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For decades the Super Bowl has come down to three things: the actual game, the halftime show, and the ads. Companies spend millions every year to produce and air a spot (or series of spots) hoping to make a big enough impression on viewers to make their ad enter into the zeitgeist (like Apple’s iconic 1984 commercial) and maybe sell some of their wares.

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It’s no surprise that automakers are keen to get in on this cash-burning attempt to lure us into parting with our hard-earned dollars. Sure, there are the typical ads showing cars driving down a winding back road while a famous actor spouts off about freedom and horsepower, but there are also some amazing pieces of advertising that have come out of the car world over the years. So while you’re waiting for the kickoff, take a rubber-melting trip with us down memory lane and check out our favorite Super Bowl ads.
Ford’s The One – 2004
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Sometimes you just want to see a fast car go fast, and that’s exactly what Ford gave us with the 2004 commercial for the Ford GT. A car, a track, and a lot of squealing tire action. It’s pure bliss.
VW’s The Force – 2011
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Nothing grabs us like Star Wars nostalgia. Even as adults, we remember what it was like to pretend we had the powers of a Jedi. Volkswagen took that premise and made a commercial that lets a young boy live out his Darth Vader dreams. Sure, it requires believing this child is on the Dark Side, but cute is cute and it made the not-that-exacting 2012 Passat a little bit cooler.
Chrysler’s Imported from Detroit – 2011

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The Chrysler 200 is long gone, but the emotions stirred up by this ad for a sedan featuring the Motor City remains. Aired during the 2011 Super Bowl, it reminded the rest of the United States that Detroit is tough enough to tackle anything. Starring Detroit native Eminem, the ad is less about a car and more about portraying the city as ready to battle its way back into the consciousness of the country, and more than a shadow of its former self.
Nissan’s Dream – 1990
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Nissan hired director Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Legend) to make this commercial about a man dreaming he’s being chased by a motorcycle, a sports car, and eventually, a jet, but none could catch him because of his Nissan 300ZX Turbo. Does it make sense? No. But Scott directed some of the best science-fiction movies ever, so we’ll let him have this one.
Nissan’s Pigeons – 1997
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The Kenny Loggins song Danger Zone is more associated with the movie Top Gun than with this commercial. Still, we all know the frustration of washing our vehicle only to have a squadron of birds (in this case animatronic pigeons) ruin our efforts with a few well-placed “bombs.” The commercial is relatable, and while we only get fleeting shots of the Nissan Maxima, we know that it’s quick enough to outrun some rats with wings.
BMW’s Newfangled Idea – 2015
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Way back in 1994, Today Show hosts Katie Couric and Bryant Gumbel famously tried to understand what the Internet was while on the air. It was a bit embarrassing for the hosts because they clearly had no idea what they were talking about. That interaction is the basis for a 2015 BMW i3 ad in which Couric and Gumbel try to parse what an electric vehicle is and how it’s built in a wind-powered factory. It’s meta and to be honest, we’re still having these EV conversations with friends.
Toyota’s The Longest Chase – 2016
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Toyota’s Prius isn’t known for its speed or agility, or really for being all that cool. Initially, the idea of using the hybrid as a bank-job getaway vehicle seems like a recipe for incarceration. But the vehicle’s ability to keep going while a fleet of cop cars have to stop for gas makes for an enjoyable series of ads that ran during the 2016 Super Bowl. Of course, the good guys win in the end by fighting fire with fire using a cop-car Prius.
Volkswagen’s Tree – 2001
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This commercial featuring the VW Golf GTI requires some patience, but it’s worth it. The single piece of dialogue—”Next time, let the clutch out easier”—is one of the best payoffs in automotive ad history.
Plymouth’s Road Runner – 1969
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Way back in 1969 during Super Bowl III, Plymouth aired this ad for the Plymouth Road Runner featuring Looney Tunes’cartoon characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. It might be a little too literal, using the animated critters to sell the car, but it was the ’60s, and any ad with a Plymouth Road Runner should be celebrated.
Jeep’s Snow – 1995
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You never see the Jeep, but you know what’s going on.
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A Connecticut dealer just sold a brand-new Lotus Evora S coupe after having it in stock for seven years.
We’re calling this the oldest new car sold in the U.S. Prove us wrong! The 2014 model now has an expired warranty, and it was sold for $20,000 under sticker.
Don’t worry, dealer Steve Plona’s got other Lotus cars for sale, including the next-oldest: a 2018 Evora 400.
Steve Plona just sold a new Lotus Evora—and it took him only seven years to do it.
Omitting the last Lexus LFA that’s presumably still out there, this 2014 Evora S 2+2 was unofficially the oldest new car for sale in America until a few days ago. How on earth could a $90,000 sports car sit unsold in Connecticut, a state brimming with wealthy sports-car owners, under three U.S. presidents? Forget a moment that it’s a new Lotus—an obscurity that doesn’t quite age like a good French champagne—and instead picture this white-on-black coupe as one man’s quiet dissent.
“It was a protest to some schemes of the pricing people had,” said Plona, general manager for Secor Lotus in New London. “I think it’s an undervalued brand.”

