The New York Auto Show in the 1960s

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There has been a major auto show in New York City for more than 100 years, and these days, despite many distractions, the event still draws an attendance of more than one million people.

But whereas the current show is normally held at the Jacob Javits Convention Centre, in the past, it was regularly held at the now demolished New York Coliseum. Whatever the location though, the New York Auto Show (NYAS) has always been a very grand affair, featuring plenty of innovation and razzmatazz.

In the years following the end of the Second World War, the American car industry quickly got back into full production and throughout the 1950s, the NYAS had been a key place for manufacturers to demonstrate their latest models to a huge affluent audience. It was also the place where many of the post-war futuristic dream cars were shown to wide-eyed owners with promises that these were the cars that everyone would be driving in a few years time.

But during this time, a growing number of foreign car makers had also made significant inroads into the US car market -most notably Volkswagen, with its ubiquitous Beetle, as well as a selection of specialist British sportscar manufacturers -led by MG, Triumph, Jaguar and Austin Healey.

This meant that by the beginning of the 1960s, the NYAS had become a key event not only for US manufacturers, but also for many foreign ones who wanted an even bigger share of this important car market.

Original Mini
The first NYAS of the 1960s was also the first time many Americans had the chance to see the new baby Austin -or Austin 850 as it was known -or the Mini as it would be known in later years.

Most Americans at the show were more bemused by the sheer size and scale of the car and saw it more as a "clown" car, as opposed to a highly economical means of urban transportation, as it was being promoted in the UK.

A year later, another famous British car made its US debut at the NYAS. This was the e-type Jaguar -or Jaguar XKE as it was called in America. The car which was shown in New York received just as many accolades from Americans as did the car which made its debut in Europe a few weeks earlier. In fact, the subsequent press coverage and other publicity it received helped to ensure that over the months and years ahead, the e-type would enjoy huge success in the US.

A year later, in 1962, another British car became one of the stars of the show. This was not a new car, but a unique MGA which was luxuriously fitted inside and had a gold painted exterior. It was brought to the show to celebrate the production of the 100,000th MGA, of which more than 90 per cent of sales had been to America.

Japanese cars
Throughout the 1960s, one of biggest developments in the automotive world was the increasing presence of Japanese cars on American roads. Initially, they were seen as exotic Oriental novelty cars, but by the end of the decade, they too were attracting as much attention at the NYAS as some of the established American makes as the pricing and reliability of the cars meant they were becoming increasing appealing.

But it was the British car manufacturers who, year after year, seemed to arouse most attention at the New York show. In one show, Jaguar brought a live Jaguar animal to the event so the public could compare at first hand the sleek lines of this powerful animal with their own thoroughbred cars. Unfortunately, the animal got loose, attacked one of the female models on the stand and momentarily caused panic and mayhem on the show floor.

In 1965, it was the turn of the Aston Martin DB5 to take centre stage. This was no ordinary DB5, but the specially modified car which James Bond used in the film Goldfinger and which included everything from a passenger ejector seat to a rifle in the front bumper, and again New Yorkers were impressed with what they saw.

Triumph
The British manufacturers enjoyed success throughout the decade and by the end of the 1960s, Triumph had built an enviable reputation as one of the world’s leading sportscar manufacturers. To maintain the success and to help generate even more sales in America, they would always put a large amount of resources into ensuring they had a major presence at the New York show and would often use clever marketing techniques to maximise their exposure in the media.

At the 1969 show they had the novel idea of inviting journalists to don smocks and paint a plain white car (with water based paints) in whatever colours and style they wanted. The results were hardly masterpieces, but each unique finished design was then photographed with the pictures being heavily circulated throughout the media, which helped ensure even more sales in the showroom.

Although the New York Auto Shows of the 1960s may have lacked some of the extraordinary concept cars of a decade or so earlier, they more than made up for it by the wide range of cars which were on display and this helped to ensure that by the end of the decade, car sales in America were higher than ever before.

Multimedia stories from history

Throughout the 1960s, the New York Auto
Show was always a very popular event

The popularity of open top sports cars meant they were amongst some of the most popular exhbits

The 1960s saw more foreign manuacturers displaying their cars then ever before 

At the 1969 show, journalists were given paint brushes and asked to paint a Triumph car in their own design

Throughout the 1960s, Triumph always put on
an impressive display at the New York Auto Show

As is the case today, all the NYASs of the 1960s had plenty of female models in attendance

The 1960 NYAS was the first time many
Americans ever saw a Mini -or Austin 850

Above, a smartly painted Imp, with female model
on top, on the Rootes stand at the 1964 NYAS

British manufacturers had a growing presence throughout the 1960s as exports rose significantly

Nearly 50 years later, some of the concept cars on show still seem ahead of their time

There may have been fewer concept cars in the 1960s than a decade earlier, but they were always very popular

James Bond's legendary Aston Martin DB5 was brought to the 1965 show, complete with high-tech working accessories

Most British manufacturers would display their cars together as part of a combined marketing initiative

A more powerful engine is
demonstrated at the 1961 show

Towards the end of the 1960s there were a lot more Japanese cars being exhibited than ever before

The changing licence plate was one of the many
novel features which aroused plenty of interest

Jaguar launched the e-type to
the US market at the 1961 NYAS

In 1965, Jaguar brought a live animal to the show, although
 at one point it did get loose and caused mild mayhem

The popularity of the NYAS during the 1960s resulted
in record number of cars being sold in America

The extremely powerful Shelby Cobra made its debut at the 1963 New York Auto Show

The stylish Saab Quantum was a US designed sports car which was demonstrated at the NYAS

The unique gold painted 100,000th MGA was
especially made to be exhibited at the 1962 show

Film now showing
Newsreel of the 1961 New York Auto Show

Duration: 1 mins. 08 seconds

Motoring through history
Follow the evolution of the motor car with a free, online, informative illustrated history of the automobile, go to:
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Film provided courtesy of www.auto-history.tv

(c) Universal Motoring History Enterprises

Old classics were also displayed to show how
much car design had changed over the years