Car Commercials Of The 1980s: Here's Why They Caught Our Attention
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- čas přidán 12. 07. 2024
- Would you buy a car after this uplifting jingle from a car commercial filled your 1986-vintage living room? Ford thought you would, and it wasn't the only car maker making insane commercials. Buckle up as we take you on an information superhighway road trip.
The 80s brought cars electronic fuel injection, ridiculous dashboard gadgets, and buttons anywhere buttons could be squeezed in. The future was here, 80s car manufacturers said, and we have the graphics to prove it. Car Commercials of the 1980s were full of bright colors and zingers and funky music, but it was a great decade for bringing technology forward.
Enjoy our video on the Car Commercials of the 1980s! - Auta a dopravní prostředky
As someone who is now 72 years old and having lived through the 80s, I never would have thought that those were the good old days, but they were.
Agree, 64
Well, someday, the 2020s will be the good old days as well.
Happens to (almost) all decades...
Ah the 80's . Would like to go back .
In a way, yeah.
Not for the cars.
Me too!
@@melrose9252 especially for the cars
I'd go back for everything. The music, the President & the cars. Best decade ever. It was like living on Mars compared to today
Take me back to the 80’s and leave me there!
Amen to that!
Most people in the 1980 were driving cars from the 1960's
@@chrissmith1521 and 70's!
Me too..... 😞
I grew up in the 80's, so these are the cars I know. These are the cars that I feel a connection with. And these are the cars i want to own and drive. I know modern vehicles are supposed to be safer and more efficient. And 60's cars had better build quality and more power. But cars from the late 70's and 80's are the ones i saw on the streets and rode in as a kid. And they're my favorites
Some of them are.
Totally agree. That’s why I own several 80s classics. They are old enough to have character, yet still modern and comfortable enough for today’s commuting (well, once a week).
Full size & midsize rear wheel drive ordinary passenger from Oldsmobile and Buick from the 80's are not too expensive to own and easy to find parts for.
It's the muscle & hot rod cars which cost a fortune.
In November of 1984 I bought a new car, in the form of an Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale. It was a miserable car. Conversely I ordered an 89 Mercury Grand Marquis LS sedan that was the complete opposite of the Olds. The Olds collected 42 work orders in 48,000 kilometers and 18 months. In the same time and mileage the Mercury had 1 work order for a repair versus the Oldsmobile.
@@michaeltutty1540< The Olds were junk. That is why they eventually went out.
I remember those Ford vs. Chevrolet truck commercials when I was around 12 years old. I watched way too much TV back then.
And Chevrolet trucks are STRONGER AND LAST LONGER THAN ford trucks.
@@jimstewart2457< That’s your opinion and you know what they say about opinions.
They need to bring back the heart beat slogan
The 1977-1990 GM B-Body platform is the best. The Caprice Classic, Impala, Delta 88, Parisienne, Electra are awesome cars.
I also love the Chevette. Perfect little car for running around town. The Camaro IROC is just cool. And who doesn't love a Pontiac Firebird?
The 80's were great. Great cars, great music, great movies. What a great time to grow up
Having one platform that does multiple jobs in multiple styles, made the available choices a lot more interesting. Could get a wagon, a sedan, a 2+2 coupe, or a 2+2 convertible all out of one platform.
Now the consumer gets one platform which is built into an ugly front wheel drive SUV-like thing.
I had a Chevette. The thing was a rolling pile of junk, too small and didn't even get good mileage.
Best cop car, ran circles around the Dodge Diplomat and the Plymouth Grand Fury's..
The 80’s cars sucked! The Olds 88 were weak especially their transmissions. The Chevettes were pitiful. The US car companies made it easy for the Japanese.
Couldn't agree more!
Nothing better than the old comfortable seats in 80s and 90s
I once bought Jon Voits old Chrysler Lebaron.
Well I once owned John Voight’s old Lebaron, and his pencil…..
No. You had the dentists old Lebaron not the actors.
You shouldn’t have let that crazy dude work on it.
