Uploaded January 2011 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
1997 ad for Chevy Cavalier has GM bragging about new features (gizmos) that had become available. By this time, computers were beginning to control every aspect of a car's operation. When you open a door, instead of a switch closing a circuit that turns on the dome light, instead a signal is sent to a computer indicating that the door is open and it decided to turn on the dome light. So, with a little software tweak, you can turn off the dome light a few hours later and save the battery even though the door is still open.
In the period since the mid 90s, the common car has been able to greatly close the feature gap with luxury cars. For example, every GM car has auto-on headlights, a feature GM sold for extra cost as Twilight Sentinel in the 60s, rapidly followed by Ford and Chrysler.
As this is being written (2011), Ford is making great hay with a similar ad campaign showing off the features their greatly computerized and touchscreen interiors are making available at a reasonable cost.
This ad aired during a showing of Entertainment Tonight on KRON on October 23rd, 1997 after the Baseball World Series on NBC (KRON was NBC at the time).
1997 ad for Chevy Cavalier has GM bragging about new features (gizmos) that had become available. By this time, computers were beginning to control every aspect of a car's operation. When you open a door, instead of a switch closing a circuit that turns on the dome light, instead a signal is sent to a computer indicating that the door is open and it decided to turn on the dome light. So, with a little software tweak, you can turn off the dome light a few hours later and save the battery even though the door is still open.
In the period since the mid 90s, the common car has been able to greatly close the feature gap with luxury cars. For example, every GM car has auto-on headlights, a feature GM sold for extra cost as Twilight Sentinel in the 60s, rapidly followed by Ford and Chrysler.
As this is being written (2011), Ford is making great hay with a similar ad campaign showing off the features their greatly computerized and touchscreen interiors are making available at a reasonable cost.
This ad aired during a showing of Entertainment Tonight on KRON on October 23rd, 1997 after the Baseball World Series on NBC (KRON was NBC at the time).
