Video: Dinah Shore Introduces the 1953 Chevrolet

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Here’s America’s favorite television hostess, Dinah Shore, singing the praises of the newly restyled 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air. 

 

A bit surprisingly, this 12-minute theatrical short from the fall of 1952 doesn’t open with Dinah Shore singing “See the USA in Your Chevrolet,” the trademark song of her hit NBC television program, The Dinah Shore Show. First she delivers a beautiful version of a popular and widely covered song of the time, “It’s a Most Unusual Day,” just before she launches into a charming pitch for the newly restyled 1953 Chevrolet. Then follows an in-depth product presentation by a crew of actors, and a spirited version of “See the USA” is saved for the finale.

In the 1950s, Chevrolet and Dinah Shore were inseparable in the minds of American car buyers. And as we can see in this clip, in 1953 General Motors was still marketing the Chevy as a solid, comfortable, and practical family car, as the world-beating small-block V8 was still a few years in the future. Here, the power was supplied by the trusty 235 CID stovebolt six, often coupled to Chevy’s Powerglide automatic transmission, which offered smooth but leisurely acceleration. One interesting feature to watch for on the Bel Air sedans shown in this film: opening vent windows in the rear doors, an item that never made it into the final production models. Video follows.

 

5 thoughts on “Video: Dinah Shore Introduces the 1953 Chevrolet”

  1. There should be a bronze statue of that woman in front of GM. That woman, single handedly sold more Chevy’s than any other advertising gimmick. My parents and grandparents loved her show. I’m convinced, it’s why my grandfather bought nothing but Chevy’s.

  2. I recently had a conversation with an 89 year old buddy about how we missed the old vent windows (the video refers to them as ventipanes) that cars used to have. He said that in his time the vent windows were jokingly referred to as “cod coolers”.

    Indeed, they were just that.

  3. I could never say enough about these reliable early 50’s automobiles. I bought a used 53 when the wife and I were first starting out in the early sixties.Of course I must add that the Dinah Shore show and her “See The U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet” was one of the best promos ever and when my dad retired from Fisher Body Division after many years he and my mother took a trip to the west coast in their new 68 Chevrolet Belaire S.S.Hardtop with the bucket seats that were gaining popularity around that time.

  4. Very good catch on the rear vent windows. I have some factory photos that show them even though they didn’t make it to production .

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