Welcoming the new car models... the way it was

I read over the weekend that the automobile manufacturers are introducing their 2005 models this month and that got me to thinking back to when that was a really big deal, not only for the dealers but for small communities, and maybe big cities.

Remember when we waited through the waning weeks of late summer, waiting for the announcement that the 1957 Chevrolet was to be introduced on such-and-such a day. Or the 1959 Ford? The 1955 Plymouth?

Each fall, usually starting in September, dealers would hold special showings, sometimes at night, complete with refreshments, inviting the public to see what was "all new for" whatever the coming year was. It was like a "coming out party," a debutante's ball. And, the dealers did a better job of keeping secret what the new models looked like than George W. did in keeping secret the date of the start of the Iraqi war! It hasn't been that long since Gainesville National Bank, now Wachovia, would hold a "new car show" each fall at it's Green Street location which is now Brenau University's Jacobs building. It was usually on a Saturday morning. Dealers would bring their choice models and put them on display. There would be refreshments and live radio broadcasts and the newspaper would do a story on the new car show.

Those were also the days when GM, Ford, Chrysler , etc. changed the way the cars looked every year. Remember? Think back. The 1955 Chevrolet didn't look like the 1956 model, and the '56 certainly did look the 1957 - which as we all know has become a classic. Ditto the 1955, '56, and '57 Fords, Plymouths, Mercurys, etc. And, that was also true of other model years. But, things changed, I guess, around the mid 60s, when each new model began basically looking like last year's, with minor often unnoticeable changes, a trend that continues today. I don't know but that may have been one of the reasons for the demise of those "coming out" parties.

Now, dealers, for lack of a better word, "sneak" them in with low-key announcements. You usually hear about the new models in a routine radio or TV ad or read about them in a newspaper or magazine ad.

I think I know when this all began to change.

Didn't Ford introduce the Mustang in mid-year, January 1965? Didn't it dub it the 1964 1/2 Mustang? I think so. And, I don't think the new car business - that facet of it, anyway - has been the same since.

Ken Stanford is the longtime News Director for WDUN AM 550, AM 1240 THE TICKET, MAJIC 1029, and, AccessNorthGa.com

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/11/148513