Video: The Chevrolet atop Castle Rock, 1964

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Posted on January 18, 2018 by MCG

Video: The Chevrolet atop Castle Rock, 1964



Presenting one of the most audacious and ambitious car commercials ever produced, the famed Chevrolet Castle Rock spot of 1964. Watch this.

In 1964, Chevrolet was the world’s most popular car brand, with more total volume than the rest of the General Motors divisions combined—and a marketing budget to match. By way of advertising, there was nothing the company couldn’t afford to do. Truly, the sky was the limit. The bigger the idea, the better. Take for example the amazing Castle Rock commercial, in which a ’64 Impala convertible was perched atop Castleton Tower, 2,000 feet above the landscape near Moab, Utah.

Conceived by Campbell-Ewald, Chevy’s longtime ad agency, the stunt was executed by the Alexander Film Company, a veteran Colorado Springs production outfit. The Impala was essentially a mockup, flown to the site in three pieces in the sling of a twin-rotor helicopter and assembled in place for the aerial footage. The brave young model was Shirley Rumsey, who reportedly wore a safety harness under her elegant gown, while a technician crouched out of sight holding her ankles. In ad lore, it’s said that the helicopter was unable to retrieve them promptly due to high winds, and the two were stranded up there for several hours. Yikes. There’s no business like show business.

For all the tremendous cost and effort, the commercial was aired but briefly. A 1966 print ad in Life magazine (above) revisited the stunt, and Chevrolet restaged the commercial in 1973 as a sort of retrospective. In the original 1964 version, voice of Chevrolet Joel Aldred proclaims, “In a class of its own, it stands alone,” while the camera circles the breathtaking scene. Indeed. Now watch this.

[Arkansas Granny]

1. And to prove that I really am older than dirt, I remember seeing that ad when it came out.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. Had the surrounding terrain been eroded away at the time?

Owwwww! Stop that! Okay; I'll leave.

[Arkansas Granny]

3. Now you sound like one of my kids.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Sorry. Couldn't resist. I'm old enough to have seen it too, but I don't recall it.

I don't recall a lot of things.

See ya.

[Glorfindel]

7. So do I, Arkansas Granny. But it was in black and white.

We didn't get a color TV until 1967. The color TV and a 1966 Chevrolet Impala were the two gifts my wonderful family had waiting to surprise me when I returned from Vietnam in December 1967.

[Arkansas Granny]

9. You're right about the black & white tv. I hadn't thought about that.

Yep, older than dirt.

[Glorfindel]

10. And proud of it! Every day above ground is a victory.

[brush]

5. That's an amazing ad. Did it win any awards? If they did it today the only helicopter...

need would be to take aerials, the rest could be done with computer imaging.

'64 Chevies are very desirable cars nowadays, much like their older siblings, the tri-five Chevies.

[Ohiogal]

6. I just showed this to my hubby

He remembers it, but then he's older than dirt, too.

Oops! Did I just say that???

How'd they get the woman in the car? I wonder.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

8. My Dad said, "Of course it'd take a woman to park it there."

Those were the days just before Gloria Steinem came onto the scene.

[machI]

11. Chevrolet's put down to Jeep - Don't follow me, you will never make it!