Children Of Fury: Cold Start

Car advertising has gone through a lot of strange periods and affectations, but I think one of the most consistently peculiar ones involves the use of kids, and how they always seem to make them feel just, you know, weird. This 1970 Plymouth Fury brochure is a fantastic example of this, compounding the already considerable awkwardness of stiffly posing kids in artificial tableaus by having them dress up in makeup and adult clothing. Sure, kids play this way all the time, but do they usually look like this? Why does this feel so, I don’t know, off?

Is it because of this kid’s expression?

I mean, maybe. I don’t feel comfortable with that kid around. He’s planning something. Just look at him.

Those Furies were striking-looking cars, though, The “fuselage” body type Chrysler was using in this era was sleek and modern, and in the right lights and at the right angles you can see the Syd Meade-like look that inspired these cars. The front bumper was a “loop” type, which meant it covered the whole face of the car, with the grille, containing also the hidden headlamps, nestled inside. These things had some real imposing, almost sinister presence, and the “Fury” name was fitting.

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I also want to point out that the ad copy makes special note of the lane-changing turn signal feature, which was really just you slightly lifting the indicator lever.

I’m not even certain the lever design actually needed a change to do this? Maybe? But can’t you really do this with pretty much any indictor lever?