By 1961, the age of the fabulous Motorama auto shows was coming to an end. This original General Motors film tells the Motorama story one last time.
Originally launched back in 1949 under the name Autorama, by 1961 the fabulous GM Motorama auto shows had run their course. Our new age of mass communication had diminished the need for a live national auto show. And with television now in most every home, Americans could watch musical theater and stage productions in their own living rooms every night. Both the purpose and the appeal of the original Motorama shows were rapidly fading away.
In the meantime, the focus of the Motorama presentation had shifted from fantastic dream cars like the LeSabre and the Firebirds to actual production cars that could be purchased straight from the showroom floor. At the final Motorama shows in 1961, staged in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, GM presented its standard Chevrolet, Pontiac, Olds, and Cadillac models as the cars of our dreams.
And that’s the theme of this Motorama theatrical film as well. But first, there’s an elaborate musical theater production that will remind you of the strange and wonderful 1956 Motorama film, Design for Dreaming (watch it here). And indeed, it stars the same actress, singer, and dancer, Thelma “Tad” Tadlock. The GM passenger car lineup for 1961 comes into view at around the four-minute mark. Enjoy the video.
Three minutes and forty seconds into the video before they show the first car. I think that was an admission by Detroit that they were still recovering from the economic downturn of the late ‘50’s and did not really have a lot of new stuff to show. Surely nice to see GM’s go-to-girl for advertising clips – Thelma Tadlock.
Except for the Corvair and Corvette, all GM cars for 1961 were all new, including the “senior compacts” for Buick, Olds and Pontiac. I don’t know why you think there was nothing new to show.
I still vividly recall an announcer stating “This car “idles” at 35 Mile per Hour!” (The 1961 Corvette)