1960 Buick

Wow, an Ad man's best.

@bob-jackman Back when advertising wasn't so incredibly expensive per second of TV air time the ad men had the luxury of time to create these great commercials.  Even as a kid I used to love them and still remember some of them; which speaks to their success I suppose.

I wonder why GM stylists changed from their edgier 1959 Buick design and why they lost the remarkable headlight positioning of the '59.  To my eye the '59 was very aggressive looking and made a kind of "get out of my way" statement; whereas the '60 oozed flowing luxury, with a sculptured European flair about it.

@jack-dodds, I think all the makers knew there was change in the air. Recessions, like that of 1958, have an impact that causes many cultural facets to get more conservative. Auto design can be affected. Furthermore, I think everyone realized that, by 1959, they had stretched designs about as far as they could be stretched, slathered as much chrome as could be slathered, and raised fins as far as they could go. By the time they introduced the 1960 models, the '61 and '62 designs were pretty much in the can. 1960 Serves as a transition year between the radical designs of 1959 and the cleaner, leaner designs of 1961.

@jkuvakas Very good points and well stated JK; thanks.  I guess everyone but Plymouth made the change you speak of in '60...lol.  Even though I was only nine years old at the time, I remember very clearly how impressive and very different the 1961 cars looked and I loved them (except the Plymouth and Dodge).

A terrific video clip of this commercial for these great Buick cars, John. They sure looked wonderful to me over the decades, most especially from the 1930's through the 1990's.

@jack-dodds John is exactly right, all those factors are true. May I add one point... 

Q: Why did GM/Buick change designs?  

A: Because they could.

At that time GM had long-deep pockets and could afford to re-tool yearly, thus retaining their title as "Style Leader."   Chrysler's 1957 "Foward Look"  caught GM off guard, but they rebounded quickly.

It's mind-boggling  to think of the amount of money needed to yearly re-tool, say, Chevrolet from 1956-1963. 

It breaks my heart (still! ) to know that in 1960, Chevrolet alone captured 30% of the US market. In recent years, all of GM has less than 20% (...but that's another story  😔)

Posted by: @chris

@jack-dodds John is exactly right, all those factors are true. May I add one point... 

Q: Why did GM/Buick change designs?  

A: Because they could.

At that time GM had long-deep pockets and could afford to re-tool yearly, thus retaining their title as "Style Leader."   Chrysler's 1957 "Foward Look"  caught GM off guard, but they rebounded quickly.

It's mind-boggling  to think of the amount of money needed to yearly re-tool, say, Chevrolet from 1956-1963. 

It breaks my heart (still! ) to know that in 1960, Chevrolet alone captured 30% of the US market. In recent years, all of GM has less than 20% (...but that's another story  😔)

Your last point about the '60 Chevy capturing 30% of the market, is best described as being complacent.  The big wigs in the GM corporate towers didn't see the train coming down the tracks for change. 

Not as much the change in the American car scene, but rather with the foreign car companies sneaking up on them.  They did it slowly, but in the end, when their cars were getting the reviews of the American public, it was to late for GM, Ford and Chrysler to meet the challenge. 

I think most of the American car makers were living in a "if it's not broken, don't fix it" mentality.  And by the time they were finished blinking, the foreign cars had won a prominent share of the market.  I realize there were other factors of course, but this was certainly a big one they missed seeing.  

My favorite full-size Buick!  Prefer the '64 - '65 Skylarks though.

Posted by: @brush

My favorite full-size Buick!  Prefer the '64 - '65 Skylarks though.

The Skylarks you refer to were beautiful mid-size cars!

John, great commercial. Loved the '60 Buick, but I prefer the cleaner lines of the '61.

A small dissenting note. That was one of the most awful car ads I've ever seen, even by the standards of the time. The big band stuff was pointless and definitely not music to my ears, and when they finally got around to it, some of the car imagery was pretty ploddy. Sorry. I've seen lots of enjoyable TV car ads from that era but this wasn't one of them.

Not blaming the car. Not quite as dramatic as the '59, but maybe a bit subtler.

@sizedoesmatter I agree John; I like the 59-60 design but prefer the '61 lines.  Same goes for the entire GM line actually....especially Pontiac.