Nostalgia & History > Penn Central on a Plymouth Ad

A cool video!


http://vid.carbuzz.com/do-you-think-old-car-commercials-are-better-than-todays/?utm_source=312

That's shot on the West Shore. First scene is coming out of the tunnel south of Kingston, NY and over the Rondout Creek trestle. Still operated by CSX today and LOTS busier than back then! Unfortunately, no U25B's anymore . . . (from a fan perspective, not a hogger's).

The end part might be on the Doodletown Bight, just south of the Bear Mountain Bridge.

With all those models and colors, you can see the road the Plymouth was heading... right down the drain with Penn Central.

The song sounds like Spanky & Our Gang-Sunday Will Never Be the Same!

I was sixteen, with a new 35mm camera and a family with a brand-new color TV with a rounded-corner picture tube.

I was so smitten by the fact of my "weird interest" being somehow mainstreamed on network TV that I waited, poised and camera at the ready, shutter on 1/30th sec and lens wide open, to shoot stills of the spot without visible raster lines. Of course, I had no idea when the spot was scheduled, other than guessing that it would play on the same favorite shows where I'd first seen it aired. So my successful slides required much watching and waiting. (Where are they? I may have pitched them for being trivial, a couple decades later.)

In 1969, it didn't seem cheesy at all. It seemed amazing. We take aerial shots like that for granted, a dime a dozen, but the logistics of that shot, those cars, and that train must have been heroic (and heroically expensive) for Plymouth's ad agency. 

Plymouth had a ways to go before tanking. Their salad years with muscle cars were still ahead, until the Gas Crisis put the kibosh on the 440 Six-Pack and others.

Cheesy now, says CarBuzz, where the spot is hosted in the above link. But a goosebump-raiser in 1969. I guess you had to be there...

~ BZ 

Yup, that Rondout Creek bridge shot has to have been shot with a helicopter, and remember there were no steady-cam gyro units available in those days.  So they had to have a day with good, calm air.  Wouldn't be surprised if they had to shoot several trains before they got nice steady footage.

And yes, both Chrysler and PC were headed for the same smug 1970s "we know everything" rathole.  Chrysler to be eaten alive by Japanese competitors, PC to be eaten alive by the domestic trucking industry.

Nice to see that both survived, eventually.

I agree with Notch16.  While the Chrysler corporation was headed for a downfall, the 1966-1972 period was notable for its muscle car era, it was a halcyon period for Plymouth and many other car brands. 

Some of the most collectible cars are from that era. It wasn't until the last of the 1970s that Chrysler went under.

As for Penn Central, its hit a point in time where everything about it seems to be nostalgic, even the standing derailment! :)

Notch16 Wrote:

> In 1969, it didn't seem cheesy at all. It seemed
> amazing. We take aerial shots like that for
> granted, a dime a dozen, but the logistics of that
> shot, those cars, and that train must have been
> heroic (and heroically expensive) for Plymouth's
> ad agency. 
> Cheesy now, says CarBuzz, where the spot is hosted
> in the above link. But a goosebump-raiser in 1969.
> I guess you had to be there...

That was my first thought- what an ambitious commercial. By 1969 the practice was in decline, but time was that the new car models were rolled out with all the drama and flair that the advertising dept. could muster. I remember actual 30-minute TV specials to showcase the new model year.

That was back when the actress / singer  Dinah Shore was associated with Chevrolet. Sang their song, drove their car, hosted their TV shows.

Even at that date, it wouldn't always be possible to get locomotives and a caboose painted up Penn Central.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/08/15 19:31 by wabash2800.

Lots of work went into that commercial. One the loco's were both PC and clean as was the caboose. All the tri levels had clean new PC heralds on the sides . Two all the cars had their window stickers removed and wheelcovers installed . Wheelcovers were shipped in the trunk back then and dealer installed. Neat to see the cars out in the open. --  Ken