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The upcoming season of Mad Men is on its way, and with it a whole new set of questions and expectations. One question that boggles my mind is: What car would Don Draper drive?
Considering that he’s now a divorced advertising executive, with at least some sort of grasp of what’s new and hip. He currently drives a ’62 Coupe De Ville, a car that may be considered aspirational, but perhaps not really that hip. The only true cool car in the neigborhood is his former father in law’s beautiful black Continental. Come 1964, what kind of car would Don be after? An MGB? A Studebaker Avanti? Porsche? Buick Riviera? There’s also the notion of being “there” but making the wrong decision and betting on the wrong horses. Having the Nixon account in ’60 against Kennedy. Lucky Strike. Missing the window of opportunity that was the Volkswagen ad campaign, and so on and so forth. So, his car of choice would probably be spot on, but coming in from the leftfield, or perhaps even missing the target altogether. Like a turbocharged Chevrolet Monza, if you get my drift. So, what car would it be? And why?
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Buick Riviera, cause the man knows a good thing when he sees it. He won’t fall for that bloated pig Ford calls Thunderbird, even with it’s aircraft/spaceship cockpit.
+1
I’d say a Rivera, as well, except you couldn’t get one in a drop-top until the eighties. Likewise, I doubt he’d move down market from a Cadillac to a Pontiac of any type.
The Flare-Bird isn’t too bad a choice except the 390 was an absolute stone until the 428 was offered in 1966, and I doubt he’d be willing to wait that long.
So that leaves a suicide-door Lincoln or a Chrysler. Of the two, I’d go with the latter, specifically a letter-series 300 (they made them until 1965) convertible. It’s a lot more of a ‘businessman’s express’ than the Continental.
DB5.
Easy.
http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z12007/Pontiac-Grand-Prix.aspx
Pontiac was “it” in the 1960’s. The early GP was hot, clean and timeless.
+1.
A guy in our neighborhood had one. Ex- Army Ranger, in management for the Westinghouse plant in our area. Had a beautiful wife, house with a pool, all the hallmarks of by-your-own-bootstraps of success.
The GP was gold, 8 lug wheels, console mounted tach, the whole rack. His weekend ride was a ’32 five window highboy with a warmed up 327 and 4 speed.
Sometime in the early 70’s he realized that manufacturing was not the place to be anymore, and bought himself a McDonalds. 40 years later, he has a slew of McD’s (and Panetta Breads, Boston Markets) in NE Ohio. Probably has more money than God, or at least Warren Buffett (just kidding about the God thing, OK? No flames please).
What does he drive now? A Ford Explorer.
Don Draper in a black 64 GP. Hells yes.
A Rolls? I’m not sure they were all that much more expensive than a Cadillac.
I was thinking 1964 Cadillac but the ’62 is much, much more attractive. The ’64’s were sort of ugly, in fact.
Maybe an Olds Starfire? The ’64 Olds were attractive cars with clean lines that suggested substance, if not outrageous amounts of money.
In 1964 I turned 16. Regular Cadillacs ran $5000+. A Rolls Royce of that era was about twice as much. In the late Fifties, Cadillac built a limited edition Eldorado Brougham that cost $13,000.
I don’t know very much about the television show Mad Men. What the character would have driven, was driven as much by social status calculations as anything. Long term leases and 60 month loans were unknown at that era. Cadillacs were for Company presidents. An up and coming VP would not have presumed. He might have drive an Olds or a Buick, but probably not the larger 225 or 98.
I don’t see the show much but I happened to see the episode where Draper purchased the Cadillac convertible. It seems that one of the more senior partners encouraged him to a Cadillac.
I couldn’t remember the price of a Rolls back then and, no matter the price, it would probably be above Draper’s station, so to speak.
If he needed to carry business associates, it’d be a Continental Convertible.
If not, definitely a Jaguar XKE.
+1 on the E-type Jaguar. “The finest crumpet collector known to man.”
Doh! I’m still working through season 2 of Mad Men via Netflix. Spoilt’d!
Ooops! Sorry!
I only mentioned it, because I thought it would have impact on his choice of cars.
Don’t apologize! It’s his fault for not watching the show up ’till now!
I understand the advent of time – shifting has pretty much killed the art of water cooler discussion of the last night’s show, but there has to be a Statute of Limitations on when it’s proper to talk about a show or movie.
