Description
VW Bug – Black and white 9 1/2″ x 12 1/4″ ad that tries to dispell the illusion that a car that looks this small has to be small inside. The majority of the ad is a light-background picture with a faraway VW Bug in the upper left corner. The headline says “Think small” and the text discusses specifics that make the small-looking size tolerable. When you wonder what it will hold it explains by stating that “18 New York University students have gotten into a sun-roof VW, a tight fit”. Knowing that not too many people want to be driven to church with their face pressed deeply into Aunt Hilda’s armpit it follows this statement with “The Volkswagen is sensibly sized for a family. Mother, father and three growing kids suit it nicely”. It then talks about economy claiming “close to 50 miles per gallon”. It logically says that “You won’t do near that” admitting that professional drivers were at the wheel for those journeys. It does offer to send you some of the “canny trade secrets” if you write to the address given. It talks about having as much leg room (up front) as other cars in spite of being 4 feet shorter. It then talks about how inexpensive it is tossing out prices for a front fender and a cylinder head before mentioning that the whole car cost $1,565. It does admit that this price did not include a radio or a side-view mirror but it did include pretty much everything else. And finally it claimed that “In 1959 about 120,000 Americans thought small and bought VWs. Think about it.”
Source: February 22, 1960 Life magazine.
