s
most modern and enduringly classic designs were introduced during the same time,
the ’53 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, the ’53 Buick Skylark convertible and
the ’53 Oldsmobile Fiesta Convertible.
Originally introduced as show cars, these cars were produced and sold to
tempt and whet the appetites for other GM products. Due to General Motors’ sales success their
corporate coffers were overflowing so finding the funds for the several new car
designs on the drawing boards was a strategic move, positioning the company to
take advantage of the profitable market ahead.
GM recognized the huge opportunity for fresh, modern designs and
products to meet the needs of the more affluent post war economy, fueled by
upwardly mobile families with the goal of home ownership and all of home
ownership’s associated accoutrements.
The years between 1953 and 1955 could have been labeled the
birth date of the modern era of the automobile; it was marked with several
revolutionary changes in not only design but also engineering that would carry
forward and become the foundation of expanded offerings in the future. In 1953 twelve volt electrical systems were
offered on several models to handle the expanded optional power accessories
like air conditioning, power windows, power seats, and of course, power
steering which had become standard on several upscale models. New engine designs were developed, introduced
by mid-decade, and several early fifties “motorama” show car features made
their first appearance in 1953 production cars. The curved wrap around windshield, the “coke
bottle” body styling, and the increased use of chrome, fins and other
aeronautic suggestions were initiated in 1953 and made it the pivotal year for
car design.
Identifying the dreams and aspirations of the country, tying
the car’s persona to that of the country as a whole has been a staple of
marketing Chevrolets, especially Corvettes.
The epitome of this advertising culminated in the “Baseball, hot dogs,
apple pie and Chevrolet” ads of the 1960’s and 70’s, which will be discussed
when we look at the marketing of the C2 and C3.
But when a 1950’s and early 1960’s Corvette ads are dissected they were
no less of a reflection of America’s social and cultural trends focusing on successful
lifestyles, whether it be tied to
sports, family and leisure activities.
For example, though the target market for the new sports car
was men, many who had become fascinated with European sports cars during the
war, family men who were successful in business, many of the 1953 through 1958
Corvette ads were careful to often include a woman in the ad recognizing the
emerging voice of women in the decision making process on all issues. Among other trends marketing research
companies, a new tool in the advertising agency’s arsenal, identified the
importance of the woman’s (wife’s) input in the buying decision. No longer was the woman’s input confined to
domestic issues, no longer was a major purchase the exclusive domain of the
male, so advertisers were careful to recognize this partnership and used it in
every ad where appropriate. This was not
only a technique used by Campbell-Ewald but was used by all of the big three
automobile manufacturers.
Not only was incorporating socio-economic trends important
in creating the advertising and marketing programs for the new Corvette but
accurately defining and reinforcing the car’s image, creating its “persona”, in
advertisements was critical. What was
this new car going to be? What was it
designed to do? What was the target market and who was the target
customer? Remember Campbell-Ewald’s
description defining the evolution of a Corvette enthusiast, “develops slowly
and requires the tempering influence of experience”. This appeared to be the guiding principal in
regard to the Corvette’s evolution as well.
GM was not too quick to hang a tag on the car even though Harley Earl,
Ed Cole and Zora Arkus Duntov may have had their own specific aspirations for
the Corvette. GM appeared to be content
to allow the Corvette to “settle in” and give the buyers input into what they
thought the car should be. This may have
been due to the fact that GM wasn’t sure if the “sports car” category would
become viable in the United States and how it would shake out.
Keep in mind that very few people in the United States
understood the concept of “sports car”
and aside from it being a small two seat car what were its other
characteristics. Sports cars had been
spiritedly navigating European roads for decades but in the early 1950’s few
Americans understood exactly what comprised this concept in cars. Few understood that it was more than a scaled down version of the large American
automobile with two rather than four seats. Harley Earl penned the car and even
though he was considered to be the most accomplished of all American automobile
designers aside from the outward appearance of the car little differentiation
from other American cars lay under the highly styled “glass-fibre plastic”
body. So when the Corvette was first
introduced, though it was advertised as a “sports car” the term was nebulous
and few people challenged the advertised terminology.
Suspension, brakes and power were
more suited to a regular production car than a “sports car”. Further illustrating the misunderstanding of
the sports car concept was advertising the two speed Powerglide automatic, the
only transmission available for the car.
Zora Arkus Duntov thoroughly understood what a sports car entailed,
especially from a performance perspective, but he did not join GM until 1953 so
he had little impact on the performance underpinnings of the new car in its
first years. Nevertheless, as soon as he
arrived he began his life-long objective of making the Corvette the best
performance, sports car in the world.
Under his guidance the Corvette’s persona began taking shape as a car
built to perform on the road and the track.
In early 1954 he wrote a scathing letter describing several ride and
suspension problems which needed immediate attention in the car.
No one more than Duntov helped define the future for the
Corvette as a true sports car. He knew
in order to qualify as a true sports car there were several modifications that
needed to be made. Not only did the suspension,
handling, braking and engine need attention, in order to be considered a true
sports car the car had to not only compete on the track against other sports
cars it had to win.
But before that could happen the future of the car needed to
be assured and it was anything but secure after the poor sales results in
1954. Because the 1953 small production
sold out so quickly GM produced 3,640 1954 models which were difficult to
sell. It appeared the car was doomed and
the Corvette would be discontinued prior to the 1956 model year. After production of only 700 1955 Corvettes
production was virtually stopped based on the poor 1954 results. It seemed so assured that the Corvette would
be discontinued the sports car was not included in the 1956 Chevrolet model
line up advertising.
Realizing the necessity of competing with the Thunderbird,
GM ramped up 1956 production with not only some of the performance changes
Duntov had demanded but with several other amenities. The Corvette received a V8 engine with dual
four barrel carburetors, roll up windows, external door handles, a transistorized
radio and even a hard top was offered as an option. This was the first year for Corvette’s
legendary “coves” to appear as a part of the design. As a result of the changes for 1956 the first
Corvette “competition” ad appeared and the Corvette was on its way to
solidifying its emerging image as a true sports car.
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