For example, should it be off limits to say that Leonardo DiCaprio’s character died in “Titanic”, or that “Citizen Kane”‘s “Rosebud” was his sled?
I’m so hooked on the show it didn’t even cross my mind that anyone could’ve missed out. It is as you say, the talk of the town these days…
Rosebud? Sled? You ruined that for me too.
Mad Men is like reliving my life at an Ad Agency back in the 60’s. It is so parallel I must have worked with the writer. Anyway I can tell you being a car freak since 4, I knew what all these guys were driving then. First, they were all 4 doors, and they went something like this:
Cad D’Ville
Lincoln Continental
Buick Electra
The wives all had the wagon wood sided versions.
Keep in mind, execs came from Connecticut and upstate N.Y. The weather was harsh and no one had a foreign car if they counted on driving into the City.
The other day I was reading about the favorable view Matthew Weiner (the show’s creator) has regarding the social revolution of the 1960’s, so perhaps it’s time for Don to start breaking on through to the other side, at least on days when he doesn’t have to lug around more than one ratracer like himself:
http://image.corvettefever.com/f/9716299/corp_0802_01_z%2Bvette_rod_guide%2B1964_corvette_rear_view.jpg
Don actually reminds me of John DeLorean. Perhaps if he got into the whole muscle car thing? He seemed ready to embrace the hot rod world of California in season 2, perhaps he would embrace the muscle car era with equal gusto? A Pontiac GTO perhaps?
Considering Weiners love for all things Hitchcock, especially Vertigo and North by Northwest, perhaps some foreign stock would be appropriate? A Mercedes perhaps? Or a Jaguar? Tom Ford was inspired of those films and of Mad Men as well, for his film A Single Man, which featured a pontoon-era Mercedes Coupe. A car, which I believe, would have been as expensive as the most expensive Cadillac during that time. So, perhaps a 300SE Coupe or Convertible, then?
A Riviera if he wants a hardtop, and a Wildcat if he wants his car (and his date) to go topless.
+1 on the Wildcat drop-top (though the ’65 I had was a silver hardtop)
I don’t watch the show but I would say Buick Riveria or if you want something ‘leftfield’ then the Studebaker Avanti.
A Pontiac would be too blue collar I would have thought, but then he might get caught up in the Mustang craze when April 64 comes round!!
Split-window Corvette or Riviera. I don’t think he’s a convertible guy-he doesn’t like to reveal himself…
1964 Chrysler Crown Imperial Convertible
It’s 1964?
Easy (if he dares to be different). Chrysler 300K.
It has everything going for it. Youthful image, exclusivity (3,022 coupes and 625 convertibles built), big powerful engine (413 cu in (6.8 L) Wedge with 360 hp (available “cross-ram” was extra-cost option for the 300K only giving it more exclusivity).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_300_letter_series#1964_300K
I originally said the ’64 300K convertible, too, but after seeing the picture (I thought the ’64 had the ’65 body), I change my vote to the Imperial Crown convertible.
A couple of things about DD: He is filthy stinking rich, especially after the sale of the Agency. Money is no object. He commutes by train almost exclusively. He wants what nobody else can get. I stick by DB5, or perhaps a Jag.
Yeah, but that is too much ivy league. He’s essentially a self-made man of humble roots, he don’t really care for such things. He saves his money in a drawer in his study, five grand in bundles of cash, he doesn’t really know what to do with them. A DB5 or a Jag, that’s Betty talking, if she hade the means…
I’m figuring on a Mustang. Wouldn’t that be the perfect car? Would it be such a trade-down from a Cadillac? Considering how “democratic” the brand cachet of the Mustang was? I could see him in a baby blue notchback, with the 289.
@Ingvar but when it comes down to it, isn’t a 1st Generation Mustang just a Falcon in a realy nice suit? DD is smart enough to know that and given the way you described him (humble origins, self made) might that hit just a little too close to home?
(Damn I put way too much effort into analyzing that!)
