That Time When Ford Claimed The 1965 Galaxie Rode Quieter Than A Rolls-Royce

  I love old cars and old print ads for cars. One of my biggest obsessions in automotive marketing tactics, is when Ford Claimed the 1965 Ford Galaxie rode quieter than a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. When I first saw a picture of one of the print ads claiming this, it struck me as very odd. Why would a mainstream American car brand compare one of their cars to an ultra luxury car? Can a Ford Galaxie really ride quieter than a Rolls-Royce?
  In terms of speaking of what got the public confused about these ads was the definition of riding quieter. They weren't taking shots at the engine sound. They were comparing how the 1965 Ford Galaxie had a quieter interior ride than the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud. The comparison was saying that it's less noisy inside a 1965 Ford Galaxie than it is in a Silver Cloud.

A 1965 Ford Galaxie ad.

  This may all seem silly and frivolous for a company like Ford to compare their cars to a prestigious brand such as Rolls-Royce. Price wise they aren't even in the same category. I still find it odd that Ford attacked Rolls-Royce for being the noisy one.
  The comparison test for interior noise wasn't exactly a fair test. It was more like bringing a gun to a knife fight. For instance at the time when these cars were new, the Silver Cloud's design dated back to the late 50s. Whereas the Ford Galaxie was a completely new design. The Silver Cloud's design and engineering was already 10 years old at the time of the comparison test. So Rolls-Royce was using antiquated technology. By comparing a new Ford to a Rolls-Royce that had a dated design wasn't really a fair comparison test. It was fun though.
  I wonder if the marketing people at Ford thought they could take jabs at potential Rolls-Royce buyers when they came up with this ad campaign. Seriously does a modern day Ford Fusion ride quieter than a Rolls-Royce Ghost? I would wonder how well these ads would render in today's world. You don't see car companies with print ads attacking another car brand that is out of their category doing this sort of thing anymore. Surely you see it in commercials, but they never mention the name of the competitor, they only give you the gist of what brand that car is.

The 1980 Ford LTD Vs Rolls-Royce

  I thought that the Ford Galaxie rides quieter than a Rolls-Royce ad campaign was pretty cool say to speak. It didn't just happen in 1965 either. In 1980 Ford did the same exact thing with their LTD comparing it to a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow. Heck even AMC took shots at Rolls-Royce comparing their Matador against a Silver Shadow. I don't know why American car companies wanted to take shots at Rolls-Royce. Looking back it's comical to see these old ads. I think they are pretty cool.