by Wallace Wyss –
I see a lot of Teslas. Having grown up in Detroit and worked in marketing new cars I thought I knew How It Should be Done. But as I see Teslas, I see here is a guy (Elon Musk) breaking all the rules.
For instance:
– Painting cars pink. Detroit cars were only painted pink for some promotion like the car for the Playboy Playmate of the Year. But as far as making it a regular color, it’s beyond the way Detroit thinks.
– Painting flat colors usually black. I think I left Detroit before this got to be a fad but for Tesla it’s au courant. Nothing makes a car more ominous that flat black.
– Providing as little chrome as possible. When I grew up in the Fifties, Harley Earl, then VP in charge of styling at GM, would lay the chrome on by the hundreds of pounds. So here’s Tesla with the tiniest smidgeon of it, lately I have seen some with a chrome bar on the trunk, taillight to taillight. Extra? Aftermarket? I dunno. But I think it’s Tesla’s way of saying “If you must have it, we have it,” but otherwise they pity you that you have to have it to feel you must show you are affluent.
Would a Tesla look good with tailfins like this 1958 Cadillac Eldorado-Biarritz?
– Not changing body styles. When I was in Detroit, Harley Earl made sure you knew each new model year was coming, especially in the height of the tailfins, the ’59 Caddy being the ultimate. Yet I see early Tesla Model S cars, the ones with the fake grille, and the owners are not raazed by neighbors who say “Still driving a 13 year old car?” Indeed they are probably congratulated for driving a car to see how far the Tesla can go before the battery dies (I have heard over 600,000 miles).
– The performance capability is not shouted out with hood scoops (scooping what where?) extra wide fenders, spoilers. As a guy that likes second generation Firebird Trans Ams, I am a sucker for all that, but can appreciate being subtle about it. There are plenty of cars with all that crapola on them that would be blown off by a Tesla but Tesla doesn’t like to crow about it 100% of the time. I like those Trans Ams but have to admit on some occasions they might be a little too much ‘Look-at-me’ with all those gimmicks.
– And then there’s the ads. Where are the ads? I don’t remember any. No TV commercials either. But yet in EVs they are the best selling car. Which means as a copywriter, I won’t be getting a call to write ads for them. They sell on their own virtues.
So when and if the ultimate book on Tesla is written I hope they go into how they thought different, basically telling Detroit they are obsolete. Harley Earl must be spinning at a high rate of speed in his grave…
Let us know what you think in the Comments.
THE AUTHOR Wallace Wyss started out in advertising where he wrote ads for two of the Big Three. He has owned a variety of sports cars from a 356 Porsche, to front engined and mid-engine Ferraris to a brace of Mercedes Gullwings.
Saw my first Tesla at Monterey car week on Ocean Avenue, 2012, during the Ocean Ave. concours event. They were displayed, as I recollect, somewhat further down closer to the water. There were three of them parked along the curb. Having read about them, I was very curious and got a chance to see them up close. I was very surprised and pleasantly so, at how nice they were fresh out of the box so to speak. I’ve driven a Model S for about a week….a rental car while ours was in the shop. Also, a friend’s Model 3. Was very impressive from a handling, acceleration and fit and finish standpoint. So, while I’m a die hard IC powered car guy, I could see owning a Tesla. Elon has created a tour de force and leads the other EV makers by a good 10 years in many respects, and the designs still look fresh IMO. No need for lots of updates!