This brings back memories. At the end of March, 1955, at 21 years old, I got my honorable discharge after two years in the US Army. Prior to being drafted, I had been a clerk pushing papers in the HQ offices of Lipton Tea Co in Hoboken. When I went to ask for my job back I was still in uniform because I didn't have civilian clothes. I needed a job badly because I had become a father only a few weeks earlier. They gave me the job of salesman calling on grocery stores in Queens, NYC. In addition to a man's salary, a very generous bonus plan, full medical benefits and the accumulated pay for the three weeks vacation that I was credited for while in service, my job came with a brand new 1955 Chevrolet. As soon as my wife was strong enough - and the baby was healthy - we drove down to Washington DC and visited all the historic spots. Yes, it was stick shift, no chrome, no air (I don't know of any cars that had a/c) and I was forbidden to have a radio in the car. For all their generosity, the company was afraid their salesmen would sit in the car and listen to baseball games instead of make the 15 grocery store visits required every day. But the company allowed me to use the car without limits, paying gas, upkeep and insurance, as long as I honestly recorded and paid back 2 cents per personal mile. It ran beautifully and they replaced it each year with a new Chevy (56 and 57) until I left the company at 24 years old for an even better job that paid even more money and provided a top of the line Plymouth V8. By then I'd also bought a new 3-bedroom house on 1/4 acre in New Jersey, no money down, no closing costs, 3% 30-year fixed mortgage (thanks to the still generous post-WW2 GI Bill). Speaking as a high school graduate, I have to say how underprivileged young people are nowadays who do not have these opportunities.
Do you think that is why some young people hate America today? Right now I’m 75, a Vietnam War veteran and I’m not much of a fan of present day America. Thanks to the current president. FJB
@@glennso47 would I be fair if I assumed that you are unhappy because you worked at precinct level to help get your candidate on the local ballot and then turn out your neighbors for the primary and for the general? If you did that, I would agree that you have a perfectly reasonable excuse to be unhappy. But I'm sure you know that a lot of people who complain have not done anything to help determines who runs and who gets elected. Thank you for being that kind of a good citizen.
It was because she was a "small town" girl from middle Tennessee, who won a radio telent show in Nashville for her singing. She was genuine, and that's why she was relatable.
@@soilmanted One of the things that makes America great is our tolerance for diverse opinions. However, correct spelling will make your opinions look more informed.
It was no doubt taped in '52 regarding the new '53. My grandparents had a new one, quiet smooth straight-6, new seat covers still on the seats, wonderful car. Wouldn't be afraid to drive it anywhere, including all across the country on the bad roads of that day.
Boy does she ever look fit and gorgeous…what a beautiful girl she was…What a wonderful, clean, sophisticated, wholesome time in our history…so sad to see what we have descended into…LOL anyone else notice that the couple they put in the car were 5’6” at most?
In the '50s, the new models became available usually in September - So, the 1953 Chevy model was "unveiled" in ads, and as I remember, in dealer showrooms in September of '52. The first auto I bought was a year old '52 Chevy at a Chicago dealership where a brand new '53 could be had for about $ 1800 at the time.
@gary giebler, @Walter Brown I thought the same as you, until I noticed the 1953 copyright. The commercial was made months after the new model was offered for sale.
OMG How careless and irresponsible of your parents! They didn't even have you in a car seat. Well at least you survived your parents obvious disregard for your own safety.😉🤪
@@richardrice8076 A car seat in 1953? Back then there weren’t any car seats. Or seat belts. Or emission controls. No air conditioning either, unless you had a Cadillac and then MAYBE it came with air. Not in the Plymouth though. It didn’t even have turn signals. My dad did pay $20 for the optional heater. Mom insisted.
@@PrivateEyeYiYi And yet we survived, we didn't even wear a helmet while riding a bike. Talk about livin' on the edge. Cars had 4/60 air conditioning, 4 windows down@ 60 mph. I'm sure your dad's '53 had arm strong steering and no power brakes. Getting an automatic trans. was a big deal, 3 on the tree was usually the trans. of choice. I was at a show today, a '51 Studebaker had after market turn signals. Then the government got involved and here we are with plastic look a like cars and a rising call for electric vehicles. Ugh BTW I recently drove a '55 Dodge Royal Lancer what a cool experience, widows down, rolling along at 65 mph no seat belts. Take that Washington!😉😃
50's were the Best times of America..My Dad was in his 20's in the mid 50's...He raved about it...Diana Shore was a class act...RIP...Sadly that Great America of Yesterday is Long Gone...Weve been sold out and everything outsourced...Absolutely Sickning what America has turned into...
