The commercials back then were definetly full of bull excrement. That mpg number of 30 was in a car with no A/C and going downhill in neutral I'm sure. Also, I'm not so sure Linus is going to wipe Pigpen's boogers off the car with his sacred blanket. I used to go to school with a kid who had a early 70's Dart (similiar car) what a piece of pizza car, pretty embarresing to drive in that thing when all the rich Italian kids had their own corvettes and cadillacs, but I digress.
My sister had a 61 white Ford Falcon. I did a 360 on ice with it, and lost and smashed 2 hub caps on a road divider. She was just ready to trade it in on a new Ford. What happened to the hub caps she asked ? Gee, I don't know where they went .... .LOL !
My mother had a Falcon when I was very young, back around 1967 or 1968. She bought it used. It was only 3 or 4 years old but was already almost rusted out. I love those old cars, but they weren't really built to last and a lot of them had real rusting problems. It was planned obsolescence.
I saw a 1970 Volkswagen van. Like Fillmore from the movie Cars, but different colors. Anyway, this is a neat commercial!!! Ford lives up to it's name, back in the sixties.
I had a 60 Falcon 144, and I never got 30 mpg. When it had the fordomatic, it would get 15-17 unless I was driving it in the mountains. Then it got maybe 10-12. I converted to 3 speed manual & 15 in wheels & it would do about 24 on a good run if I kept it under 75-80 mph. I sold it to my Dad & he put in a 170 crank assy, 60 thou overbore, & got near 30 mpg plus a lot more power. I always fancied putting in a 200 or 250 with a higher speed axle, but never got around to it. Fun car, though.
30 mpg eh? That's purdy funny. With the 170 you'd be lucky to get 20 mpg. Though the 144 with the manual trans, that would, more than likely, get you more mpg being a smaller motor and a manual. I wish I had one of these.
@61thirftpower I'll go one better....gas stations in Detroit (on Woodward Ave.) would have "gas wars," which mean they would have competitive pricing. Gasoline was as cheap as 18.9 cents/gallon!
@61thirftpower It still costs a few dimes a gallon!!!! If you use dimes from 1961... they are 90% silver and worth about $2.00 each right now. Gas didn't go up. Our fake money (since 1964) is losing value.
Respond to this video... It still costs a few dimes a gallon!!!! If you use dimes from 1961... they are 90% silver and worth about $2.00 each right now. Gas didn't go up. Our fake money (since 1964) is losing value. RON PAUL 2012
Hmmm, the 61' Falcon got 30 mpg? You'd think if Ford really cared theyed be able to improve gas mileage in 50 years. To bad they're in deep with big oil so that will never happen.
A six cylinder Falcon with manual transmission may have gotten that kind of mileage, but not likely. It was a light car that was free from any emission controls, no PCV, no EGR valve, no catalyst. No retard on the ignition, either. It was a lot easier to get good gas mileage back in those days. It has nothing to do with "big oil" and more to do with big government requiring all those emission controls that shot gas mileage way down.
Robert S. McNamara, the future Secretary of Defense, was the Ford executive behind the Falcon. It was ahead of its time as a practical compact. And it was somewhat sporty.
The Falcon was the star of the Ford lineup until Mustang showed up in '64 and stole the show.......Now the only "Falcon" that's famous is Balloon Boy!!!
The incomplete opening is an introduction (also available elsewhere, in black and white) where Charlie Brown mimes Paul Frees' voice in introducing "THE FORD SHOW STARRING TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD", as Linus watches over the phonograph. Frees is also the announcer in the extended Ford ad that follows (which was seen on Ernie's program during his final season). The "Peanuts" gang appeared in Ford ads {TV and print} from 1959 through '64.
One of the Peanuts characters wrote a song for a Falcon ad, I think it was rock and roll. I'll start looking to see if that turns up here. Great cars, great ads!
Before the documentary was completed, the three of them (with help from their sponsor, the Coca-Cola Company) produced their first half-hour animated special, the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning A Charlie Brown Christmas, which was first aired on the CBS network in 1965.
The ads were animated by Bill Melendez for Playhouse Pictures, a cartoon studio that had Ford as a client. Schulz and Melendez became friends, and when producer Lee Mendelson decided to make a two-minute animated sequence for a TV documentary called A Boy Named Charlie Brown in 1963, he brought on Melendez for the project.
In addition to the strip itself and numerous books, the Peanuts characters have appeared in animated form on television many times. This started when the Ford Motor Company licensed the characters in 1961 for a series of black and white commercials for the Ford Falcon.