🤣🤣🤣
Ok Georgie, was his chewed up pencil still in the glove box when you got it? 😜
My younger brother bought a Yugo. I swear the car felt inside like it was constructed from pressed cardboard! The 'heater' only ran when the car was moving. Not fun during a Minnesota winter. I remember the car lasted maybe 9 months before it completely blew up.🤪😬🥴
As a teen, I worked at a full service gas station and when the Yugo's came out, me and the other attendent would literally draw straws, the loser took care of the "literally poor" driver of the "poor car" We had a million jokes about Yugo's back then. The only 2 cars we didn't want to fuel up were Yugo's and Renault LeCar's. Even standing next to one was embarrassing. I remember, one of the best cars I ever had the honor and privilege of fueling up...an absolutely beautiful bright red 1959 Cadillac Coupe Deville. I was almost afraid to touch it!
@@rogergoodman8665 Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark drove a Renault Le Car, there's CBC archive footage of him unable to start it in front of the Peace Tower...I also pumped gas as a teen.
@@rogergoodman8665 I was at Cadillac show, a few weeks ago. A red 58 Eldorado was, hands down, the star of the show. It had a gold badge package. The owner said he thought it was a $25 option. The more I looked at it, the more I fell in ❤️. There was a 93 Allante, with the window sticker displayed- 63K. Woweser, that was a lot of beans in 93.
A friend's family had one. I just remember sitting in it once, and the windshield felt like it was 3 inches at most, from your face. 😂
I remember working at a gaS STATION IN THE 80’S. EVERY JAPANESE VEHICLE THAT CAME IN HAD ROT AROUND THE GAS FILLER. ONE GUIYS GAS TANK WAS BEING HELD UP BY A COAT HANGER. WHAT JUNK. THEY HAVEN’T CHANGED MUCH
Did anyone notice that the cars got better mileage than cars do today?
They weighed way less due to lack of safety features and even though they had emissions controls, they still had way less emissions equipment than modern cars which allowed for better MPG. Also the EPA MPG testing standards were different (supposedly less accurate but who knows) than they are today.
Mainly they were smaller and lighter. 95 Civic EX Sedan weighed 2500 lbs, modern Civic EX sedan weighs 3000 lbs.
Reason is a mixture of safety requirements and consumer desiring luxury. For safety, roll over concerns meant the pillars have gotten a lot beefier, the rest of the frame has also gotten a lot stronger. As for luxury the premium speakers, electronic adjustable seats, seat heaters, infotainment, extra sound deadening, all adds up. Also the size adds up as well, people tend to desire a bigger vehicle which rides higher, meaning bigger wheels and bigger tires and a bigger engine to move the vehicle, which adds a lot of weight.
@@weegeemike Emissions equipment is a catalytic converter and a crankcase ventilation system. Catalytic converters have been a thing since the mid 70s so that hasn't changed. Crankcase ventilation systems have been around since the 60s, used to be desired for more horsepower than less emissions and well that too weighs very little, maybe 2 lbs at most. All other emissions control is done by the ECU adjusting AFR and timings, ECU is a circuit board that weighs nothing.
@@PURENT You mean more government added bull. Now people feel so save driving they dont pay attention... If fuel economy isnt better then what is the point? I would rather drive my '77 cars than the new POS ones.
Gas was better back then.
Make NO mistake, it was Chrysler's 5 year/50,000 mile Protection Plan (eventually upped to 7/70) that SOLD those K-cars! Still a BETTER no-cost plan than what's offered on American cars EVEN TODAY!
That’s because cars back then didn’t make it to 100,000 without a major overhaul.
@@sengle928 So...your point is why bother having great (long-term) warrantees today because cars last longer?
Have you bought ANY new American vehicles that made it to 100K miles without issues? I haven't
The AMC Eagle surprised me. I had completely forgotten about those.
They were pretty forgettable
@@DavidWilliams-ol3vp apparently, LOL.
I'd take one
Who doesn't wish they could own a 1986 Toyota SR5 Turbo 4x4! I miss the simpler time I knew as the 80's!
I think if the Yugo had " Fine Corinthian Leather " they would still be around 😳
Lee Iaccoca was one of my business role models in mgt for 30 years. Organizational skills, assessing mgt talent he was formidable. Reading his biography at 18 years old changed my future.
I read and enjoyed his biography too. 👍
And nowhere did you realize that he built crappy cars
@@cherkas009 How did you come to that conclusion from my comment?
