Avis might’ve reached advertising legend status with its “When you’re only No.2, you try harder. Or else.” ad and eventual “We try harder.” tagline, but I gotta tell ya, this 1967 Hertz ad is its own kind of awesome. I never knew it existed before picking up a short stack of old Newsweek magazines at a local flea market this weekend. And the word count in this single print ad? 385.
Avis v. Hertz – a history.
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The 1946 Willys Jeep station wagon was the first 2-door station wagon.
This was just seven years after the first Jeep prototype (“Quad”) was delivered to the US Army. It was designed in just 75 days.
The History of the Station Wagon
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A month or so back, I bought several old issues of La Domenica del Corriere, a weekly with cool front and back cover illustrations, on eBay from a guy in Italy who seemed to specialize in racing/auto stuff. Well, they finally arrived rolled up in a poster tube, and when I took them out, I found this nice little surprise sticking out between some of the pages — a card of typed correspondence from Enzo Ferrari signed in his signature* purple ink. Groovy.
*I just saw what I did there.
The life of Enzo Ferrari in the UK’s GQ
A nice bit on Enzo Ferrari’s choice of purple ink.
From 1912-18, Willys was the 2nd-biggest American automobile maker.
Ford was 1st, the bastards.
Willys-Overland is the company that eventually brought us the Jeep.
Let’s take the 1920 Overland 4 for a spin.
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The Torino was an upscale variation of the Ford Fairlane, eventually replacing it. Sorry, Andrew Dice Clay.
The car was named after Turin, the home of a certain shroud.
You might notice some shared DNA with a certain ’73 Ford Falcon used in a dusty Australian movie.
And don’t forget about The Striped Tomato.
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Bone shards:
Street cred? This car had it.
Oldsmobile’s Rocket engine was kind of a big deal.
The voice of Rocket in the Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy movies is Bradley Cooper.
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Something for the auto buffs: Why Packard Died
Want a Packard of your very own? Looks like a 1929 Packard 645 Deluxe Eight goes for an average of $212,926 these days. What a bargain!
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Q: Where do Volkswagens go when they get old?
A: The Old Volks home.
I’m so sorry.
Not-really-fun fact: The Volkswagen Beetle was originally named the Volkswagen Type 1 and marketed as the Volkswagen.
More VW Beetle trivia here via Mental Floss.
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Behold, the American Motors Gremlin.
Fun Facts:
Its sales brochure called it “the first American-built import”.
It was marketed as “cute and different”.
Both Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush once owned and drove Gremlins.
In 2007, Time magazine included it in its list of “The 50 Worst Cars of All Time”.
In 2020, Automobile magazine gave it a good review, but still called it “one of history’s dorkiest cars”.
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