1955 Chevrolet Corvette Ad, "What do you mean, 'Practical'?"
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Artifact Overview
The automobile is a paradox -- a practical tool that plays host to both human needs and fantasies. Like car consumers, automotive ads seem to land somewhere between fantasy and reality, emotions and rationality. Many ads incorporate apparent opposites: fantasy can sell practicality, and vice versa. Sometimes the car has disappeared completely -- an emotional appeal prompts us to complete the ad.
Artifact Details
Artifact
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Date Made
April 1955
Subject Date
April 1955
Place of Creation
Collection Title
Location
By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center
Object ID
91.303.289
Credit
From the Collections of The Henry Ford. Gift of Henry Austin Clark, Jr.
Material
Paper (Fiber product)
Color
Multicolored
Dimensions
Height: 11.625 in
Width: 8.5 in
Inscriptions
Title at top reads:
What do you mean, "practical"?
Text reads in part: The Corvette is not a "practical" car...any more than a sailboat is practical, or a thoroughbred horse, or a pair of skis. It is a sports car, and by its size and nature it is limited to a select group of motorists. ... What is extravagant about a car that rewards its owner throughout every minute with rock-solid stability...that clings to the pavement like a postage stamp, with razor-sharp 16-to-1 steering ratio and the firecracker reflexes of a polo pony? What suits the expert driver better than a deep bucket seat, a man-size steering wheel, and, underfoot, the crackling 150 horsepower of the Corvette's triple-carburetor "Blue-Flame" Six? What else lifts his heart like the cream-smooth thrust of the special Powerglide transmission, the skyrocket acceleration, the beartrap grip of the Corvette's husky 11-inch brakes? ...
Handwritten in blue ink at bottom of page: New Yorker 4/19/1955
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