Buick rolled out an intriguing new marketing message for 1966: the Tuned Car. 

The video below is actually three original Buick commercial spots from 1966 strung together, featuring the Wildcat, Riviera, and Skylark, respectively. Each one employs Buick’s interesting marketing angle for ’66: the Tuned Car. “Styling, performance, ride, and handling, all tuned to work together,” the announcer proclaims. (At this point, some of us are wondering how they did it in previous years.) Then a few beats later comes the familiar Buick tagline introduced the year before, the one we all remember: “Wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?”

While the ’66 ad campaign hardly mentioned it, there was plenty of news at the Buick Division that year. The Riviera got all-new styling for ’66, orchestrated by Buick design chief Dave Holls, and while the new look was not quite as distinctive as the original ’63-’65 Riviera, it was equally dramatic. Though it was well disguised, this new Riviera shared some sheet metal, glass, and body structure with the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado. Reportedly, Buick was invited by the General Motors brass to share the Toronado’s front-wheel-drive system as well, but elected to stay with the tried and true. Video follows.