It’s funny how a lot of those things that you thought were boring when growing up, are now actually really fun things to do. I never would have thought I’d spend a sunny Seattle Saturday sifting through tubs and tubs of posters and ads. But its a damn good thing I did because I found these vintage Porsche ads. I was tempted to purchase all of them but instead I wrote down some info and looked them up online. All of these ads I found on eBay and were from the 1980’s. A few of them might be late 70’s, but it’s tough to tell.
The thing I really like about these ads is that they feel authentic. That’s not to say that ads nowadays aren’t authentic but there is certainly more than enough CGI being done to them. It also seems like it’s rare to see such nice large type of this treatment in ads anymore.
Sander from the comments informed us that Helmet Krone was the designer behind these ads—more info here.
Wow these are super nice! I really love the header type treatment. The decision the designer made making the large number type overlap the lines just does it for me. I really need to see ads like these in person.
the 924 one with the graph is insane! do you have higher res?
These are really cool, love the graphs. Amazing they got away with some of those paragraph breaks and widows though. Ouch.
Nice! I saw these ads at a presentation about Helmut Krone, he’s also the man behind the famous minimal volkswagen ads. Check this link: http://www.enchorial.com/HelmutKroneReviews/HelmutKroneReviewDesignObserver.htm
Dang. I love these ads. It’s crazy because I’ve been telling my wife how much I want a late 70s or early 80s Porsche for awhile now…and I jsut saw an old 912 for sale for under $10k over the weekend…and now you go and post these ads. Dang.
I couldn’t find higher res which is a big shame.
I’m regretting not purchasing the prints that I had found in the bins.
I’ve updated the post with your link @Sander. Thanks for sharing!
Agreeing with Scott. I love the one with the graph!
The 2nd add is my favorite; I like the slanted layout.
Jeez…the 80’s are considered “vintage” now. Of course…makes perfect sense, but it also makes me very aware of how old I am. I’m not quite 40 yet though–ha ha!!!
In any case, good post!
Hey Shelby, any chance you could share where in Seattle you found the ads? Specifically the SC one? I am there and grew up with Porsche’s and that one would go great in the garage framed up next to my SC, thinking a lunch time trip would be nice work day diversion.
@Ryan, it was a booth at the Seattle Center during ‘Bite of Seattle’. The company name was “Vintage Prints, Ads, Magnets”. I’m not sure of their website.
Ah, thank you Shelby!
sweet helvetica
beautiful cars
80s/90s Porsches are a lot of fun…you can pick up some bargains but they can cost you now and again in terms of up-keep. I have an 1986 944 which I love to bits. Fantastic to see these wicked old ads – thanks for posting. Them were the days!