7 of our Favorite Automotive Slogans
Certain slogans stick with us long after the brand they represent has moved on to other campaigns. In some cases, we remember that earworm or tagline long after the brand itself has been put out to pasture. Whether they were associated with a catchy song, cut to the chase in ways others simply didn’t, or just found us at an impressionable moment, each of us has a favorite. Here are a few that came up in the Hagerty Media group chat this week. Let us know what automotive slogans you’d add to the list!
Drive it like you hate it
The Volvo 122/Amazon had a slogan “Drive it Like You Hate It.” These were stylish cars but underneath, the powertrains were fairly rugged and agricultural. 122s helped build Volvo’s reputation for durability and longevity, as well as a certain cheekiness. That these cars became popular rally machines should come as little surprise. —Eric Weiner
La Ga Rah
Win on Sunday, Sell on Monday! But if we’re going with brand slogans, I’ve gotta go with “Like A Rock” and the accompanying song by Bob Seger. This ’80s rock n’ roll ballad was the perfect score for a Silverado taking a load of bricks to the bed in slow-mo. Side note: As a kid, I thought he was singing a nonsense phrase, “La-ga-rah,” which gave my parents a good chuckle whenever I sang it incorrectly.
Probably more of a saying rather than a slogan, but “ran when parked” is also great. I get its use to describe a vehicle’s current condition when sold, but it’s not that helpful of a statement. I find “wasn’t under two inches of dirt and mouse poop when parked” just as useful. —Cameron Neveu
Classy rhymes
I’ve always liked Jaguar’s slogan from the 1960s: Grace, Space, and Pace. Those three words so succinctly encapsulated what the brand was about in its heyday, which is a far cry from where things stand today. It’s hard to imagine, without much snark, what a reboot of that tagline would be right now. I will confess, however, that unless I see the slogan in print, I generally forget the order of the words, although it tends to work no matter which way they fall, which I also appreciate. —Stefan Lombard
It’s what they build
When I was maybe five or six, I told my dad we needed a Pontiac. He asked why. “Because they build excitement!” was my response. I was not at all impressionable as a youth. Incidentally, my first car was a ’92 Firebird. —Eddy Eckart
It’s a Mirage
As much as I appreciate these (and every other slogan I remember), I suddenly had a revelation. Something happened so suddenly that I was blown away by angelic voices singing such a perfect slogan that I was suddenly taken to a special place.
A special place with obvious choices. And boy, did it ever happen suddenly! —Sajeev Mehta
Astute readers will note that this is the second week in a row in which a Mitsubishi Mirage has been featured in a list. It’ll be the last for a while. We promise. —Ed.
Ask the man…
Most slogans come from marketing departments, carefully honed over months to achieve the desired connotation. Over a century ago, marketing departments for automakers were non-existent. Ward Packard and his brother created Packard in 1899, and a request for a catalog soon arrived at their headquarters. With nothing printed to fulfill the request, Packard had a note returned that simply said “Ask the man who owns one.” What better sales pitch is there than an impartial third party? Don’t take the word of the person trying to sell you something, listen to the person who’s already made the leap. It was a line that stuck and came to define the company. —Kyle Smith
The best
Rolls-Royce’s “The Best Car in the World” is straight to the point, whether it was ever true or not. —Andrew Newton
Like a Rock was really made by the use of Bob Segers song. Evey years later we all have to admit you think Chevy trucks.
“If your friends could see you now”
Buick
“Come On Baby/ Buick Light My Fire” Buick – The Doors
When they build a better car, Buick will build it…
When better automobiles are built, Buick will build them.
When better women are made, Faber men will make them!
(Animal House, in case you’re wondering)
Volkswagen – “Think Small”
“Lemon”
FAHRVERGNUGEN
RANGER ROVER the BEST 4X4 by FAR
That’s – Fart Fig Newtons
FARFROMPUKEN
I’m not a BMW fan as I have had to work on too many. But their Ultimate Driving Machine slogan really transformed BMW and the luxury car market in American. Give credit to the man who gave Lutz that slogan as it sold a crap load of cars.
Safety Fast. MG
That is the one I thought of.
Me too.
“Festina Lente”
Reality, The Ultimate Workorder. They really are fun to work on. NO.
The Ultimate Wallet Depleting Machine!
In my opinion that title is reserved for Citroen. It could have had the slogan “you won’t need friends if you own a Citroen-you will have lots of them called mechanics”.
BMW….”Big Money Wasted”
I am 80 years old and the proud owner of a 2013 M3 and a 2017 M5x with zero problems. After owning 16 different cars the M3 and M5 are truly the Ultimate Driving Machines.
So clearly none of your BMW’s have over 100,000 miles – that is their expiration date. owned 4 BMWs… “Ask the Man Who owns one”.
I second that. Could not keep up with the constant repairs required on my 3 series. One thing after another, and that car was babied, so at 98k miles she had to go. The only folks talking about BMW and reliability in the same breath are the ones leasing brand new ones under warranty.
Try the TV commercial for the 1966 Pontiac GTO where “the ultimate driving machine” was first used.
A funny note on Pontiacs slogan. The Corvette engineer asked a Pontiac engineer about the Fiero’s driving dynamics in the snow. The Pontiac engineer responded Pontiac Builds Excitement.
I can personally attest to the excitement driving a Fiero in the snow can be. Great traction getting moving not much steering. Best toss a sandbag in the frunk.
Sounds like a Corvair
Or a Beetle – all 3 of mine over the years. Not so much braking in the snow either, although pretty good on dry pavement.
