The Dodge La Femme (1955 and 1956):
Here are some pictures of some restored La Femme's:
Check out the pink rosebud patterned upholstery:
It even came with matching accessories!
An umbrella and raincoat:
A compact:
A coin purse:
I think showing this car would be interesting in comparison with the contemporary marketing of feminine guns (see Gwen's post here). The guns look surprisingly like the car.
It would also be interesting, I think, to do a discussion about whether and how they market cars to women today. They do, of course, but the ideal femininity has changed and so, therefore, have the cars. Women, though, haven't changed very much. One of the reasons that the La Femme didn't sell was because women were, frankly, offended.
5 comments:
November 5, 2007 at 6:52 AM
ABC News just posted an article on car sales by gender this morning, actually.
November 17, 2007 at 7:03 PM
You are, frankly, completely mistaken if you believe the La Femme "flopped" because women were offended by it.
At the time of the La Femme, Chrysler was marketing a lot of "dealer showroom" cars aimed at bringing in foot traffic. The Plymouth Fury (1956), the Chrysler 300 (1955), the DeSoto Adventurer (1956), the Dodge D-500, etc.
The La Femme was never intended to sell in great numbers. Rather, Chrysler made it available to every Dodge dealer to showcase in their showroom.
The La Femme was geared towards women in order to pique their interest in Chrysler products. If the women wanted to see the car, they reasoned, correctly, that the increased foot traffic would allow them to sell more of the regular trim levels.
If you look at Chrysler's sales figures in 1955 and 1956, it obviously succeeded.
Nice blog post, but you are incorrect in your assumptions.
November 17, 2007 at 7:14 PM
I appreciate your correction! I am by no means an expert, just parroting what I read on the Dodge LaFemme site. Thanks for the info! Fascinating!
December 1, 2007 at 5:13 PM
Thanks for reading the comment! I am the owner of the Dodge La Femme website and I am pretty sure I don't list it as a failure anywhere. You must have read that somewhere else.
Funnily enough, women today flock to the car at car shows and almost all of them would like to own one if they could find one.
April 17, 2008 at 2:22 PM
Hi- I just saw the LaFemme at the Chrysler museum and it was awesome! Any woman would have killed for that car in the day. As a side note, I am an owner of the purse, contents and original box from Evans who manufactured it. It's a great piece and I am hoping to find a car to purchase for the purse.
Thanks for your insight it's been fun reading. If you could let me know the website of the LaFemme, I would be interested in that.
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