I just checked and strange thing is the eariliest TV show I can fine for Charlie Brown is "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" in 1965. So why they are in a 1961 Commercial is beyond me. In 65 Pig Pen was done by Geoffrey Ornstein and Peter Robbins.
It's interesting that a minor character like Pig-Pen would make a major appearence in early Peanuts animation. His voice sounds almost like Charlie Brown's in this segment, I wonder if it's the same child actor?
I love the Falcon.....that '61 was the coooolest car! That was the definition of a Better Idea!
BeatleBangs1964 1 month ago
Had one, only way to get 30 mpg is if 10 of the miles are downhill in neutral
Srd1126 3 months ago
The commercials back then were definetly full of bull excrement. That mpg number of 30 was in a car with no A/C and going downhill in neutral I'm sure. Also, I'm not so sure Linus is going to wipe Pigpen's boogers off the car with his sacred blanket. I used to go to school with a kid who had a early 70's Dart (similiar car) what a piece of pizza car, pretty embarresing to drive in that thing when all the rich Italian kids had their own corvettes and cadillacs, but I digress.
verbusen 5 months ago
30 mpg in 1961? On the Falcon?
Badchoicesmade 7 months ago
My sister had a 61 white Ford Falcon. I did a 360 on ice with it, and lost and smashed 2 hub caps on a road divider. She was just ready to trade it in on a new Ford. What happened to the hub caps she asked ? Gee, I don't know where they went .... .LOL !
sr633 8 months ago
My mother had a Falcon when I was very young, back around 1967 or 1968. She bought it used. It was only 3 or 4 years old but was already almost rusted out. I love those old cars, but they weren't really built to last and a lot of them had real rusting problems. It was planned obsolescence.
RRaquello 8 months ago
That is a very beautiful car and definitely a Better Idea! I love that car. I mean, I really love it.
BeatleBangs1964 9 months ago
30 miles per gallon isn't all that great tbh... Then again, this was 50 years ago...
Nonetheless, it's really weird to see the Peanuts characters animated BEFORE the Christmas special...
CloudPanda568 1 year ago
@CloudPanda568 compared to some cars today,that's actually good
84Bronco351 9 months ago
I saw a 1970 Volkswagen van. Like Fillmore from the movie Cars, but different colors. Anyway, this is a neat commercial!!! Ford lives up to it's name, back in the sixties.
TheKwacie 1 year ago
I had a 60 Falcon 144, and I never got 30 mpg. When it had the fordomatic, it would get 15-17 unless I was driving it in the mountains. Then it got maybe 10-12. I converted to 3 speed manual & 15 in wheels & it would do about 24 on a good run if I kept it under 75-80 mph. I sold it to my Dad & he put in a 170 crank assy, 60 thou overbore, & got near 30 mpg plus a lot more power. I always fancied putting in a 200 or 250 with a higher speed axle, but never got around to it. Fun car, though.
mrfarmerjimbob 1 year ago
30 mpg eh? That's purdy funny. With the 170 you'd be lucky to get 20 mpg. Though the 144 with the manual trans, that would, more than likely, get you more mpg being a smaller motor and a manual. I wish I had one of these.
redneckfordman94 1 year ago
I still remember my father storming out of a gas station because he didn't need gas bad enough to pay forty cents a gallon for it!
TheSanityInspector 1 year ago
@TheSanityInspector LOL! Things hv really changed; people wud die 4 gas @ 40 cents a gallon these days! :)
lizzysan22 10 months ago
the opening jingle is bloody epic souding and pig pen ftw
motherbrain86 1 year ago
How much was Gasoline in 1961? How much was a 1961 Ford falcon?
Sheri451 1 year ago
@Sheri451
Base price was $2,236. Gas was 31cents a gallon!
61thirftpower 1 year ago
@61thirftpower I'll go one better....gas stations in Detroit (on Woodward Ave.) would have "gas wars," which mean they would have competitive pricing. Gasoline was as cheap as 18.9 cents/gallon!
jsbach15 8 months ago
@61thirftpower It still costs a few dimes a gallon!!!! If you use dimes from 1961... they are 90% silver and worth about $2.00 each right now. Gas didn't go up. Our fake money (since 1964) is losing value.
zumadale 4 months ago
Respond to this video... It still costs a few dimes a gallon!!!! If you use dimes from 1961... they are 90% silver and worth about $2.00 each right now. Gas didn't go up. Our fake money (since 1964) is losing value. RON PAUL 2012
zumadale 4 months ago
1:38 I like the pink and white color scheme of that one car! LOL I'm such a girl!
