Car personas (luxury, Buick, Chrysler, Mercury)

[rlrl]

we've probably heard people referring to old cars as "having character". In particular I always saw the early 70's GM makes as possessing special unique personal characteristics.

Focusing on the 73's, I saw the following characteristics:

Buick Electra 225: Aggressiveness, "nouveau riche" wealth (ie new wealth), cut throat competitiveness (the car looks like a shark, especially the 2 door), snootiness. tenesee remember that story i told you about that nasty kid whose dad had that red 73 Electra 225--the whole family was just as i described above!!

Olds 98: acquired old wealth, acquired money from inheritances (the car looks buttoned down and conservative)

Pontiac Grandville-i know this is your car tenesee. A car an athlete might buy. It has that jockish look about it. I learned to drive on a 78 Bonnevville, which was the top of the line Pontiac but there was still a sporty effect to the car rather than a luxury effect

Chev Caprice--designed for the all-American type who likes luxury because they honestly like it, not to show off, but thinks the Olds and Buick are too conspicous for their tastes. knows a Caprice not a status symbol, but a very glamorous looking car even if the nameplate is not associated with glamour

the other companies (Ford and Chrysler) didn't have such a definitive persona like the GM cars. For example, the New Yorker certainly looked aggressive, but it didn't really seem like it stood for anything in particular. the Fords and Mercurys were too bland for my tastes tho i liked the LTD's

[mkaresh]

I've always been fascinated by this topic. Unfortunately, too few people even inside the industry grasped it, and so such "personas" were neglected.