Yes, Hudson did begin that trend, which is why those big Hudsons of the early '50s were actually the best-handling American cars in those days!
Renault Alliance, the one to watch (I haven’t seen one in years)
Hi everyone this is my first post here… There was a Volkswagen beetle add (when they were new in the states) that had two women on the side of the road, both with Beettles. One had her hood open and she was telling the second woman that she doesn’t know what happened, “I lost my engine!” The second woman says, “That’s ok I have a spare in the trunk!”
“Renault Alliance, the one to watch”
I used to watch them being towed back to the AMC dealership…followed by watching them rust prematurely…followed by watching them pile up in junk yards after ~5 years, due to repairs that would have exceeded their book value.
;-))
“Have you driven a Ford lately?”
I don’t get slogans like this, kinda says “We know we were making bad cars for years, but have you driven one of our new ones?”
FIAT - Driven by passion. (not to mention, rust)
Alfa Romeo - Beauty is not enough (and they followed in Fiat’s footsteps - rust in the first year on every one I ever worked on)
Skoda - Simply Clever and It’s a Skoda. Honest.
Saab - Move your mind (I liked the 9000, thought the 900 was too cramped)
CSA, did you “flag” my answer to your comment?
Here are some more car ad slogans from the past:
“Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Chevrolet” - Chevy Division’s way of promoting its American-ness during the 1970’s.
“Wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?” - From Buick ads in the early 1980’s.
“Another better idea from Ford” - Popular in Ford ads in the '70’s.
“Mercury. The sign of the Cat” - Hugely popular in Mercury ads in the '70’s and early '80’s.
“Dodge Trucks have got it where it counts” - Pre Ram era Dodge Truck ads, 1976-77.
“Cordoba. The new small Chrysler” - 1975 Chrysler ads with Ricardo Montalban promoting the features of the new Cordoba, most notably the “Fine Corinthian Leather” upholstery.
“AMC Pacer. The first wide small car” - Not to mention a flop. These ads began in 1975.
“Happy days are here again” - This phrase was used in ads for the Volkswagen Rabbit (now known as the Golf) in the mid '70’s.
“In My Merry Oldsmobile” - A song that was popular in 1905; yes, 1905, I didn’t switch the last 2 digits; this according to an article I read.
“It’s a Great Little Car!” - Ads for the piston-engine Mazda GLC in the mid '70’s (this car was powered by a small 4-cylinder engine, as opposed to the Wankel rotary engine.
Also, remember when Nissan cars imported to the U.S. were branded as “Datsuns”?
How about Johnny Cash’s song, “One Piece at a Time” from 1976, about how he snuck parts out of the Cadillac factory over a period of years to assemble a one-of-a-kind car?
I remember when Ford had that debacle with the defective ignition switches causing fires.
On the David Letterman show he had a Top-10 list all about it. I think number one was:
“At Ford, quality is job#1. Putting out the fire is job#2.”
“Not your father’s Oldsmobile” - another one of those ‘left-handed compliment’ kind of slogans: “We’re not building boring snoremobiles anymore! Come see!”
…and that era turned out really well for the Olds division of GM, didn’t it?
I think it was true. In 1998, I was interested in a new family sedan. The winner in my price/size class was the Olds Intrigue. It had the best combination of handling, comfort and acceleration. But I opted for the Regal instead because it had better side impact ratings. My oldest child was 10 at the time, and I went for back seat safety instead of better drivability. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t get anyone to try them out.
BMW motorcycle, OK?
“Around the block or around the world!”
With apologies if I missed it in the above posts, there was the one about “See the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet”.
“Inexpensive, and built to stay that way”. Subaru (This was a sore one for me as it was a phrase that was thrown back either in disbelief or anger quite frequently by Subaru owners after being told what a part or repair was going to set them back.
Veering off into one of my favorite areas (motorcycles) here’s a few from the real old days of Harley Davidson.
Early 20th century models were referred to as “Silent Gray Fellows” based on the paint scheme, a muffled exhaust, and the ability of the cops to sneak up on miscreants who were violating the traffic laws by blowing down the highway at 40 MPH.
A few other HD slogans from years past.
“Here’s The Sport Coat That’s The Berries”. (20s HD motorcycle clothing ad)
"A Dillar-a Dollar- Be an “On-Time Scholar”. (HD ad aimed at college students)
“Make Summertime HUMMERtime”. (ad for the small displacement HD)
“Go High, Wide, and Handsome On The World’s Best Motorcycle”.
I think those ads are from the 50s except for the first one.
HD had a lot of slogans and I couldn’t even begin to remember them all and while they sound odd today, at the time they were appropriate.
I just remembered one of their WWII years slogans.
“I miss my Harley Davidson Like My Arm Had Been Shot Off”. 
Speaking of HD’s Hummer, one sold on Mecum last night for something like $15k - the announcer was stunned!
The Hummers are collectible, but 15 grand! I’d be beyond stunned. Someone must have been about halfway into a bottle of Crown before buying that one.
I’m trying to remember Rambler slogans. Help, anyone?
Circa 1908:
Rambler–The car for country roads.
1909:
Ramber–The car of steady service
'69:
Rambler Ambassador–It will remind you of the days when money really bought something.
Rebel–The car for the people
AMX–The performer
'70:
Hornet–The little rich car
Javelin/AMX–The racy ones
'77:
Pacer–The strangely un-American car (Well, it was strange!)
Hornet–The American solution
It seems to me that there was an autombile line that the manufacturers called “The Sensible Spectaculars” or something like that. Could that have been American Motors?