My father owned a 53 Chevy. It was one of the best Chevys he ever bought because he did not have to buy another one until 1957. The 57 lasted only until 1960.
I remember as a teen in Los Angeles (early '70's) my grandpa had a '53 BelAir he bought when new. I recall car washes and polishing the hood ornament and dashboard chrome on this beast. This non-garaged car did not age well. After 20yrs of ownership he sold it to his mechanic for $100. A few years later in '79 I attended a taping of the Dinah Shore Show with Frank Zappa and Peaches & Herb. Dinah was a definitive class act. Miss her. Saving video.
As a kids in the 1950's, we looked forward to every October when Dinah Shore introduced the next "all new" Chevy on her TV show. She was synonymous with the brand. "See the USA in your Chevrolet!"
That is the only commercial jingle I ever heard that I remember seeing and hearing that song for a car. It is still a classic. Something the ad agency of Cooper Sterling Advertising could come up with as Don Draper would give his full support. Great for Jon Hamm and Christine Hendricks!
The great years of the 50's when you could actually tell automobiles apart. In September, dealers would introduct their cars for the next year. Even cover the cars until the big day. Those were the years.
My dad bought a 53 from a friend who had his run into on the side- we went to a junque yard, and with a few wrenches and hacksaw, removed the two doors, plus the doorpost supporting the rear door. We drove a pipe through the outside of the framing, where you stepped into the car, and fastened it at the top with screws, smoothed everything out, and gave my mom a vehicle to drive back and forth to work with at the school.
I can't wait until the new 1955, 1956, and 1957 Chevrolets arrive at the Chevy dealer. In the meantime, I guess I will have to settle driving this new 1953 Chevy. 😊😊
I'm 65 & in 5 yrs I'd b born.This is the way it was, simple times & yea America was pretty great.Dinah was doing these commercials well into the sixties as I remember maybe longer.California was the land of milk & honey believe it or not!
It's for a '53. I helped restore one of these in 1981 during my student stint at Pinellas Vo-Tech before going to Accounting/Clerical! Roomy car. The Stovebolt did have some pretty decent torque.
Hey, I was there when the new Chevies came out for '53, just released late in '52. It was an all new body but the old six engine had one more year to go to get a redesign and full pressure oiling for the rods in '54. I was just 12, my dad was a Chevrolet fan, wanted one of these but we waited one more year and ended up with a '52 Cadillac, his absolute best at the time.
My dad worked as a mechanic for a Chevrolet dealership. And to his mind GM cars were the best. They might have been in those days but not anymore. That honor has to go to Toyota,Honda or Mazda.
@@glennso47 If coaxed, those men could tell some stories. My father was an independent auto and truck mechanic for most of his professional life, also liked GM products. He passed in '75, I think was already seeing some deterioration in the auto giants. I'm retired now for nearly 20 years and only had one GM auto (Pontiac GA) that served me in my work and it was decent. Had a Datsun 510 wagon before that which plugged along very well also.
The 1953 chevy six had full pressure oiling, but only in the engines with power glide trannys. The standard shift, still had splash oiling. In 54 they both had full pressure oiling.
That's quite a jump up the sales ladder from a small cheap Chevrolet to a monstrous sized and very expensive Cadillac. Back then most people worked their way up the sales ladder. Going from say a Chevy to a Pontiac. But I guess your dad had enough cash available in order to go all out and buy a high-class automobile.
I am 73 and remember watching her show in the 50s her commercial for Chevy. "See the USA in your Chevrolet. My uncle had a 53 convertible and I remember riding out to see my grandmother with the top down. When I was a senior in high school in 1966 my other uncle gave me a 53 Chevy, my first car. In 1977 I did a West Coast tour with Phoebe Snow and David Bromberg. We did Rock Concert, Midnight Special , but we also did the Dinah Shore Show, which was watched by old people. Phoebe went without the band and I went with her. So I am standing there and they had a white trellis set up and Dinah and John Davidson were singing Winchester Cathedral. It was pretty pathetic.
