Ford Country Squire

National Geographic 1964

     Look at that woody!  Starting off our Monday with some good old-fashioned family transport, this Country Squire is a beautiful example of the wood-clad cars of America's history.  

     Some things to note about this ad:

• Counting the kids on the swings, there's 15 children in this picture.  No matter how big the car is, that's too many to safely move in a car.  They must have been stacked three deep in the trunk!
• And no parents.  Which kid drove them here?  My vote is on brown-plaid in the middle.
• That's an awful playground.  Not even a slide. Pfft.

     I like also that Ford emphasizes how heavy the car is.  It's logical as a stronger, tougher car is usually indicative of a safer car (obviously the point they're trying to make) but nowadays you see manufacturers going to great lengths to cut weight in an effort to improve gas mileage.  Not so, in 1964, when gas was cheap and engines large.  

Ad text:

     How long a life your car body has depends on how solidly it's built.  If it's not strong -- wear and tear, squeaks and rattles.  That's why all  Ford Motor Company cars give you so much extra reinforcing.

    Take the roof those youngsters are perched on.  Three separate steel braces make it solid to sit on (or ride under). And those doors are built like a safe.  They're steel inside and out.  Underneath, too, extra heavy construction keeps the body more solid and silent.

    And more life is built into Ford Motor Company cars wherever you look.  It's all part of a plan to give you today's best-built cars.  A plan where engineering designs the quality of the car.  Manufacturing precision puts it there.  And severe testing sees that it stays there.