Wednesday, January 28, 2009

1970 Chevelle SS Experimental Photo


This was shot near the location of the rope ad below. It was on one of the movie back lots where we had good security for the as yet to be announced cars. The car is a prototype Chevelle SS--and we could have it be a 396 or a 454 both of which were incredible engines for their time. The muscle car era was in and this car was one of the very strongest. Before we went to California for this "experimental" shoot we agreed upon the general positioning of the cars in the market place. This one was easy with the big stripes on the hood and the big available engines. I had the idea for the picture before we left Detroit and made the cut outs you see on the door. They represent the other muscle cars one might sit next to at a stop light and be tempted to out muscle. WWII had not been over all that long and it would be easy to recall the victory flags painted on the fighter aircraft of that war. We could even offer a package of decals to buyers of the car with the biggest engine. Warren Winstanley shot the picture for me and it was all I had imagined it could be. With the kind of things being done today for ads this idea may have had a chance to run but back then it was pushing the envelope a little too far. Nevertheless, I always felt you should go as far as possible in suggesting what the product could do especially when we were prevented from showing real high performance situations. 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Appreciate you sharing this. It is a part of history and should be preserved.

Anonymous said...

Really appreciate this ad and yes, it was pushing the envelope for the time. It's pretty sad in this new PC correct world were we cant even joke or mention anything about anybody because it's offensive and demeaning to them...
Get real I say, facts are facts and yes When I raced my old 68 Chevelle SS I felt like a fighter pilot blowing away.....well I don't want to offend... LOL....