To herald the launch of the second-gen Celica and Carina, Toyota France came up with an ingenious way to pique the interest of potential buyers. They mailed out tiny vinyl records with messages asking customers to come down to the dealer and see the new arrivals. The clever part, however, was that the record’s cardboard envelope transformed into a self-contained, hand-powered record player.
The top flap of the envelope apparently has a small record needle embedded in its edge. When folded properly, the needle meets the record, which has a small indentation perfectly sized for a fingertip. The potential Toyota buyer sticks their finger in the dimple to spin the record, and voila, the record’s contents can be heard with no electricity whatsoever.
The short recording basically says that the new Celica coupé is now available at Toyota dealers in five variants, and the Carina in four. Both are beautiful, sporty, practical, comfortable, spacious, and well-finished. It finishes by asking the listener to come in for a test drive. When it finished we half expected the whole thing to self-destruct, Mission: Impossible-style.
The flyer was likely mailed out in late 1977 or early 1978 given the newness of the models. The second-generation Celica in particular became quite a respected rally machine in France. Jean-Luc Thérier and Michel Vial won back-to-back national titles in France’s Rallyes sur Terre in 1979 and 1980 driving an A40 Celica, beating out rivals like the Ford Escort RS, Talbot Sunbeam Lotus, and Renault 5 Alpine.
The novel mailer was posted to social media by Jean Pierre de Oliveira, and it appears to be the only item on his account. We don’t blame him, because this nifty piece of vintage advertising definitely deserves to be shared.
Images: Jean Pierre de Oliveira; Michel Vial.
Fantastique!
I was expecting an engine sound but maybe engine recordings on records was out of fashion by the time the Celica came out.