@@kendavis8647 it's a fact
@@cherkas009 I've always been a car guy, love American muscle cars. The K-cars weren't my thing, but for the time they were what the market wanted. And they saved Chrysler, that's what mattered.
I love how commercials back then sold on the features and benefits and looks, now what they sell you is the experience, the feeling
I remember all of these car commercials, I especially liked the ones with Ricardo & his fine Corinthian Leather!!! Thanks guys for sharing another fun video!!! 👍👍🙂
I started college in 1981 (BS Aero Engineering). I didn’t have a tv in my apartment, so I never saw any of these commercials. But they still take me back to a simpler time. Thanks Boca Brothers!!!
Never thought when I was a kid that 80s cars would be "classics'. That Sinatra Imperial was really something. Owned 3 80s Cadillacs, 1 was a lowrider Coupe. Only one 4.1 failed. That Cadillac body style rivals the Chevy OBS truck 88-98 . Both timeless and they ran for a decade.
Nice ending....Yugo....never owned one, drove many. Had a few Chrysler products from the 80s. Most were actually pretty good, in the later part of the decade. My first one, 1981 Dodge Omni 024....didn't run in the rain. Genius engineers not covering the distributor cap from road splash. They figured it out by 1985 as it didn't happen to my Dodge Lancer. haha.
Cool video!
shyt. chrysler had that problem with the 225 slant six in 1963. the distributor was under the engine and next to the passenger tire and would get water under the cap whenever it rained. i didn't know they had the same problem in the 80's. SMH
We had an 86 K-car that lasted over 300k miles. It was on its second transmission when it finally died.
I was thinking where is the Yugo and then it came up. 😁
Somebody forgot to mention the best car ever: The Buick Grand National. ( my wet dream....hush now) 🙂
They're a great latter day classic. But I will always think of Brad Hamilton's big blue Buick sedan, or a 1970 Electra 225 sedan with a 455 when I think of Buick.
Great clean posts of the old commercials! Well done!
The 80s. Married February 14, 1985. I was 20 and she was 22. In 2024, still my baby girl. 👍
I miss the 80's and 90's commercials; although I was born in '85; that and the brochures were the best. Now everything is saturated w/social media influencers. Thank God for motorweek still. R. I. P. Pat Goss🙏🕊️
It must have been fun being a young adult during this decade. I was born in 86' so i barely recall anything from the decade. Greetings from the Philippines.
It's more fun in the Philippines
This video was quite good and comprehensive. Good introduction. I know it took work to locate and find all those commercials. Thank you for a great job again. You really covered many car brands as well.
Glad you enjoyed it!
The beautiful 80s memories , thank you.
I think the Malaise Era began mitigating in 1982 with the return of the Mustang 5.0. The engines seemed to start becoming more powerful again as the mid 80s approached. There were great things in the 80s all over.
Driving my 86’ bronco on sunny evenings gives me such a peace no new car can. 😌
The reason why they caught our attention because they were so authentic not like today were everything is so overated.
Either overrated or downright lie
Know days cars have to many sensors. They just need alot of tlc when you run them hard these days
Nice video. Greetings from México. I really enjoy watching your videos. I prefer old cars 70's,80's & 90's. Not the fuel injections. Olds delta 88, Ford chateau, Chevy laguna,Ford Galaxy wagon, Ford f-150 & Ford granada.
It was crazy seeing a new 80's. I enjoyed this very much.
I drove my parents red Yugo to the prom. I liked driving it. The gears were hard to shift sometimes.
I miss american motors. They had some good cars
Same here 😢 I'm glad Jeep 🚙 survived but pretty sad about losing the rest of the company.
The much maligned AMC, in my opinion, made some totally maintainable cars that were not as bad as the reputation. On a number of occasions, I drove a ~1970 Ambassador and found it to be quirky but nice. Spongy brakes, power steering with no road feel; these are not things to hate, just things to know how to work with.
AMC were cheap junk. Just saying.
That 87 Cadillac Brougham was beautiful!!
Those 80's Camaro's be they Z-28 or IROC:s looked so cool. Their Pontiac Firebird Trans Am brothers right alongside.😎👍
I feel like we have fewer car commercials these days, and they don't feature people telling stories like in these old ones.
That 80's B-Body!!!
