The 50 Best Car Commercials Of All Time

From '60s TV advertisements to modern-day Super Bowl blow outs, we count down the best car commercials to ever grace your television.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

By Matthew Stengel

If you didn't know, car marketing is big business. Never mind the fact that the car industry itself has seen better days; companies are still shelling out millions to get their newest rides in front of our eyes. In 2010, the American automotive industry spent around $19 billion on advertisements. Out of that sum comes all the newspaper and online ads, the magazine pull-outs, and, more importantly, the TV spots that attempt to show cars in an idealized situation.

Though most car commercials simply show a well-lit car driving while a voiceover explains why it's a compelling purchase, there have been a couple throughout history that raised the medium to an art. Whether it's Mercedes-Benz touting its strong history, Volkswagen making people laugh and gasp, truck builders pulling ridiculous stunts, or Audi taking shots at any company in its way, there have fortunately been no shortage of memorable car commercials. With the 2011 CLIO Awards taking place this week, we thought it fitting to tip our fitted to the commercials that made us actually want to buy a car. So ride along with us as we countdown the 50 Best Car Commercials of All Time.

#50. Hyundai, "Like Sunday"

Not Available Interstitial

#49. Pontiac, "Motor Trend Car of the Year"

Not Available Interstitial

#48. Citroen, "Dancing Robot"

Not Available Interstitial

#47. Audi, "Green Police"

Not Available Interstitial

#46. Ford, "C-123 Braking Demo"

Not Available Interstitial

#45. Dodge, "Seven Inches Longer"

Not Available Interstitial

#44. Vauxhall, "Hide-and-Seek"

Not Available Interstitial

#43. Mazda, "A Rotary Goes..."

Not Available Interstitial

#42. Volkswagen, "The Force"

Not Available Interstitial

#41. Chevrolet, "Misunderstanding"

Not Available Interstitial

#40. Isuzu, "Synchronized Driving"

Not Available Interstitial

#39. Mercedes-Benz, "The Beast"

Not Available Interstitial

#38. Kia, "Soul Hamster"

Not Available Interstitial

#37. Pontiac, "Paul Revere & The Raiders"

Not Available Interstitial

#36. Mercedes-Benz, "Crash Test"

Not Available Interstitial

#35. Kia, "Not Your Average"

Not Available Interstitial

#34. Ford, "Peanuts"

Not Available Interstitial

#33. Subaru, "Cheap and Ugly"

Not Available Interstitial

#32. Chevrolet, "Tommy"

Not Available Interstitial

#31. Audi, "Parking"

Not Available Interstitial

#30. BMW, "Ticker"

Not Available Interstitial

#29. Chevrolet, "Bank Robbery"

Not Available Interstitial

#28. Audi, "Release The Hounds"

Not Available Interstitial

#27. Lexus, "Self Parking"

Not Available Interstitial

#26. Ford, "Rock It Like Block"

Not Available Interstitial

#25. Dodge, "Man's Last Stand"

Not Available Interstitial

#24. Mercedes-Benz, "The Race"

Not Available Interstitial

#23. Citroen, "Grace Jones"

Not Available Interstitial

#22. Mercedes-Benz, "Welcome"

Not Available Interstitial

#21. Audi, "What Do You Want?"

Not Available Interstitial

#20. Chrysler, "Born of Fire"

Not Available Interstitial

#19. Nissan, "Top Gun"

Not Available Interstitial

#18. Honda, "Less Pump"

Not Available Interstitial

#17. General Motors, "Robot"

Not Available Interstitial

#16. Nissan, "Dream"

Not Available Interstitial

#15. Kia, "Joy Ride"

Not Available Interstitial

#14. Volkswagen, "Automatic Stickshift"

Not Available Interstitial

#13. Chevrolet, "Birth of Something Else"

Not Available Interstitial

#12. Porsche, "Valet"

Not Available Interstitial

#11. Volkswagen, "Big Day"

Not Available Interstitial

#10. Honda, "Raised By Wolves"

Not Available Interstitial

#9. BMW, "Land Speed"

Not Available Interstitial

#8. Audi, "The Chase"

Not Available Interstitial

#7. Nissan, "Barbie and Ken"

Not Available Interstitial

#6. Shell x Ferrari, "Formula 1 History"

Not Available Interstitial

#5. Lexus, "Balance"

Not Available Interstitial

#4. Mercedes-Benz, "Not In This Weather"

Not Available Interstitial

#3. Volkswagen, "Like"

Not Available Interstitial

#2. Honda, "The Cog"

Not Available Interstitial

#1. Audi, "Old Luxury"

Not Available Interstitial

Latest in Sports