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The buyer was an Elise owner from Long Island, New York, who claimed the car for about $70,000, he said. The factory warranty is expired. The tires, engine oil, and battery are original. But that sounds worse than it is. Plona said he plugged in a trickle charger, overfilled the tires to avoid rot, and changed all fluids except for the synthetic oil, which he kept for the new owner to change out at the 1000-mile engine break-in. Every so often, Plona would take the Evora out from climate-controlled storage to let it run. The odometer clocked less than 100 miles.

Secor Lotus

“There were a lot of dealers that were deeply discounting those cars,” he said. “I thought that was hurting the brand.”

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2020 Lotus Evora GT

Plona’s discount, seven years on, is roughly what many Lotus dealers were doling out in 2014. Steep depreciation and a near-invisible presence have made modern life hard for Lotus dealers. Yet the U.S. is the company’s number-two market behind Germany, and North America is the number-one region. Lotus sales were great in 2020—a couple hundred, according to Plona—and so were his dealership sales: seven, both new and used.

Secor Lotus

It’s not like Lotus the company has been in a hurry. The Evora’s door card shows a December 2013 build date, noting the airbag exemption that would expire shortly after. Lotus didn’t install a passenger airbag with a child sensor in time, so it stopped importing cars into the U.S. for an entire year. In 2014, we asked then CEO Jean-Marc Gales about this little problem, who “insisted there is enough inventory of ’14-spec Evoras to meet demand until the new model arrives.” Lord, was Gales right.
When the Evora debuted in 2010, Lotus was on top of the world supplying Tesla with Elise bodies. The British automaker soon promised a five-car lineup and made music producer Swizz Beatz a vice-president. Then the world fell. The company’s board fired the CEO and went without one for nearly two years. Its two prime cars, the Elise and Exige, failed to meet U.S. emissions and safety rules. They left the U.S. in 2011 and only returned five years later as track-only specials. Chinese automaker Geely bought Lotus from a Malaysian investment group in 2017 and now promises a 2000-hp electric hypercar.
“People in the know, they know what the brand is and its storied past,” Plona said. But there aren’t many, which means Plona will happily valet cars for service—one customer lives more than 100 miles away in Massachusetts—and keep those people from buying a Porsche.
Plona’s devotion to customers and refusal to underprice might make him this country’s staunchest Lotus advocate, or maybe he’s just the rare car salesman who exercises patience. He loves the Evora. He’s got seven new GT models in stock, and already he’s on to the next long game: a 2018 Evora 400 in custom Red Velvet paint. Perhaps it might be yours in another few years.

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As of the exact moment we’re writing this, COVID-19 hasn’t forced any Tampa Bay or Kansas City players out of Sunday’s Super Bowl. That could change in an instant. Just ask Kansas City’s barber.
The unpredictability and unknowns of pandemic life have, however, impacted the Super Bowl’s most reliable players: its advertisers. “In a normal year, Super Bowl advertising resembles a multiple-car pileup,” AdAge wrote this week.
Fiat Chrysler alone aired five Super Bowl ads in 2018. In the past five years, Audi has aired four spots, Kia five, Hyundai six—not including two from Genesis. Fiat Chrysler aired nine to tout four of its nameplates, and Toyota aired eight, plus two more from Lexus.

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This year is going to look different. Audi, Kia, Hyundai, Genesis, and Porsche are all going to be on the sidelines. No Volkswagen (so no adorable Darth Vader). No BMW or Mercedes-Benz or Lexus. By Ad Age’s count, in 2018, 11 automotive brands advertised during the Super Bowl. This year that number is three or four, depending on how you want to count GM and Cadillac. They’ll be joined Sunday by Jeep and Toyota. Volvo won’t have an ad, but it will give away $2 million worth of cars if there’s a safety in the game.
It isn’t just auto manufacturers wrestling with how to manage TV’s biggest ad stage in the midst of a pandemic (and ad budgets when spots cost in the neighborhood of $5.5 million for 30 seconds of time). Even Budweiser, the king of Super Bowl advertising with 37 straight years in the game, is sitting 2021 out. Budweiser’s parent company, Anheuser-Busch, is running its first ad, but that one is focused on togetherness.
Ford’s 60-second spot, “Finish Strong,” is a call to stay focused—and together— as we continue to work to move past the coronavirus. Coming after a year when Ford launched three of the most important new models in its lineup, the ad eschews Ford vehicles or even a Ford logo, and the link at the end leads viewers to the philanthropic Ford Motor Company Fund.
Toyota’s 60-second spot, “Upstream,” goes with the same flow, celebrating Toyota-sponsored athlete and Paralympian Jessica Long and hyping the “hope and strength in all of us.”

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GM is the lone product-focused holdout. Cadillac is returning to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2012, pushing its upcoming Lyriq EV. The ad—teased earlier this week—suggests inspiration from the 1990 Tim Burton film Edward Scissorhands. Consistent with a strategy that’s promised a whole bunch of EVs in the coming years, GM’s other ad takes aim at: Norway.
The Scandinavian country is the world leader in EV purchases per capita, and Will Ferrell—GM’s trial-by-combat champion—won’t stand for it. Ferrell lures Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina into battle riding a Cadillac Lyriq and the coming GMC Hummer EV, the trio avoiding bloodshed thanks to being severely geographically challenged. Which is strange considering these EVs will come with the latest navigation systems splayed out on gigundous screens.