I had a 1981 Olds Custom Cruiser Wagon purchased nearly new. It came with the crappy but almost magnificent 5.7 diesel, so the purchase price was so cheap I checked with the local PD to make sure the tags and VIN didn't come back as stolen. I ended up buying a different year gas V8 with motor mounts out of a wrecked Firebird and was delighted that everything went together flawlessly; even different previously unused holes on the cross-member fit the Firebird motor mounts.
Every car since then has come up way short. That wagon was a terrific beast. Comfortable, quiet and fast enough, though when going way too fast freeway offramps with sharp corners, it was necessary to get the car to start pivoting well ahead of the turn and to work on stopping the pivot well before exiting the turn.
When having rotors turned at the parts place, they INSISTED on charging me the price for truck rotors.
I look in my driveway now, and I think I am going to cry. There is a drivable '70 Catalina wagon for sale at a reasonable price; perhaps it is time to get rid of my late model Camry.
Ricardo was so elegant. Khaaaaaan!
Brilliantly selected advertisements! Loved them then… love them now. Thanks for the video.
My 1st Cadillac was the 1986 Fleetwood Brougham. Still my favorite Caddy, even though it was Gutless. Too bad the Video, only showed it with the Cheap Seats
My Fleetwood Coupe had that interior and I loved it.
@@barrystracner8554 I preferred the D'Elegence Trim Option, with the Loose Cushion Look, in Velour, not Leather
@@pjimmbojimmbo1990 Yeah my father had that interior in his Fleetwood. Like getting lost in a sofa.
That caddy with the Olds 5.0L V8 was a good one. Not a lot of power, but decent mileage and reliable.
I owned a 1986 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham with the Olds 307. More powerful than my 1984 Deville with the little HT4100 power plant. Had that car till 191k, traded it on a 98 Grand Marquis.
look at the size of the ashtray on Lido's boardroom table! that's why 80s rides needed big ash recepticles or drawers in many cases =D
still the era where we wanted everything squared off before the rounded jellybeans came the decade after
Today, they are selling the touch screen with a mode of transportation attached
Thank You Boca ! Great seeing these classic car commercials back again 😊 .
You bet!
Great idea! I would love to see one on car commercials from the 70's and sooner. Grave yard cars used to show a lot of them before they went to commercial break, and the Dodge ones always had me laughing about the stuff they would say about the competition.
i miss my old 87 IROC! bought it new in Dallas, TX back then, but had to drive it back to OK next morning like 40mph, cus of a huge ice and and snow storm that hit the area. between N Texas, and OK. was nerve racking driving it home in that mess. but made it home safe, and once the snow melted, it was IROC time! interestingly at the time, a neighbor up the street and his sister got new muscle cars as well. they turned out to be the Silkwood kids. they had just got a settlement from that Kerr McGee thing, and the son got a new Gran National, and his sister got a new Trans AM. i heard she wrecked it like 2 weeks after getting it, she was fine though. but the son, he took really good care of that Gran National. we were all in our early 20s at the time. good times! ☮
My first new vehicle was an '86 Toyota 4x4 Pickup. I wish I still had it.
That Cougar commercial was the most coke fueled thing I’ve seen in a long time.
The Chevette should have gotten the best gas mileage most were sitting around broke down 😂😂😂 what's funny is the Yugo was made fun of so bad and I still see them on the road 😂
The last time I saw 👀 a Yugo was around 1997 and it was smoking 🚬 really bad as I passed it on the expressway.
There was one Yugo ad with a song. "Buy yourself a Yugo 69.95 a month" Maybe it was s regional. But it still gets stuck in my head anytime a Yugo is mentioned. 😅
Imagine calling an 800 number to find your nearest dealer. 🤣
born in 1985 so I def remember some of these particularly the Caprice Classic my uncle Rico drove a 1984 and gave it to my dad when he downsized to a Honda Accord dad drove the Caprice until 2000 and bought a used 1990 Volvo 760 for 200 bucks
Does he still kick it with Napoleon and Kip?
@@hitmonvalThat's hilarious 😂
Enjoyed this. The Suzuki ad was in a class by itself-a real "time capsule" with the fashions. The Yugo ad was cheap and cheesy-not unlike the car!
