As the muscle car wars developed in the early 1960s,
auto manufacturers scrambled to find catchy marketing campaigns to
entice the buying public into their dealerships. General Motors, Ford,
and Chrysler, with all their divisions, as well as AMC and Studebaker,
inevitably sank billions of dollars into one-upmanship in an effort to
vie for the consumer’s last dollar.
Automotive writer Diego Rosenberg examines the tactics
and components used by manufacturers in waging war against one another
in the muscle car era. Manufacturers poured millions into racing
programs, operating under the principle of “Win on Sunday, Sell on
Monday.” Cars were given catchy nicknames, such as The GTO Judge,
Plymouth Road Runner, Cobra, and Dodge Super Bee. Entire manufacturer
lines were given catchy marketing campaigns, such as Dodge’s Scat Pack,
AMC’s Go Package, and Ford’s Total Performance. From racing to TV
commercials to print ads, from dealer showrooms to national auto shows,
each manufacturer had its own approach in vying for the buyer’s
attention, and gimmicks and tactics ranged from comical to dead serious.
Selling the American Muscle Car: Marketing Detroit
Iron in the 60s and 70s takes you back to an era when options were
plentiful and performance was cheap. With this book, you will relive or
be introduced to some of the cleverest marketing campaigns created
during a time when America was changing every day.
About the Author
Ever since he was a 2-year-old playing with his dad’s
1967 Cougar, Diego Rosenberg has been a car enthusiast of various
marques from around the world. Proximity to Carlisle and racetracks
helped him develop a taste for American performance cars of the 1960s,
especially when the muscle car hobby was gaining traction in the 1980s.
He’s developed an acumen for the minutiae of postwar American cars and,
these days, he’s the voice of the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race in
Michigan as well as a contributor to Hot Rod magazine.
