Westering in the Age of Automobiles


The mythic Western cowboy, imbued with the qualties of manhood and rugged individualism, made an excellent vehicle for selling automobiles. By the time this Buick advertisment aired in 1964, the automobile had already become a conventional status symbol. Car advertisements had begun to sell image as well as automobiles, and your car became a fundamental part of your identity. For many, the charm of the highway strip was how it allowed one to move with their car as a singular symbolic unit.

This Buick advertisement takes a common scene from Western mythology, the lone cowboy being surprised by hostile banditos on the open range, and updates it for the automobile age. Indeed, the Buick Wildcat functions more like a horse than a car. There is no definable road in the commercial. The man in cowboy attire who drives the Wildcat seems to be just cruising about the Southwestern landscape. The Wildcat, like a good horse, attracts unwanted attention, but it is also a horse that does tricks and helps the hero escape from the bandits.

What is being sold with the Buick is an image of masculine identity and "western" freedom. The car as horse, and the driver as cowboy, project the notions of self-reliance, grit, and individuality associated with that mythic profession.