I'll never forget. i worked in a restaurant, this couple came in. they had just ought a brand new Yugo,, after their lunch, it wouldn't start! lol
That 85 Toyota truck is probably still running strong!
Cool, I remember these 🥰
Lee Iacocca’s address to congress would be a fantastic video. A great American.
K cars where good cars easy to work on.
I had a Lebaron convertible. I would drop the top down in the summer and I thought I was driving a Lamborghini.
And to think I thought Yugos were cute cars back then....
Funny, in the 80's I was looking at cars from the 60's and 70's. All these cars were "new" to me so I had no interest at all. Great video tho, wish I was back there.
1:20 is this the same guy from the Cordoba commercials in the '70s?
Yep. "Corrrdoba!" Also " Fantasy Island"
I’m very surprised that they didn’t mention the Lincoln Town Cars 🤔☹️
I was hoping for it or any panther
Loved those LeBaron Convertibles
and Ford and Chevy really did those videos.
Those were Not Fake videos
Heart 💖 Beat of America..... I forgot
Chevrolet
Thanks for these videos and memories
I hope people are noticing the MPG figures on some of these cars, like the LeBaron with 44MPG highway. Thanks to Uncle Sam, we are burdened by so many stupid and unconstitutional rules that we cannot have not afford simple automobiles anymore.
The 70s set a very low bar...
If you can find a better car, buy it. Well Lee, apparently a lot of people did.😆
Back in the 80's I lived in a part of the country where it snowed, so we would see a lot of unusual cars like Eagle 4X4s, Suzuki Samurais, and Subaru XTs.
I have a 1982 Buick Riviera Convertible and it runs great in 2023. And my Dad had the Frank Sinatra Imperial until 2022.
I was 18 in 1980 and living in San Francisco. Did not maje the kind of money to aford the new cars so my father would buy used ones from the 70s for me to drive (my first car was a Mercury Comet followed by an MG MGB roaster and then a Renault 5. He finally bought me a Plymouth Reliant K that had a Mitsubishi 2.4L Hemi, and in 1991 I FINALLY purchased an used 1989 Ford Taurus GL in 1991).
Yugo!! Forgot about them. 😃
I wrote about these ads for my 1st year English Comp class. 😀
I remember when my oldest sister was able to drive, she invited me to go with her to a Suzuki dealership so she could test drive a Samurai. We took note of the bright yellow warning affixed to the Samurai's underside of its steering column that read: "WARNING, NOT SUITABLE FOR HIGHWAY USE."
A warning that I believe should have been huge and affixed at the center of it dash facia.
That was the end of my sister's Suzuki Samurai dreams😆
But she waited 1 more year, saved up her money and bought herself an all white VW Cabiolet.
When regular people could afford a car, even the Caddys, now the corps expect you to take out a mortgage on just a regular sedan.
The insanely talented Ricardo Montalban 1:24
What a talent he was!
Notice no ads for electric cars. I love it. I wish I had a flux capacitor
I remember the early 80's had some horrific designs, compared to the 70's. Car makers started to get their act together by the mid 80's with styling and design. Fast forward to today and everything looks the same.
....and far too many SUV's.
@@MultiMusicbuff I love 70's and 80's cars, but I won't lie; I do really enjoy driving my 06 Tahoe.
@@MultiMusicbuff Yep, basically station wagons with more clearance but the old station wagons were cool.
@@schadlarry yes,the old station wagons were the best.
@@JRobert111111 nothing wrong with loving your 06 Tahoe.I do miss the smooth soft ride of the 70's & 80's cars and the extremely light power steering.All it took was one finger to move that steering wheel.
I'm 64. I was around in the '60s. I remember when they made REAL cars. Cars with rear wheel drive, carbureted V8 engines and breaker points ignition. No computers, no safety trash.
I can't stop dancing and singing when Iroc-Z commercial breaks in
2:00 It's true! The earth isn't round! It's a semi circle! Whoooooa.
Loved my 81 caddy. Had the 4-6-8 motor in it and it got 22mpg
Watching a video of commercial interuptions, being interupttrd by more commercial interruptions. Anyway, it's the way the rich beg.
Just use adblock on pc, or youtube revanced on android
I used to be able to lift my friends Yugo off the ground with my bare hands!
