Old car brochures. Lots of ’em.
The motherload, we found it. Or we were made aware of it, anyway. There’s a little something here for everyone, but if you’re a German car aficionado in particular, expect to say goodbye to a good portion of your morning, afternoon, or evening. Here’s a preview:
Commence right-clicking and saving-as… now:
Hat tip to Jeff B on mye28 for this top tip!
Motoring Con Brio 
LOVE the 02 Turbo and the E30 brochures! 😉
SuperSwede said this on June 12, 2013 at 12:18 am
Motoringconbrio.com continuously amazes me! Regardless of what automotive aspect this blog tackles in the regular inter-stellar transmissions sent to us mere Earthlings from Planet Car; without fail, they comprise emotive, beautifully composed, flattering images that emphatically underscore, exemplify and otherwise tell me exactly why that topic (car brochures in this case) deserves to be fetishized.
Today’s grouping of car brochures remind me of how beautiful many were in the past, but further, how relevant they remain today despite the sea-change the Internet, hand-held devices and social media has wrought onto traditional auto marketing practices. To me, there’s no finer enjoyment to be had when shopping for a new car than to curl up with a beer and a fat stack of car brochures, one each for every car in my consideration set (heaven).
Thank you.
Ken ramonet said this on June 12, 2013 at 1:11 am
Believe it or not, I actually got to see a Saab Turbo two years ago. Didn’t look too cool obviously, but it was supposedly a fairly decent drive back then. Too bad I didn’t get my hands on the steering wheel!
James McDonnel said this on June 12, 2013 at 3:40 am
VW lawsuit probably already on its way…
Fat Minski said this on June 12, 2013 at 7:33 am
Why do you think that?
motoringconbrio said this on June 12, 2013 at 9:56 am
They went pretty bezerk on doppel-wobber.de (and a few other sites, afaik) a few months ago for hosting old brochures etc., ‘downloadable’ via right-click-save-as (ever since the site launched roughly 11 yrs ago, WITH the consent of VAG). Mind you, brochures that were never for sale but free give-aways and are not available at VW anymore. But, now, it seemed to be a rather big thorn in the eyes of VAG’s legal department. The site was supposed to delete all content, or a penalty of 10.000EUR would be due. The whole issue went viral (doppelwobber had over 30.000 registered users) and got quite a lot media attention. Finally, VAG gave in and allowed the hoster to keep the data available for everyone to see, just not downloadable anymore.
Hence…VW is still getting a lot of flak for their furious legal department 😉
Fat Minski said this on June 12, 2013 at 11:10 am
I see. Thank you for that information. One would think that the world’s largest car company has better things to do than to concern itself with such trivial matters.
motoringconbrio said this on June 12, 2013 at 11:30 am
My brother and I used to go around at the car show every year and collect the brochures like they were candy. We’d come away with bags full of them from every make, and then spend hours going through them, dreaming about the cars depicted therein. This would have been the late 80s/early 90s.
I only wish I would have held on to some of the more interesting ones. Who knew there’d be such interest later on?
Jon said this on June 12, 2013 at 9:22 am
I suspect many of us reading this are thinking, “yeah, me too!” (myself included). Great memories…
brennerl said this on June 12, 2013 at 7:15 pm
Dat 505.
S. Ongaki said this on June 12, 2013 at 11:45 am
RIP, yours. It was so sweet 😦
motoringconbrio said this on June 12, 2013 at 11:53 am
I had the UK version of the Audi Quattro
Mart Dawson said this on June 12, 2013 at 3:31 pm
Fire up the Quattro! Great car.
motoringconbrio said this on June 12, 2013 at 3:37 pm
Back in the 70s aged around 8 years old, I admired a couples brand new Triumph Stag, they actually gave me the full-size glossy brochure which I thumbed to destruction. How I wish I still had it. I have had a soft spot for Stags ever since. On the subject of motherlodes, the motherlode for Alfa GTV6s and 156 GTAs is this website:
http://www.gtv6-156gta.be/indexEN.html
Enjoy!
Simon said this on June 12, 2013 at 5:16 pm
Probably Johnny-come-late but there exist two more obscure but excellent sites for both European and American car brochures.
Regardless what your opinion might be of American cars, these brochures will make a believer out of you.
European: http://www.lov2xlr8.no/1970.html
American: http://www.lov2xlr8.no/broch1.html
Etienne said this on June 14, 2013 at 12:15 pm