Inspiration: 60+ Vintage Automobile Ads
We all love vintage design – it’s a great source of inspiration, and we all enjoy seeing how technology has developed over the decades. I have collected and compiled a huge (62 advertisements in total) showcase of vintage car magazine advertisements and posters.
Many styles and trends have been used throughout the years in car advertisement design, from simple black and white illustrations to beautiful watercolor paintings and great photography to clear, bold typography.
The advertisements are displayed by the car make/brand in alphabetical order. What’s your favorite?
Audi
This is what the Audi is all about (1973)
Audi CoupŽ B2 (1980)
Audi (1984)
Audi (1985)
Austin
Austin Automobile Parade (1960)
Austin Mini 1275 GT (1971)
Austin 1300 (1971)
BMW
BMW 02 (1974)
BMW 5er (1980)
BMW 320 E21 (1980)
Kamei BMW E21 (1980)
BMW 3er E21 (1981)
Cadillac
Emerald Cadillac Phaeton (1927)
Cadillac – Unchallenged for Quality (1946)
Cadillac Automobile Ad (1953)
Eldorado Cadillac (1956)
1970 Cadillac (1970)
Chevrolet
Chevrolet Six (1930)
Chevrolet – The Hot One’s Even Hotter (1953)
Chrysler
PowerStyle Chrysler (1956)
Chrysler ’68 (1968)
Chrysler Dodge Challenger (Unknown)
Citroen
Citroen ID19 (Unknown)
Dodge
Dodge Dart (1964)
Dodge Charger (1968)
Dodge Polara 4DR (1969)
Dodge Adventurer Pickup Truck/Camper (1969)
Fiat
Fiat (1966)
Fiat (1966)
Fiat (1967)
Ford
Ford Tudor (1930)
Ford V8 (1937)
Ford Fairlane Convertible (1966)
1967 Ford (1967)
Ford Mustang (1978)
Ford Mustang (1983)
GMC
GMC Trucks and Trailers (1936)
Jaguar
Jaguar XK-E (1962)
Jaguar Leyland (1978)
Lincoln
Lincoln (1926)
Maserati
Maserati Merak (1975)
Mercury
Mercury Comet (1966)
MG
MG MGA (1962)
MG ‘Some Day’ (Unknown)
Morgan
Morgan ‘A Winning Team’ (Unknown)
Morris
Morris Mini (1967)
Nash
Nash (Unknown)
Plymouth
Plymouth Fury (1968)
Pontiac
Pontiac Silver Streak (1935)
Porsche
Porsche 911 Sportomatic (1967)
Porsche 911 2.4 (1971)
Porsche (1986)
Renault
Renault R-10 (1967)
Rover
Rover 2000 (1965)
Toyota
Toyota Corolla SR-5
Triumph
Triumph (1973)
Valiant
Valiant (1962)
Volkswagon
VW – Think It Over (1964)
VW – One Of The Nice Things (1964)
VW – Has The VW Fad Died Out? (1966)
VW – Strong Bodies (1967)
VW Golf GTI (1983)
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By Callum Chapman
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Callum, this is an amazing collection. Nice work
is it possible that VW still uses the same layout? lol, very nice
and lots of german ads.. hehe
Some things never change
yeah. very nice ^^ the font is the same. the layout has changed a little. but not much :>
like most of them. nice collection!
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
You spelled Volkswagen wrong
BMW 3er E21 (1981) is really looking modern
great collection mate.
Callum, its nice collection…Great Work.
This post is making me think of the Dudley Moore movie “crazy people” from the 80s. And the Volvo ad in it with the tag line “it’s boxy, but it’s good” etc,
Great movie. A must watch for anyone in the Advertising/Design field.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_People
I’ll have to keep an eye open for that film! Sounds like it could be a laugh
I love retro art. and this post is a great collection!
Nice collection! It makes me realize how spoiled we are with computers!
So true, I thought the exact same thing.
OMG this is so nice…really appreciate it..an archive..nostalgic especially if you like cars..thanks
Just amazing.
When you look now, compare the new ones with this old ones.
I like the old ones better.
Even if this was way back, the designers did a great job !
Nice, using my scanned pics but please online link back to my original flickr scans and do not save files on here. (-> example: VW GTI Scan)
Thank You
Thank you, a fine trip down memory lane for an old fart.
Nice!
Ending on the GTI…. forever going to be remembered as “the Graphic Designer’s” car
Nice finds. Fiat really liked their car models, huh? haha
Haha looks that way
Now they all do! 
Fiat is outstanding
voi americani che cazzo ne sapete di design??
haha in mexico u still find those taxis i got a pic here http://www.compunauta.net/blog/pics/madgus/www/153.jpg
actually they were green before but goverment made them change to those colors like 1 year ago
Wow, that’s awesome! I love the old VW bugs! Taxis aren’t too big in the UK (only black cabs in London) but I wish they were all replaced with beetles!
I love the british black cabs tho! They’re so spacious in the back seats, always seem to be clean and you can face the other passengers (at least that’s what they were like when I was in Glasgow a few years back)
Here in canada all our taxis are just boring old sedans for the most part that don’t tend to be very well maintained…
I like all the Fiat and Dodge ads that use the hot women to sell ‘em!
Qeul est l’intérêt ? Nul à chier ! … Tuts + suce de plus en plus. Ce site était bien c’est devenu de la bouse !
The Chevrolet – The Hot One’s Even Hotter (1953) is actually a 1956. Sorry, I’m a big tri-5 fan.
Great stuff overall though. My great grandfather drew ads for Packard and Cadillac back in the 20′s-’40′s.
Drawing cars has really become a lost art..love the details..
have u seen chip foose`s drawings?
He’s exactly what I think about when it comes to car drawings–that man is a serious artist!
a million thank you’s for posting this one.
Love these vintage ads. The care that used to be taken when everything was done by hand and without the advantages of computers is simply amazing.
Absolutely gorgeous. The VW ones wouldn’t look out of place in a newspaper today
great post. The good olds days!!!!
Hey, really nice! Btw, the Citroën ID19 was in 1959 :]
Great Article, Don’t see too many of these around. Gotta Love the Classics.
Great post. MG ‘Some Day’ is very cool.
Great collection. I have some interior decorator magazines from 1970, and one The Golden Age of Advertisting book from Taschen, there I saw this kind of ads.
I realy love the album books.
Incredible. It amazes me how much time and effort must have gone into creating those. Nowadays we could do those posters a little easier thanks to the computer power we had. Props to those guys though for paving the way and giving design such an incredible foundation.