Crank up the time machine and set the dial to October 8, 1959. We’ve got a great little promotional film that celebrates the new Ford lineup for 1960.
This little clip is only three minutes long, but it’s a good one. As we like to say here at Mac’s Motor City Garage, these short films are a wonderful resource in the pursuit of automotive history. They show us not only the cars, but the all-important context in which they were designed, produced, and sold to the public.
In this Ford spot, we get a neat glimpse of the year 1960—the people, the fashions, the words and ideas that were in the air at that moment. And we also get some sense of where Ford believed its products fit in the world of 1960. The film’s title is A Wonderful New World of Fords, which was also the automaker’s catchphrase for 1960 in all its marketing materials.
Ford was rolling out two important new products this year: the Ford full-size line was sporting dramatic new sheet metal (a one-year-only design, as things worked out) while the Falcon broke new ground in America’s exploding compact category. And although the Thunderbird was in the final year of its three-year design cycle, it would enjoy its best year yet in sales in 1960. And the Squarebird still looks quite sharp and fresh here among the high-fashion models dressed to the nines in their evening gowns and tuxedos. Video follows.
The music reminds me of some of the old Disney movies. Got to say , the 1960’s were a big improvement over the butt ugly 1959’s. That Skyliner in the lead pic is a great looking car.
That’s a Starliner; and it was indeed a great looking car, unfortunately discontinued after 1961. The Skyliner was the 1957-’59 retractable hardtop-convertible. The Sunliner on the other hand was the soft-top convertible, a name they ceased using after 1962.
Is it me but the slightly homely Falcon looks the ‘freshest’ of the lot.