You didn’t need snow to get excitement from a Fiero. Any wet road would do.
See the USA in your Chevrolet
Can’t disagree with the list, but how about some of the worst slogans? In 1976 or so Oldsmobile, reacting to the imminent downsizing, began pandering to their perceived market by touting the land yacht 98s and 88s with, “Oldsmobile’s a Real Car for Real People like You.” Several years later we were inundated with, “This is NOT your Father’s Oldsmobile.”
Imagine that – Admen with no shame.
Might not have been the same admen.
’67 Mercury… The Man’s Car
If Hagerty had a thumbs-up option like they should in a comments section, I’d give this a thumbs-up.
I’m second owner of a 1978 Cutlass Supreme, looks like a stock grocery getter, hiding under the hood is 400hp LS, backed with Tremec 5 speed and 9″ posi. Definitely NOT my father’s Oldsmobile
In my youth, I had a number of “loves” – and two of those were Chevrolets and Dinah Shore, so naturally “See the USA in your Chevrolet” is stuck in my memory and will never come out!
Man-o-man that memory bell just clanged me into consciousness…
The Chevy add “See The USA” had a local connection here in the South Seattle area.
In my third grade class at Gregory Heights Elementary there was a classmate named Gary Bloomquist. Gary wrote the lyrics for that ad and a rep from GM or somebody ( this third grader wasn’t into the details) came to our class and bestowed upon Gary a check for $50.
Gary lives on…
That’s the one of the ones that was missed! ‘Sees the USA in your Chev-ro-let’ !
Yes ……. That’s the first one that came to my mind !
Me too
The commercials were in Black and White, ahh the aging process.
When I was born the world was black and white
The cast of “Glee” made a Super Bowl commercial with it. Then Chevy abandoned it again. Big mistake if you ask me.
You saved me from responding!
My grandfather had a Chevrolet and Oldsmobile dealership in the 40s and 50s when Americans were using their cars to travel and see this great nation. “…America is asking you to call…. America’s the greatest land of all” was the theme song of my childhood!
Don’t forget about the “USA-1” slogan and license plates. I have those plates on my 71 Chevy C-20, my 62 Chevy C-10 and my 66 Chevelle SS. Funny how now I get asked if that is a political slogan or something to do with Chevrolet. Uhg….
This is the one I first thought of – “See the USA in your Chevrolet” had to scroll down to finally see the post on this slogan. I would love to see this commercial again – and Dinah Shore! Classic – true Classic!
Dub- Seriously? I know Dinah from ‘the golden age of television shows’ and the like but… hey to each his own. I must disqualify from the running however. It’s more like a jingle, you absolutely have to sing it . While for instance in roughly the same time frame- ” Ford , The Wagon Master ” fits, “See the world today.. ” belongs in another category. Few do jingles anymore, now they buy the marketing rights to someone else’s song. Like- ‘ Like A Rock ‘ which I always thought was funny. It’s a sappy ballad that says, I used to be tough but now I’m not. Okay. Are you sure that’s the message you want to send? Kind of like ‘ Send in the Clowns’ . That overly dramatic feel sorry for me type of song. Yuck. ( But Mel Tormes , the golden fog , swing version is worth a listen.) Porsche has consistently produced the best slogans. From ” There is no substitute” to today’s “Carpe Secundum” and at least two dozen others. I do like Jags new ” Copy Nothing ” but ” The Art of Performance ” had a very simple memorable something to it.
Blah, blah, blah…
dude seriously!
Wasn’t Ward Bond the Wagon Master?
My 1st laugh of the day – thanks !
“Wagons…HO!!!”
I thought Mel was the velvet fog.
You got it right. Also drove a Jaguar.
(ps) If I were an ad exec. I’d pay Samantha Fish whatever she asked to use ‘Bulletproof’ in an off road truck commercial. And ‘Bulletproof’ would be the slogan.
Until you got sued by an ambulance chaser and an owner (likely involved in nefarious activities) who found out, they weren’t bulletproof.
Ask Elon about that. Some fool with a Cybertruck believed his lies about the truck being bullet proof and fired his 9mm at the tailgate. The video is good, audio makes it great.
I’m with you Paul, Samantha Fish is all that! Saw her do this song at the Tampa Bay Blues Fest.
Back in the early eighties , the Chevrolet slogan ” the heartbeat of America” was further enhanced by NASCAR teams running Chevrolets to ” Chevy Thunder ..the Heartbeat of America ” with pictures of a pack of Chevies leading the field … what an awesome ring that had to it
“At the sign of the Cat” complete w/ a cougar’s roar, ran for Cougar for decades and remains one of the longest lasting ad campaigns.
Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet!
Reme,bering “Chrysler Corporation has the last word – Valiant!”
Not too many years ago, Toyota’s TV ads sang “You Don’t Own Me”. I wrote to Toyota and noted that contrary to what their advertising said, in only 4 more payments, I would indeed own my Prius. Not that I believe I had any real impact, but that ad soon disappeared from sight.
Sorry, none of the above.
“Get your hands on a Toyota- you’ll never let go”
A friend commented “Yeah, cause they put glue on the steering wheel!”
Don’t forget about the Lexus tag lime.. “The relentless pursuit of perfection”
Mercedes-Benz’ slogan was “The World’s Finest Motor Car” And, at that time, they built the world’s finest motor car. I have no idea who does, now, but I don’t think it’s Mercedes-Benz.
“Here comes the Judge” from Pontiac, taking the line from the TV show.
The Judge can be bought