Volume 16, Number 3 · February 25, 1971
GM in Trouble I. THE VEGA
By Emma Rothschild
On September 10, four days before the United Automobile Workers struck General Motors, Chevrolet started selling a small and inexpensive car. The car had been the subject of the longest prenatal advertising campaign ever provided for an American commodity. In April, 1970, it was baptized in sky-writing over downtown Detroit: 'Chevrolet Names It Vega 2300.' Its engine was displayed on a velvet-covered pillar at the 1970 New York International Automobile Show. Advertisements for the Vega began to appear in the spring—'Coming Soon: the Little Car that Does Everything Well. Everything? Everything…. Bear With Us. Read Our Future Ads.' 'By the time it actually goes on sale,' Chevrolet announced, 'we want this totally new car to be as familiar to Americans as a member of their own family.'
Feature, 7786 words
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