@@davidcampbell1899 My Cadillac has a supercharged Corvette engine in it - and magnetic-based suspension, the technology of which is licensed by GM to Ferrari. What is your daily driver?
@@allenlumeyer2428 So you have an aging Caddy CTS-V. Big deal. It's still GM junk. Some people never learn. My last GM car was `83; not a single regret since.
Car styles changed a lot from 1953 to the late 50s, early 60's!! I didn't realize the esrly to mid 50s car styles were so 'old' looking.....I was two in '53!🤷🏼♀️
If you cant do work on a modern car, chances are you didn't do much on an old car. Alot of systems have not changed and are exactly the same as in the past. Steering linkage, tie rod ends, balljoints, alignments, brakepads, rotors/drums, oil/air filters, fluid changes, bulbs and fuses, electric/vacuum motors, batteries, wipers and linkage, seat frames/motors, window regulators/motors, camshaft/lifters, pistons/rings, valve/valveseats, gaskets, differential, driveshafts, body panels, instruments, clock/radio, ac system/heater/fan/switchgear, radiator/fan, belts, sparkplugs, headbolts, lugnuts, wheel balancing, wheel bearings etc etc. These are just a few of the systems that to this day are still the same. The fact is, there is more thats the same than has changed. This common misconception that one "can't work on modern cars" is a fallacy and an urban myth, typically repeated ad nuseum by those who never worked on vehicles in the first place. Cars are the same, they just have more parts added to them, computers in particular. But how many of those are there? 3-4 per car maybe? Home computers been around since 1982, so we should all been catching on by now. Other systems have just changed. Carburetor jets are replaced by fuel injectors. Both cost a pittance, and both easy to replace. Choke is replaced by...nothing, a fuel map enrichment in the computer. Throttle plate is replaced by...throttle body with plate... Fuel pump is replaced by...um... high pressure fuel pump. Ignition coil is replaced by more ignition coils... Fuel tank, well, still a fuel tank. Fact of the matter, most is still the same, just slightly altered version, on the little that did change. A headlight is still a headlight. So is the headlight wiring and the switch. The only 3-4 parts you cannot easily modify is the car computers. But even those come as customized versions, or piggyback controllers. And they can be bought used for cheap, or as a core trade-in. All the 50,000 other parts, are generally exactly the same or equal.
It was a third year for 1952 Chevrolet DeLuxe for the optional Powerglide automatic transmission, and it is increasing popular and most of 1951 Chevrolet did equipped with Powerglide, up from 1950. By 1956, more then 80% of Chevrolet Bel Air did equipped with Powerglide, along with 265 cid V-8 engine which was introduced in 1955. Overdrive transmission was introduced in 1955 as of 3 choices of transmission for buyers to choose from.
In this video, Chevrolet admits that the PowerGlide automatic had not previously started in Low, until 1953. An "all-new" Blue Flame Six? Chevy had been using this engine for years. Surely, however, they raised the compression-ratio, again, and probably changed the camshaft-profile since the PowerGlide would finally start in Low, and shift to High automatically.
Last Saturday I went to a Chevrolet dealer to purchase a new car. I approached the receptionist and I said I would like to see the USA. She looked at me as if I was crazy. I bought a 2024 Chevrolet malibu in red. Now I can see the USA in a Chevrolet with an 85 in.³ engine.
Thank you for your post. BTW...The announcer says it is a 1953. Also 1953 was when they modified the Powerglide to start in lo and shift to hi instead of starting in hi. A T Burke
"It's completely new!" Uh, no, due to the Korean War, the '53-4 A bodies were basically warmed-over '51-2s with a curved single pane windshield. "Brand new engine?" Uh no...same old stovebolt from the 1930s, but with pressure lubed rod bearings for the first time. "Finest automatic drive?" Uh no, for that, you had to go to a Pontiac to get Hydra-Matic. Previous PowerSlides started in high gear. All they did was finally finish the valve body.
