Well, maybe not exactly weird, but there certainly are some odd choices, at the very least. Like the picture up there, showing off the decadent luxury of the interior of a Buick Riviera. Who sits like that? And how much does that woman like that armrest? Because from here it looks like she likes that armrest a lot. Like, more than almost anything else. She’s sitting on the ground, oddly close to the car, leaning here face up against the door card faux wood insert and caressing the leather of the armrest, her fingers gliding sensually over its liver-brown expanse. And then dude is there, just watching and chuckling, possibly in amusement, possibly in arousal.
Are they on a beach? In a desert? Was this a planned stop, or did they just need to pull over so that armrest could be really enjoyed?
If the dude moves, will that door just swing open more from the lady’s weight and she’ll flop to the ground? I really have no idea.
Is this woman dancing? This looks like it was shot mid-dance. Did she just come screeching to a halt by this field of wildflowers so she could dance away the pain or joy or hunger or whatever?
I do like how many of the interior shots give a little bit of story by including some activity that one can see, blurrily, outside the door that’s been left ajar. Usually it’s innocuous fun stuff, like this guy surrounded by six or so dogs. Then there’s this one:
Where the dude with doggos felt like something we were supposed to see, happily, this feels like we’re catching a glimpse of something sinister, something we were not intended to notice. That frogman’s gait looks like the determined stalk of a hunter, and what is that long rod-like thing he’s holding in his hand – a harpoon? This feels like we’re seeing a trained assassin sent out to commit some manner of underwater murder. And if he sees us, we’re next, so keep your head down!
These shots of cars in improbable places with no clear way that they got there are a car brochure staple. Why did this guy drive out into that dead-looking field of some kind of dead crop? Is it sorghum? Where are the tire tracks? And I just now saw the dog there! Did you see the dog?
I love this image: red, engines, people. These are four of the five engines offered by Buick in ’64, and I don’t fully understand the relationship of the people chosen to the engines, but I love it. Is the guy with the pool cue contemplating that V8? Is Breakfast at Tiffany’s there looking at me? Are those two at engine prom? This is such a wonderful and strange way to present these.
Also, read this copy here:
I’ve never read a brochure where the word “others” so clearly means “some poor bastard.”
The brochure also just has some fantastic illustrations of cars over white backgrounds, which I love as someone who has to make images for this website. These are gold – rights-free (because they’re from a manufacturer’s brochure) car images that are easy to pull from a background – they’re gifts!
In the same category is this dash image:
I’m mostly including it here because I know I’ll need it later and now I can find it easy, already uploaded! Work smarter, not harder, friends!
At 72 I just learned at a local classic auto meet that a Buick Electra 225 meant it was 225 inches long.
Hate to break it to you, but if you’re driving a big Buick in the 1960s, there are definitely people “beneath you” to load your trunk in the rain. The bellman at your fancy hotel, for example.
But heck, even if you’re driving a 1959 Rambler in 1965, the “bag boy” from the grocery store is loading your groceries in the trunk. Now tip him a quarter.
Three out of four Buick engines have alternating erections. This happens when a pretty lady rubs an armrest.
The lady on the ground holding on to the door of the Riviera is clearly drunk – The guy is looking down at her in amusement.
The next Riviera lady is clearly flipping her hair back – because the wildflowers are to be savored, like her Riviera.
Oh, and the handsome man nonchalantly leaning against his Wildcat?
He’s clearly awaiting the local hunky Farmer for a rendezvous – which we couldn’t really talk about in 1964, but could only allude to – so it’s nice that the Farmer brought his dog to run out and greet his friend before the men get down to doing their manly things.
That’s a lovely dashboard. Where are the vents? Maybe because I’m in Arizona, I like air blowing on me at all times while driving.
If these Buicks are like my Corvair, they probably have fresh air vents in the kick panels ahead of each front door in the footwells, with a little push/pull knob to open and close them. A/C would have been either a factory or dealer-installed option; a factory system might have had the vents and controls somewhat integrated into the dash, but a dealer-installed system would be a separate unit hanging underneath.
Dashboard vents on standard GM fullsizers are 12 months in the future.
That green 2door is a fine looking slab of absurdly large automobile. Mmmm-hmmmm.
Those engine pics are terrific – they remind me of how auto-makers used to be proud of what propelled their machines, encouraging one to open up the hood of their road-going petro-barge just to stare at it in awe.
Nowadays, should they bother, a person is greeted by a swath of plastic which may as well say “keep out”.
I came across another odd Buick brochure photo last night, I was talking to my boyfriend about the 72 Skylark Sun Coupe, and one of the photos I found online of a Buick brochure shows the Sun Coupe, which has its roof open while a woman is sitting on the seat back, she has her head out the roof while holding an apple pierced by an arrow, and a guy behind the car holding a crossbow. In the far background a guy appears to be staring them down. I wasn’t sure what that scene has to do with a Sun Coupe, I would think a convertible would serve better for drive by archery.
“Footloose owners will find the cavernous trunk especially to their liking. It takes a mighty load to fill this one.”
Each photo can correspond with a song
Top Picture: Queen- I’m In Love With My Car
2nd Pic: The Classics IV: Spooky
3rd: Pink Floyd-Dogs
4th: Ed Sheeran-Dive
5th: Pink Floyd-Seamus
She’s listening to the empty beer can the assembly line worker had to ditch because the foreman was coming.
