the abbreviated reign of “neon” leon spinks

PANDERING WILL GET YOU NOWHERE 87
pended on continually jacking up consumption, car manufacturers re-
newed their efforts to convince married couples to trade up to fl ashier,
more expensive models—or better yet, to buy a second car for the lady of
the house. Detroit’s marketing men, who may not have been too familiar
with what their wives actually did all day while they were at work, apparently
figured that convenience and time-saving practicality, such as the
ability to shop for groceries during the day, or to pick up the kids from
school on a rainy afternoon, weren’t enough sales motivation. Instead,
they hit upon high fashion to lure glamour-starved housewives—or at
least, the ones in their imaginations—to drag their husbands to the showroom.
De cades later, a 1997 exhibit at New York’s Fashion Institute of
Technology would showcase some of their ploys. In 1952, for example,
Ford dealers offered a free Motor Mates coat that enabled a female driver
to coordinate her attire with the upholstery of her Crown Victoria sedan.
General Motors tried to boost sales by commissioning haute couture designers
such as Hubert de Givenchy, Elizabeth Arden, and Jacques Fath to
create gowns that complemented various Cadillac models. Chrysler wasn’t
to be outdone. In 1954, the glossy women’s magazine Vogue depicted cars
as fashion accessories, with a photo spread of models in Dior and Madame
Klari gowns inside a Dodge Royal sedan, and another model in a sweaterand-skirt
ensemble lounging inside a Pontiac Catalina, which the caption
described as “fashioned to win a lady’s favor.”
At car shows in the early 1950s, several manufacturers took the
idea a bit further, and displayed experimental “fem show cars” with colors
and fashion-oriented details designed to lure women buyers. The Pontiac
division of General Motors, for example, put bright pink upholstery in a
concept version of its Parisienne two-door sedan. At the 1954 auto shows
in Chicago and New York, Chrysler unveiled a pair of his-and-hers concept
vehicles—the bronze-and-black Le Comte for men, and the creamand-pink
La Comtesse for women. Beneath its platinum-colored brocatelle
seat inserts and other dainty flourishes, the La Comtesse was just a basic