Amusing typos in old classifieds

Those of you who were handling and trading these cars in the early days would surely be familiar with the process of placing an ad in the paper. It didn't matter if it was the NY Times, LA Times, Chicago Tribune, etc.

In most cases they were done hastily over the phone, leaving the accuracy of your details solely at the mercy of a harried and overworked secretary. It could have been 1962, it could have been 1971, it didn't matter. The words would be typed in as they corresponded phonetically.

Since many owners at the time were certainly not collectors, they may have been equally to blame for not taking the time to learn the correct pronunciation of words like "Vignale" or even "Barchetta".

In the cases where details were written out on a form and mailed in to be published, (as was the case for Road & Track, Autoweek, Hemmings etc...) there was no guarantee that your lower-cased "a's" wouldn't be interpreted as "o's".

The frequency and the pungency of the typos, perhaps, were also commensurate with the lack of collector interest at the time.

And now, for your enjoyment, here they are:
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Brilliant!! Thanks

 

I remember one car advertised as having appeared in Galavino magazine. Recently spotted a youtube-video where owner described the original color of his car as pinot grigio...

 

Hah, I think I remember that ad too! Was that the car that was driven by "Will Hills" ? XD

One in here from 1986, kind of unforgivable by that point for that kind of typo....
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Very entertaining.Over the years I have collected many of your posts and put copies in the corresponding car file. I don't know how you do it but you make a great contribution to F Chat. Thanks much tongascrew

 

It makes my day to hear this and I'm glad to be a help! My oldest uncle had a close friend who owned a dealership/hot rod tuning shop beginning around 1959/60 (sold the shop & retired in 1996) where he had subscriptions to every conceivable publication. I've scanned and took photos of perhaps tens of thousands of ads, from 2001 onwards to today (I was 13 when I started, rather unusual side project for someone that age I know!) I got a lot of the scanning and cropping done some time ago when I was confined to my bed following an appendectomy.

I have access to most newspapers via ProQuest. A small portion, certainly well under 20%, were actually purchased with my own money.

I've also found many practical applications for this research, as I recognize parallels in other markets, and have improved my investing techniques. I wouldn't be doing this if it was yielding fruitless harvests, though I also get a kick out of sharing them here.

Greg

 

Does the Luffo come with bar soap or body wash?

 

Comes with everything you'd need to freshen up after being too messy with your Bolano.

 

One of the great things about F Chat is abundance of sources of knowledge and interest in these cars.We must always keep in mind who runs this show for us. Keep your stuff coming.The period from 1947 to 1967 is my area with files on just over 2200 s/ns all the even numbers and many of the early odd numbers.Your ads are a great addition to each of these files. tongascrew

 

The cabaret sounds fun!

 

Oh it is! Be sure to tell your family and your Amil Amiga.

 

Amil Amiga = One thousand girlfriends?

Also good to know that the car comes with brakes and paint (and a damn big block),

 

I wonder if the Amil Amiga 166 Barchetta needed some sand bags in the trunk to keep the rear wheels on the ground with that 440 cubic inch engine up front!