HCShannon 1 year ago
pigpen RAWKSSSSSSSS
motherbrain86 1 year ago
Hmmm, the 61' Falcon got 30 mpg? You'd think if Ford really cared theyed be able to improve gas mileage in 50 years. To bad they're in deep with big oil so that will never happen.
joesephwind 2 years ago
@joesephwind
A six cylinder Falcon with manual transmission may have gotten that kind of mileage, but not likely. It was a light car that was free from any emission controls, no PCV, no EGR valve, no catalyst. No retard on the ignition, either. It was a lot easier to get good gas mileage back in those days. It has nothing to do with "big oil" and more to do with big government requiring all those emission controls that shot gas mileage way down.
RabidKoala 1 year ago
Robert S. McNamara, the future Secretary of Defense, was the Ford executive behind the Falcon. It was ahead of its time as a practical compact. And it was somewhat sporty.
tonywallacess45 2 years ago
falcons are wonderful i own a 1962 ford falcon and i am a chick!
thischarmingruby 2 years ago
That was Paul Frees talking to the kids, no?
torgman 2 years ago
Yes it is. Read the comments below.
61thirftpower 2 years ago
@torgman Paul Frees, the man of a thousand voices.
tonywallacess45 2 years ago
The Falcon was the star of the Ford lineup until Mustang showed up in '64 and stole the show.......Now the only "Falcon" that's famous is Balloon Boy!!!
jed6271 2 years ago
The incomplete opening is an introduction (also available elsewhere, in black and white) where Charlie Brown mimes Paul Frees' voice in introducing "THE FORD SHOW STARRING TENNESSEE ERNIE FORD", as Linus watches over the phonograph. Frees is also the announcer in the extended Ford ad that follows (which was seen on Ernie's program during his final season). The "Peanuts" gang appeared in Ford ads {TV and print} from 1959 through '64.
fromthesidelines 2 years ago
That is the COOOOOOOOOOOOLEST car! I just LOVE that Better Idea!
BeatleBangs1964 2 years ago
One of the Peanuts characters wrote a song for a Falcon ad, I think it was rock and roll. I'll start looking to see if that turns up here. Great cars, great ads!
64098 2 years ago
Before the documentary was completed, the three of them (with help from their sponsor, the Coca-Cola Company) produced their first half-hour animated special, the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning A Charlie Brown Christmas, which was first aired on the CBS network in 1965.
61thirftpower 2 years ago
The ads were animated by Bill Melendez for Playhouse Pictures, a cartoon studio that had Ford as a client. Schulz and Melendez became friends, and when producer Lee Mendelson decided to make a two-minute animated sequence for a TV documentary called A Boy Named Charlie Brown in 1963, he brought on Melendez for the project.
61thirftpower 2 years ago
I found this too. (3 parts)
In addition to the strip itself and numerous books, the Peanuts characters have appeared in animated form on television many times. This started when the Ford Motor Company licensed the characters in 1961 for a series of black and white commercials for the Ford Falcon.
61thirftpower 2 years ago
I just checked and strange thing is the eariliest TV show I can fine for Charlie Brown is "A Boy Named Charlie Brown" in 1965. So why they are in a 1961 Commercial is beyond me. In 65 Pig Pen was done by Geoffrey Ornstein and Peter Robbins.
61thirftpower 2 years ago
Comment removed
1RichardHunt 2 years ago
Comment removed
1RichardHunt 2 years ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Really? Both of them had a turn as Pig-Pen? That's really interesting. Then I guess it's Peter Robbins in this one, he was mainly Charlie Brown.
1RichardHunt 2 years ago
It's interesting that a minor character like Pig-Pen would make a major appearence in early Peanuts animation. His voice sounds almost like Charlie Brown's in this segment, I wonder if it's the same child actor?
1RichardHunt 2 years ago
I believe there is a 62 Falcon Peanuts commercial kicking around on the web too.
61thirftpower 2 years ago
I had an Australian built 1962 Falcon with the 170 engine.
It was my first car so I will always have fond memories of it.
I bought it before I had my licence and taught myself basic car repair stuff on it.
Great old car!!!
OzzInter 2 years ago
I think the narrator is Paul Frees.
Agentsub 2 years ago
It is Paul Frees!
heine71 2 years ago