In 1960, the Chevrolet division of of General Motors was sitting on top of the world, and you can see the bow-tie brand strutting its stuff in this original promotional spot.
This vintage two-and-half minute promo from 1960 contains all the classic Chevrolet marketing elements of the era. The famous 1949 jingle written by Leon Corday and Leo Carr, “See the USA in Your Chevrolet,” is given a feature role here, while the familiar golden-toned voiceover is provided by Canadian broadcaster Joel Aldred, who was the official voice of Chevrolet all through the ’50s and ’60s.
In these days, Chevrolet could afford to be confident and stick to the tried and true. The division handily led the U.S. sales charts in 1960 with more than 1.65 million cars sold. And not only that, Chevrolet also easily outsold the other four GM car divisions—Pontiac, Olds, Buick, and Cadillac—combined. Chevrolet general manager Ed Cole was truly sitting on top of the world, and on October 5, 1959, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine, just as the 1960 model line was introduced. .
This color promo includes all three fullsize passenger-car models for 1960: the deluxe Impala, the mid-range Bel Air, and and the base-model Biscayne, and there’s a moment with the premium Nomad station wagon as well. But the star of the production is a fabulous Impala convertible in Roman Red with a red-on-white interior. Enjoy the show.
While the styling of the 1960 is very pleasing, the narrow track of all 59-60 GM cars except Pontiac’s WIDE-TRACK makes them look like a football player wearing ballerina slippers as Bunkie Knudsen used to say.
My mother had that exact ’60 Chevy convertible, red. She loved it so much and drove everywhere with the top down. The car was so out of character for her or so it seemed. Thank you for the special memories.