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Because we live in a connected world and there’s no reason miss a marketing opportunity, Audi Norway snagged Norwegian Game of Thrones actor Kristofer Hivju for a series of digital spots responding to GM. (Ford also had something to say.) After turning to another Game of Thrones actor last year, Audi isn’t planning an ad during this year’s Super Bowl.
The automotive presence expands slightly if we broaden our definition a touch. Online car shopping service Vroom and floor mat maker WeatherTech are each doing 30-second spots.
Vroom goes to the dark side in imagining what some shoppers feel like when buying a car at a dealer. The scenario might be far-fetched, but we’re sure that for many people, the anxiety isn’t. Still, it’s another wild sign of our times when Vroom felt the need to include “Fictionalization. Do Not Attempt” in small print over a man tied to a chair.
WeatherTech is the only auto industry player to keep its Super Bowl run going, having aired at least one spot for the past five years. Its seventh commercial sticks to the template, selling the floor mats by way of selling the merits of the company and our country.
Finally, there’s Jeep, its parent company now known as Stellantis, and the possibility they have secured an American icon for a spot scheduled for the second half. What to make of the rumors that Bruce Springsteen might finally be up for a little marketing of something other than a record or a show?
An Automotive News report pieced together digital clues that Bruce Springsteen was in Nebraska for a shoot. The rumor is it’s for Jeep—perhaps the new Grand Cherokee? Stellantis ad chief Oliver François loves making big plays. Last year it was actor Bill Murray in a reprise of his Groundhog Day role. In 2011, it was rapper Eminem in an ad titled, “Imported from Detroit.”
Has François secured an artist who’s declined to use his music and his person in ads for more than 40 years? If so, that could be the play of the game, having turned a Hail Mary into a Hail Bruce.
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Ford announced a $29 billion investment in EVs and autonomous vehicles through 2025.
In the future, the majority of Ford vehicles will be electric, while traditional gasoline powertrains will be augmented with hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains.
Ford is joining GM and others in heavily investing in electric and autonomous vehicles to compete with Tesla.
Ford announced during its fourth-quarter earnings report that it will invest $22 billion in electric vehicles and $7 billion in autonomous vehicles through 2025. The electric-vehicle stake is an increase over the $10 billion already pledged to help Ford compete in the race to bring electric vehicles into the mainstream.

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In part, Ford may be throwing the money down to compete with GM’s bigelectrification goals, but it stopped short of announcing exactly when, or if, it will transition to an all-electric passenger-vehicle fleet as General Motors has pledged to do. What it has announced is that a majority of its vehicles will be EVs, with some of its offerings having hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains.

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GM announced last week that it will aspire to eliminate all gas and diesel light-duty vehicles by 2035. GM said it plans to invest $27 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles by 2025. GM, Ford, and others that have made similar investments and pledges to electrify their fleets are competing with Tesla which has a huge head start in the EV world. The EV-only automaker boasts the top-selling electric vehicles with ranges that still dwarf offerings from any traditional OEM.
While Ford is working on its own vehicles, it has also invested $500 million in EV startup Rivian. In 2019, the two companies announced a plan to build a Ford vehicle using the startup’s platform. However, in 2020, a planned electric Lincoln built with Rivian technology was canceled, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During its announcement, Ford also reminded us that the electric version of its cash cow, the F-150, is slated to go into production in mid-2022.
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This week, we revealed the results of our annual Lightning Lap track event, which puts the hottest new vehicles of the day through the stress test that is Virginia International Raceway (VIR). This got the Window Shop crew thinking: For $35K, which used car would get us around VIR the quickest today? Ideally, we’d want to find something that could turn a lap in under 3:04.0, the current Lightning Lap record for sub-$35,000 vehicles, set by a 2016 Camaro V-6 1LE.
Contributor John Pearley Huffman, who was a little under the weather this week and not his shouty self, selected a 464-hp hellion: a primo Cadillac ATS-V sedan. Pearley actually found two ATS-Vs, but the second one looks like someone applied Rhino Lining to its exterior. We tried to convince him that this isn’t show worthy, but you’ll get to see it anyway.
Testing director Dave VanderWerp, who hasn’t been on the show in months, put forth a high-mileage 2014 Camaro Z/28 that sent our jaws to the floor. Two of us picked Chevrolet Corvettes because when you want to go fast on a track on a budget, the answer is pretty much always Corvette.
The sole non-GM choice came from contributor Jonathon Ramsey. His 2013 BMW M6 features a 560-hp twin-turbo V-8, and depreciation that has brought the once six-figure price down to $35,000.
If you’ve watched before, you’ll know that we regularly spend a lot of time obsessing over random details, such as what kind of tires the owner put on the car. This week is no different. Expect a lot of tire talk. So much tire talk. You’ve been warned.
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