While General Motors, Ford, and to a certain extent Chrysler seem monumentally large in American automotive history, we’re only seeing a part of a global whole when looking at those companies’ roles in their home markets, a fact that becomes painfully obvious the more time we spend looking at the photostream of a Flickr member named Michael (IFHP97). While not exclusively dedicated to advertisements for GM and Ford’s efforts in foreign lands, those ads make for some interesting viewing.
Take, for example, the Ranger, above. A brand developed in the late 1960s for South Africa, similar to how GM developed Holden for Australia as a sort of home-grown car brand, the left-hand-drive example shown certainly wasn’t offered in right-hand-drive South Africa. That’s because Rangers eventually made their way to Europe – specifically to the Swiss and Belgian markets – for much of the 1970s. Despite the separate brand, they still used Opel Rekord bodies and (at least in Europe) Opel four-cylinder engines.
Holden is perhaps the most-recognized GM offshore brand here in the States, especially in the last decade, after GM turned to Holden to develop the Pontiac GTO, G8, and Zeta-platform cars. Here we see the Holden HT Monaro GTS, which debuted in June 1969 and could be had with a 350-cu.in. small-block V-8. Lest one think that all of GM’s overseas efforts used bespoke brands, we also see the South African 1974 Chevrolet Kommando (a rebadged version of the Holden Kingswood) and the Argentine 1974 Chevrolet 400 Super Sport (a facelifted version of the 1960s Chevy II).
No context on this Spanish-language Ford International brochure from 1962, though it’s interesting to see Ford’s German Taunus, British Consul, and American Falcon side by side. Also interesting to note the difference in marketing strategies: GM with its proliferation of brands, and Ford remaining Ford just about wherever Ford went.
And finally, again no context on this circa-1980 Japanese ad for the Fox-body Mustang and Mercury Cougar XR-7. Gotta wonder how well these two sold in Japan.