As odd as the following statement might seem, given this digital space, the onset of online advertising thoroughly failed to kill flashy and clever print spreads in the 2000s. At least not in Car and Driver. Instead, the biggest shift in the automotive advertising gracing our pages seemed to be an expansion of target demographics—or simply an extra dose of political correctness. Flip through issues from the early 2000s, and you’ll still find sex-sells ads with filled with enticed-looking women or spots using the lure of finding or impressing a mate. Fast-forward to the 2014s and 2015s, and that sort of thing is largely gone. Progress!
Otherwise, www.______.com and digital references increasingly permeated ads in the 2000s and 2010s, and the last 15 years saw spots from rising stars like Kia and now-dead duds like Hummer, not to mention the births of high-performance SUVs, crossovers, and the like. Fans of this website also will enjoy a couple of our earliest caranddriver.com ads. Oh, the internet. (Click or tap any of the ads to enlarge.)
Ford – January 2000
Chevrolet – January 2001
Volkswagen – January 2001
Buick (with actual CD-ROM) – January 2001
AOL – January 2001
Driven – January 2001
BFGoodrich – March 2001
Bosch – March 2001
Honda – March 2001
Car and Driver – April 2001
BMW – April 2001
Buick – May 2001
Volkswagen – July 2001
OnStar – July 2001
Nissan – October 2001
Porsche – January 2002
Toyota – March 2002
Wendy’s – July 2002
Yamaha – July 2002
Dodge – July 2002
Lincoln – July 2002
Yamaha– July 2002
Samsung– December 2002
Hankook – January 2003
Hummer – February 2003
Speed Channel – March 2003
Porsche – November 2003
Jeep – January 2006
Honda – January 2006
Honda – March 2006
Mazda – July 2006
Hertz – July 2007
Superchips – July 2007
Pontiac – August 2007
Car and Driver – August 2007
Jeep – September 2007
Honda – September 2007
Mustang Cologne – December 2007
Porsche – March 2008
Cessna – May 2008
BMW – June 2008
Kia – October 2008
Amoco / BP – January 2009
Subaru – April 2009
Kia – July 2009
Mitchum– September 2009
Honda – September 2009
Shell – October 2009
Ford – July 2010
Dodge – September 2010
Nissan – September 2010
Acura – March 2011
Mini – November 2011
Honda – February 2013
Jaguar – June 2013
Porsche – June 2013
Audi – July 2013
Nissan – August 2013
BMW – February 2014
Chevrolet – March 2014
Honda – March 2014
SRT – May 2014
Volkswagen – August 2014
