Plenty of classic car adverts would be pulled today. UK advertising rules now stop car ads from encouraging speeding or dangerous driving, relying on harmful stereotypes or promoting tobacco, and that rules out a surprising amount of old motoring marketing.

So pour a cup of tea and join us for a trip back through some of the strangest ways cars used to be sold.

Who decides what a car advert can show?

In the UK, ads are policed by the Advertising Standards Authority, set up in 1962, using the CAP Code. The motoring section is strict. Car adverts must not condone or encourage dangerous, competitive or irresponsible driving, and they must not make speed or acceleration the main message. Since June 2019, ads have also been banned from using gender stereotypes that are likely to cause harm.

Measured against those rules, a lot of motoring history looks very different.

Why did old car adverts treat women as bad drivers?

For decades, car makers assumed the man of the house bought the car and the woman was a passenger, or a liability. One well-known 1960s Volkswagen ad in America showed a dented Beetle and joked that sooner or later your wife would drive home one of the best reasons for owning a Volkswagen: cheap replacement parts. It was meant as a gentle joke. Today it would be a gift to the regulator.

Then there was the Dodge La Femme, sold in 1955 and 1956. It came in pink and white, with matching accessories that included a handbag, a compact and later a raincoat and umbrella. Dodge called it a car for women. Women did not agree, it sold poorly and it was quietly dropped after two years. Original examples are now prized collector cars, which is a twist nobody at Dodge saw coming.

When were cigarettes part of selling cars?

For most of the twentieth century, an ashtray and cigarette lighter were standard kit, and brochures proudly listed them next to the heater and radio. Smoking at the wheel was shown as glamorous, relaxing and grown up.

Motorsport went further. Some of the most famous Formula 1 liveries were cigarette adverts on wheels. Think of the black and gold John Player Special Lotus, or the red and white Marlboro McLaren. The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 ended most tobacco advertising in the UK, and tobacco branding had vanished from F1 cars in Europe by the mid-2000s. Those liveries are now nostalgia only.

Were speed claims really that blatant?

Yes. Older adverts loved a top speed figure and a 0-60 time printed in big letters. Jaguar's famous slogan 'Grace, Space, Pace' was elegant enough, but many rivals were far less subtle, showing cars blasting along open roads with the speedo needle buried. Today, putting speed at the heart of a car advert is the quickest way to an ASA ruling, and ads showing cars driven fast on public roads are regularly challenged.

What about seat belts and safety?

Watch old family car adverts and you will see children standing between the front seats, kneeling on the back shelf or bouncing around the load area of an estate. Wearing a seat belt in the front only became compulsory in the UK on 31 January 1983, with rules for adults in the back following in 1991. An advert showing loose children in a moving car would not get past the first meeting now.

Which advert was never meant to escape?

In 2004, a pair of viral clips for the Ford SportKa did the rounds under the 'evil twin' theme. In one, the bonnet flips up and knocks a pigeon off its perch. In another, a curious cat pokes its head through the sunroof as it closes, with grim results. Ford said the cat version was never approved for release. It spread across the early internet anyway, and the story is still told in advertising circles as a lesson in what happens when a joke goes too far.

Did fuel adverts get away with more?

Esso's 'Put a tiger in your tank' campaign from the 1960s was a huge hit, complete with tiger tails hanging from petrol caps. It was harmless fun, but fuel adverts now face close scrutiny over environmental claims, and anything hinting that burning petrol makes your car greener or more powerful than the evidence supports would be in trouble.

Where are all those cars now?

Most of the cars in those adverts are long gone. The lucky ones live in museums and private collections. The rest went the way of all old motors and were broken down for parts and metal. Today that happens through licensed facilities, and our vehicle recycling UK network recycles at least 85% of each scrap car. If your own car has reached the end of the road, you can get an instant scrap car quote in seconds.

The last word

Old car adverts tell us as much about society as they do about cars. They were sold with cigarettes, speed and stereotypes that would not survive a single complaint today. Some of it is cringeworthy and some of it is simply funny, but all of it shows how far motoring, and advertising, have come.

Frequently asked questions

Can car adverts in the UK show speeding?

No. The CAP Code says car ads must not condone or encourage dangerous, competitive or irresponsible driving, and must not make speed or acceleration the main message.

When did tobacco advertising disappear from cars and motorsport in the UK?

The Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002 ended most tobacco advertising in the UK. Tobacco branding had disappeared from Formula 1 cars in Europe by the mid-2000s.

What was the Dodge La Femme?

It was a version of the Dodge Custom Royal Lancer sold in 1955 and 1956 and marketed to women, with pink and white paint and matching accessories such as a handbag. It sold poorly and was dropped after two years.