Actually, the video is promoting the 1953 Chevrolets. As for Dinah Shore, we're seeing why she introduced "See the USA in Your Chevrolet" on her NBC-TV variety show. Her program was one of the most popular shows in prime time. And a great vehicle to introduce the latest Chevy models.
This is a historic film, but titled wrong. It wasn't a plug for a `52 Chevy, but the ALL-NEW `53!! Obviously it was filmed in `52 when the new models came out, but somebody at this film's source doesn't know a `52 from a `53 Chevy!! The differences were VAST!
My mother owned that car in powder blue with white top. It the first car I ever drove. The first car I ever drove and the first car I ever got caught stealing.
I WAS SO EXCITED TO WATCH THIS VIDEO BECAUSE I WAS 3 YEARS OLD WHEN MY MOTHER BOUGHT A BRAND NEW 1952'CHEVROLET CONVERTIBLE... IT HOOKED ME ON CARS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE.... WHY IN THE HECK DID I HAVE TO WATCH A VIDEO OF A 1953' CHEVROLET 😡
Road hugging huh? Well no, those old GM cars had lots of body roll intentionally designed in. And if you hit a small bump while turning, the leaf spring rear end would jump sideways. New engine? Nope, its a slightly modified Stovebolt 6 from pre-war. Powerglide transmission? Well, it was only 2 speed and made cars seem sluggish. But I love the beautiful Dinah.
1953 Chevy was one of the best built cars in the WORLD / YOU CAN STILL FIND THEM RUNNING ALL OVER THE PLACE OLD AND RATTY AND LIKE NEW RESTORED THEY WERE A GREAT CAR / I WAS BORN IN 53 BUT REMEMBER SEEING THEM GROWING UP OR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR HAD ONE AND IN L.A. CA. THE LOW RIDERS LOVED THEM / PS LOOK WHAT THE HI-WAYS LOOKED BACK THEN A CAR OR TWO EVERY 10 TO 15 MINUTES IF YOU SAW THEM BEFORE 5:50 PM AFTER THAT ONE IN A HALF A HOUR AFTER 5;00 PM PEOPLE WERE HOME EATING DINNER
BAEK IN 1953 THERE WAS JUST ONE TV STATION IN MY TOWN THAT WE COULD GET BUT IT HAD THE DINA SHORE SHOW AND MY BARBER BOUGHT A NEW 53 320 SERIES 4 DR SEDAN AND HE CALLED IT A BABY CADILLAC AND YES IT DOEA HAVE THE SAME LINES AS A 53 CADILLAC .COST WAS $2320 WITH HEATER RADIO WHITE WALL TIRES FULL DISC HUB CAPS AND TWO TONE PAINT.
The blue flame engine was developed for the Powerglide transmission so it had to be new for 53. It had hydraulic valve lifters rather than mechanical ones. And more powerful than the other engine.
@@glennso47 actually the Slip and Slide Powerglide came out in 1950 .with 235 power . It was redesigned with full pressure oiling and slightly more compression as the blue flame for '53 . Manual trans cars in '53 got a lower compression 235 engine , by '54 both trans got the blue flame six , but an oil filter was optional equipment until the modern sixes came out in 1962/63 .
Starting in `53 Chevy supplied her with a loaded new Chevy every year. A friend of mine owns the `58 Nomad wagon she had---loaded with just about every option! It's yellow & white and fully restored.
@ W Fox-- If Chevrolet gave Dinah a new fully loaded car every year, what might have been the first year that a car that they gave her had air conditioning?
And on what other car would you find a combination of all these things with such luxury features as this year’s front Vent-a-Pane control crank ordinarily found in only the highest priced cars?
Danny, you should buy a Hudson from the 1950's. LOL My Dad had a late 1940's or early 1950's Hudson Hornet. He traded the Hudson in for a new Ford Galaxie in 1958.
Burt Reynolds was dating her until he became a big star, then he dumped her. Years later Loni Anderson dumped Burt and took almost all his money. What he saw in Loni, I don't know. Maybe it was temporary insanity. Dinah was a good woman. Dinah Shore was talented, friendly, smart, and feminine.
Since the Jam Handy Organization had a long time relationship with General Mortors, and specifically, Chevrolet, I suspect this was produced by the JHO. Can you confirm this?
