We’ve all Heard the Term “Car Guys”, But What Sorts of Vehicles have Been Marketed Just for Women?
Old Car Pictures, originally uploaded by Custom_Cab
This is a very interesting question and one that can get pretty heated, especially when you are telling a guy that the vehicle he is driving was marketed clearly for women. For instance, while there are certain circles of folks that will tell you that the Mazda Miata and the new Volkswagen Beetle were primarily built with the female buyer in mind, many guys like them too. They are small, cute, sporty, easy to drive, and one of them even has a flower vase for crying out loud.
But before we get into a debate what is considered to be feminine, there has really only been a hand full of vehicles which were specifically tailored to fit the female buying market. The Cadillac Eldorado Seville Baroness, Pontiac Pink Parisienne, Chevrolet Impala Martinique, and Dodge Le Femme. Of these, the Le Femme would have to be the favorite of mine.
It was back in the Spring of 1955 when the Dodge division of Chrysler had the grand idea to give the female market their very own option package for their base vehicle, known as the Dodge Royal Lancer. The Dodge Custom Royal Lancer Le Femme, as it became known, was a $145 option guaranteed to make any husband think twice about taking the wheel, especially out in public. The package came with two paint color choices, Sapphire white and Dusty Rose (basically pink).
The interior was given the same feminine treatment with pink upholstery and a nifty handbag designed to fit in the rear of the passenger seat, while maintaining perfect color coordination with the rest of the interior. The car was also customized with a matching pink raincoat, rain hat, and umbrella set. The marketing brochures for the La Femme read, “By Special Appointment to Her Majesty… the American Woman.”
With only 300 made and sold (50 still in existence), this is quite the collectors car as you could imagine. While Dodge claimed the package was quite popular after adopting it for a second year in 1956, they were definitely being a bit optimistic, as even though the population was a lot less back then, 300 sold is certainly not popular by any stretch of the imagination!
