Driving in Style: Promo Cars of the 1950s and 60s

The innovative and flamboyant car designs of the 1950s are now iconic. To whet consumers’ appetites for the “latest thing,” the Big Three American automakers (General Motors, Ford and Chrysler) began to release new models with slightly redesigned features every year. To promote the new vehicles, dealers distributed highly-detailed plastic models or “promos.” Like their full-size versions, these colorful miniatures boasted streamlined tail fins and polished chrome grilles, reflections of the period’s Space Age design and general prosperity. Given to potential buyers and their children, these salesman’s samples are highly collectible today. Lent by Robert Reinhold and John O’Halloran, the promos in EAM’s presentation will be on view in the McCormick House, also designed in the 1950s.