@educatordan: (By the way, I always read it educate-or-dan for some reason… ) Yes, but I was thinking more of the “buzz” thing of it all. The Mustang was an immediate success, Falcon roots be damned, they sold over a million in its first 18 month run. As an ad man, I think he would be intruiged and hooked by the buzz and craze, I think a man like that would have the desire to be a part of that. Someone must’ve bought all those cars at once…
Excellent counterpoint. (BTW your reading is better than when I first started to go online back in the mid 1990s and many told me; “Oh I love Ecuadorians!” {face palm})
I figured that Dan person must be what’s standing in your doorway when you’re on your way out skipping school. Educate… or Dan…
I don’t think he’s too fond of the brits in general. My guess is a shelby 350 gt with machine guns and a smoke screen sprayer thing. And an in dash scotch dispenser.
I doubt Don would touch a British car, too much animosity towards the Brits who took over the agency.
@educatordan “…and many told me; “Oh I love Ecuadorians!” {face palm})
LOL
…so what do you have against Ecuadorians?
On topic, Don’s a dark guy and getting darker; my vote goes to the Continental.
Nothing against Ecuadorians, I’m an EDUCATOR not an Ecuadorian. Although if I’m disturbed by the American publics poor comprehension skills, it only means those in my profession need to work harder.
sorry, dan – it was one of those jokes that needed a wry smile when spoken. I loved the irony implicit in the confusion of “educator” and “ecuadorian”. Great story!
Rich people don’t overanalyze these things like most of the posters here. A rich person like Don Draper would either order up another Cadillac (note that he bought the 62 Cad without even a test drive) or a Lincoln like President Kennedy drives (or is driven in).
I would not find it believable that he would do anything else.
Bob
I can recall reading somewhere that GM did an study in the late 60s and realized (much to their suprize) that a greater # of milliares drove Buicks than Cadillacs. The buyers perception was that a Buick indicated you had arrived without being as flashy or ostentatious as a Caddy.
I second that notion. It’s the same with the old Jeep Wagoneer, the buyer demographic of that car showed that the buyers was in the highest income percentile, more so than for any other car, double that of the second car in line. A second or third car in the household, the perfect car to have all year around in the second or third home in Aspen. It’s the same with the Range Rover in England. There actually was a sticker for Aston Martin owners to put on their Range Rovers, “My other car is an Aston Martin”, as studies showed that the Range Rover was the most common second car for Aston Martin owners.
I’m going to go with Corvette convertible. Specifically for picking up the chicks. He’s a newly divorced man, he’s starting a new chapter in his life both personally and professionally. Time to remake himself.
Don Draper is OLD SCHOOL! Although he is in an ad agency, you see that he is at the top in his department and at his agency. HE doesn’t look for the newest thing, he has people do that for him.
Don Draper is NOT cutting edge. He does NOT have the ability to anticipate the 1960s – that is what the entire show is all about right now.
As a Korean War veteran in the ad business at the top of his game, Don Draper would choose a conservative man’s car such as a Lincoln Continental, a Cadillac, Chrysler or even an Imperial. To Don, bigger is still better. He may look like a playboy to you, and he lives the playboy life on the side – but Don Draper is a giant poser, an ad guy who doesn’t even use his real name. He got where he is by playing an image in public. He won’t let the public see him as a playboy. No sports cars or personal luxury cars for Don Draper.
Don Draper’s auto sense, (remember he was a used car salesman), was formed in the late 1940s, early 1950s. So expecting Don Draper to listen to his young staffer’s love for the latest 1960’s products doesn’t fit. THEY will drive those Pontiacs, Corvairs, Beetles, and Ramblers – not Don Draper.
I second that, and I tried to describe that in the opening paragraph, though you described it so much better.
Another question can be – “What would Don Draper drive TODAY?”
Answer – a BMW, a Volvo, or a Lexus if he chose to go foreign.
A Cadillac if he chose domestically.
I just don’t see Draper driving something that’s not American. It’s not his style.
So now that he’s divorced, or at least separated, my vote goes to a Corvette.
I’d have to go with a ’64 Riviera, but then I’m a bit biased, aren’t I? (see icon)
Don Draper will simply trade in his ’62 Coupe De Ville on another ’63 or ’64. With his purchase of the ’62 he announced to the early sixties world that he has arrived. There is no need to change brands. Cadillac was still an aspirational brand throughout the 1960’s. Another thing to consider is that he is a divorced father of two kids. A Mustang, Thunderbird, Riviera, Corvette, or any imported sports car would not work well for his situation.