The 80's were the best.
"Fine Corinthian leather......smiles everyone, SMILES!!!!"
Always wanted one of those Imperials
My dad had a 84 Caddy Sedan Deville jus like the one in the picture, real ol skool luxury
Cars in the 80s were fun and interesting.
Now everyone has SUVs and pickups, all the same shoebox on wheels grocery getter just packaged slightly different.
I agree that all the cars look the same now. All plastic crossovers with 4-bangers. But 95% of these cars from 80's absolutely sucked. Car makers hadn't yet caught up with safety and emissions requirements, and the quality was abominable. Even the paints and clearcoats only lasted a few years at best. However there were a few gems, like my '84 500SEL, but I'm biased.
@@westhavenor9513 my uncle had an ‘85(?) 500SEL. You’re right, that was a beauty.
I’m one that happened to like the cars of the 80s. Maybe they weren’t the best built but imo they were more interesting than some RAV4 or Ford Escape that are practically litter on the highway now.
Boomers mentioning about how all new cars look the same, yet never seen a 77 Monte Carlo next to a 77 Ford LTD II and a Chrysler Cordoba.
@@sengle928 yeah, not a Boomer try again.
GOD THEY WERE GORGEOUS I REMEMBER SAD WHAT HAS HAPPENED BEAUTIFUL INSIDE AND OUTSIDE
The YU-GO like hell down the hill. The timeless cars were the Toyota 4x4, IROC, New Yorker wasn't terrible back in they were pretty cool the rest so - so back in the day they were all excellent.
Everybody needs a Yugo sometime!!!😅😂
they caught our attention because of quality of materials and no computer works in graphics . everything was natural . human were still human . generation were the best . man is man and woman is woman . no rubbish.
Ahhh good cloth interiors. They stood up well to use, were comfortable and easy to care.
Newer cars with faux leather type interiors may look more classy but are less comfortable and easier to wear out as well as harder to keep clean.
Real leather though is the appropriate exception.
The price of the cars back then was awesome
I was born in the 80s I love them commercial
1980 Teebird it was OK, but very problematic with the variable Venturi fuel delivery for anybody that doesn’t know it’s similar to fuel delivery for motorcycles
These cars got great gas mileage especially for their day and better gas mileage than a lot of cars to you now. But I doubt that it's because they weighed less. They're just engineer nowadays to get lesser MPG. I have some examples from personal experience. Today I still on a 1983 and 1984 Dodge 604 Tracy upscale version supposedly of the LeBaron. Maybe 30 mi to the gallon on the highway but not 40 as they were advertising. But that was probably with the smallest itty-bitty engine that they could find. Just like that Ford commercial where is a standard engine was a fuel injected inline 6. I guarantee you that was no inline-6 underneath that hood pulling a couple of trucks and whole another one. And by the way they reinforce that Ford truck so cohol the Chevy. I also still on I think it's a 1986, I believe, Le Baron station wagon. That car had left my garage and probably close to 8 years. It's a cream puff. But it got well into the thirties on the highway. These cars do not appear to be that like. All the Dodge 600's both of them at 2.6 Mitsubishi engines very powerful four-cylinders but very complicated. Also prone to the heads cracking. The Chevy celebrity that I had to put 100,000 mi on it. So when I sold it at over 300,000 mi on it. The next guy also put 100,000 mi on it. So did his son. His son sold it and it was still running. A V6 and I got around 30 miles to the gallon for real. It was a heavy little car. But then I'll get about 25 miles a gallon back in the day with a 1967 4 door belair sedan. I wasn't driving back in nineteen sixty-seven car was around twenty years old when I was driving it. That is no light part. It was not uncommon to get around 25 miles a gallon with a little 283 V-8 and get round 22 miles a gallon with a 235 6 cylinder. That's all from experience. And my dad switched over to little Toyotas and some of them early on for heavy. I drove a BMW for awhile and it got 35 miles a gallon gasoline. And it was the old locomotive BMW, as they were nicknamed. Cars today as they were quite often are just engineering to get lower gas mileage than they should.
Back then Regan was president and patriotism was back. These car commercials reflected that pride, not like today. Today its a guilt trip trip your buying a new car and want to take your family on a road trip...
no
Got to meet Lee Ioccoca