Oldsmobile Once Came Up With “Youngmobile” For Ads Because Of Course They Did

I remember growing up, it was funny to note that Oldsmobiles – which were all over the place in those strange Pac-Man/Reagan-era times (named for the two most influential figures in American politics) – tended to be driven by, you know, old people. This was A Thing. And it may have been a thing before I remember it, since this brochure is from 1969, and is working hard to reach the kids and get them to like Oldsmobiles.

That’s a bit odd in some ways, as Oldsmobile’s lineup back then had a lot more appeal to non-olds. The Oldsmobiles I remember being so ubiquitous growing up were huge, stodgy Delta 88 sedans and Cutlass Supremes, trundling along slowly on these never-ending loops between a dowdy colonial-style house filled with couches with complicated bucolic scenes on them, a Presbyterian or Methodist church, and the ABC store.

Oldsmobiles that forced the company into making ads like this, reminding you that you’re not, in fact, buying your dad’s car:

But back in 1969? Things were very different. They had cars like the 442:

And the Cutlass S:

Also, here you can see the sort of strange conceit of this brochure, this cinema/movie theme, where they have a big old film still in the back and a bunch of dinner theater actors in costumes around the car. Like this one for the F-85, with some sort of aviator theme:

Are these actual movie stills, or just photos shot for this brochure? Were the youths in 1969 that into old movies like those being referenced here? I’m not really sure.

Also, what is the cinematic theme for the Toronado here? It sort of looks like a Bond film mixed with a Zorro film?

There’s other fascinating stuff in this brochure, too. Like what do you notice about this seat?

Aside from the interesting Inca-petroglyph-like embroidered motif in the seat, what caught my eye are all the seat belt sockets. Look how many there are, all lined up! That bench seat seats three, but I count five sockets? What the hell is going on?

I think what’s going on is that the lap belts and the shoulder belts each have their own tab/socket setup. I’m not sure I’ve actually ever seen these in action, because on 99% of cars in this era, all those seat belt sockets would have been shoved down in between the seat back and bench and forgotten about, forever.

Seat belts may not have really been given too much thought, but ashtrays sure as hell were, because GM understood that some things matter. Oldsmobile takes bold action solving the plague of ashtray confusion! A button! Problem solved!

Also interesting is the idea of “simulated” stereo. I’m not sure if that means anything beyond “more than one speaker” but I can’t argue that it adds “pleasing dimension.”

Look at this lineup, too. This may have been Oldsmobile’s golden age. They had a ton of cool cars – coupés, wagons, sedans, convertibles, lots of colors and beefy engines and exuberant styling – and what makes this all so ironic is that in the 1980s, when they were reminding everyone they no longer sold their father’s Oldsmobile, the sad truth was that the Oldsmobiles of their fathers were way, way cooler than anything being sold at that time.

Oh, Oldsmobile. You fool.