Get the story behind the “brilliantly new” 1952 Chevrolets in this awesome old factory clip. 

Over a full brass orchestra, our announcer exclaims: “From the drawing boards of the world’s largest automobile manufacturer… from the assembly lines that bring forth America’s greatest automobile value… from the proving grounds that test the ruggedness of the world’s number one motorcar buy… comes the brilliantly new Chevrolet for 1952!” These are the old-school Motor City marketing campaigns we love. This old spot appeared on NBC’s The Dinah Shore Show shortly before the “See the USA in your Chevrolet” earworm fully took hold, as here the slogan is “Ahead All the Way in a Chevrolet.”

While here the 1952 Chevrolet is described as “brilliantly new,” that’s a bit of a whopper. In truth, the ’52 was but a minor refresh of the previous year’s model. A new grille up front added five teeth to the main horizontal bar, and there were a few minor trim changes. The real news was the introduction of nine bold new exterior colors, a bit out of character for the then-conservative brand. However, since the TV show was broadcast in black and white, we don’t get to see them. (We do have a color film here.) To be fair, big changes weren’t necessary as the carryover model sold just fine, outselling Ford by nearly 150,000 cars in a rough year for the industry due to material shortages. Video follows.