“Here, put your ear up to the door while I shake it. See if you can figure out where that rattle is coming from. Yes, I know it’s a brand new car. Shut up. It’s 1964 and this is a Buick for god’s sake. You can’t expect everything to be work right. At least it’s not British.”
Dang, that armrest!
The women in the top two pictures have clearly dropped acid.
Dog man might be taking a ride with Timothy Leary, too. You can imagine him tripping along then seeing the dogs and thinking, “Oh, puppies,” whereupon he slams on his brakes and dashes over leaving the car in the middle of the road with the door hanging open. open.
Speargun Kelly appears to be wading into the water that’s splashing over his calves. The surf also looks to be running right up to his car with its open door. Can’t tell if anything nefarious has happened because it’s hard to see blood on black leather.
Big Red has backed into the wheat field and is taking a break while contemplating his next crop circle pattern and wondering whether farmer’s dog is going to bite him.
second woman is not dancing; just brushing her hair aside to see what she just stepped in
Just think Bob. If this door wasn’t in the way, it could be your lucky day.
Or maybe not…
Put your ear close enough to the ’64 Riviera’s door panel and you can hear the ocean.
Along the lines of Torch’s improbable places observation, the best part of the frogman pic is that according to it (check out the churning water), the car is parked in the surf. With the door open.
I think the universe is telling me I need a 1st-gen Riviera. I had just mentioned it in the “what car makes you feel funny inside” post, and here it is again!
“You asked for it and we listened. We designed the new Buick Electra hardtop with the sportsman in mind. The class-leading trunk now swallows a whole gross of harpoons!”
“I love this image: red, engines, people.”
I don’t know why but these images have big “70s board game” energy.
A ’64 Electra 225 2-door coupe, or a ’64 Wildcat 2-door hardtop are up there for my desire for my next fun car. Unfortunately, my garage is too small for either.
My garage is also too small for a ’60 Invicta 2-door hardtop, or ’60 Electra 225 2-door hardtop which would be next in line.
I need a bigger garage.
“I need a bigger garage” this is the correct conclusion. Man, I love 60’s Buicks! My absolute favorite is the ‘65 Riviera with those clamshell headlight covers. The interiors were awesome, too!
My ’65 Suburban barely fits. I’ve got chock-blocks to stop me perfectly, then I have to shimmy along the side of it to get out.
Any working on it requires backing it out into the driveway.
Regarding the engine people…
Pool cue guy is a flashy rogue, hence the chrome air cleaner and shiny valve covers.
Posh lady is accustomed to luxurious space, so her engine takes up more room but has a more subdued color palette.
Business man wants a sporty, sleek model so his engine is more compact.
The newly-married people at the end are just starting out and can afford only a smaller engine with no AC. The husband might be the poor bastard who is loading the remotely-opened trunks on the nicer cars.
Please explain to me the difference between the Electra 4-door hardtop and the 4-door sedan … which has a solid roof?
And talk about sinister – the Electra 2-door sport coupe is basically inviting someone to stash a body in the trunk. “It takes a mighty load to fill this one.” Especially for those “footloose” owners – what does that even mean?
Hard top = no B pillar and frameless glass. Wide open expanse with windows down,
The sedan had a B pillar and framed windows – dowdy in comparison.
Ah. Used to seeing that on coupes (w123 300CD comes to mind immediately). Good to know.
Yup. I like that the picture of the guy with the dogs and one with the trained aqua-assassin both place the items of visual interest in the middle to emphasize the B-pillar-less nature of the cars.
“SEE? If you had B-pillars they would spoil your view!”
The rear C-pillar is also far larger on the hardtop, while the sedan has little quarter windows and narrow pillars there.
The kids these days just don’t know about hardtops, a signature body style that has just about disappeared.
To be fair, depending on the brand, they could use completely different terms for the same thing, and some even included window counts to separate even more.
You had things like 4-door 4-window hardtops, 4-door 6-window hardtops, 2-door 4-window hardtops, 2-door holiday coupes, 4-door holiday sedans… you basically have to look at all the options that existed for the specific model that interests you, and then learn what each variation actually meant. Even then, when you try to Google image search them, loads of them are labeled wrong so you’ll get confused as fuck.
Heck, just look at all the variants for the first generation (’59-’60) Electras…
4-door 4-window hardtop4-door 6-window sedan2-door hardtop (not available on 225)2-door convertible (225 only)4-door 6-window Riviera hardtop (225 only)5-door 5-window ambulance (225 only)
The no B pillar look is just incredible. It’s easily the sexiest detail in a car
You beat me to it. Ominous is all over this brochure.
Watching a History Channel thing on the origin of the automobile last night and right there in it up popped Torch! Nice.
I caught that last week, I think, and heard the unmistakable voice and stopped whatever I was doing
Right. Torch! ,I said, much to my wife’s confusion.
Oh … and I wear New Balance not just for the fashion statement they are but also because they reliably have the 13 wide I require.
Asics and Skechers as well. And Allen Edmonds.
I think it’s funny you called the harpoon fisherman a “trained assassin”.
He is, to fish.
Good point…
Well, “Thunderball” came out around this time…
The book in 1961, the film in 1965.
Also, was he in such a hurry to spear his quarry that he couldn’t have closed the car door? Good grief, his Wildcat’s battery will be dead by the time he gets back!
I can imagine a narrator in a kid’s show saying “Jeffery loves impaling fish for food, so much he left his door open!”