In This Vintage Chevy Commercial, They Actually Installed a Flamethrower on a Truck

Sometimes, nostalgia can be falsely looked at through rose-colored glasses. There are frequently times where we look back at the past or maybe even times before we were alive through a lens that really glorifies them beyond what they were. However, sometimes, the past truly was better and maybe even more interesting.

One example of this is the advertising that used to be on television. Before there were insane focus groups and metrics abroad to really guide commercials into a boring and bland world of gray, creativity made its way over the airwaves for those watching television. The idea was to capture the audience with flashy concepts.

Notably, automotive manufacturers really got creative and sometimes downright competitive. We will never get tired of seeing all the smack talk that happened between pickup truck manufacturers all the way up through the 90s. The way that they took shots at one another is something that we definitely don’t see today.

This time, though, we aren’t looking at the competitive nature of commercials but instead, the creative side. Apparently, Chevrolet thought that one of the factors that would help them sell trucks back in the early 70s was braking ability. Perhaps, at this time, people might not have trusted the equipment onboard pickup trucks which were still seen as basic utility vehicles.

In order to convey that this wasn’t the case, Chevrolet would get to work with some things that really provided interesting optics. In order to try and convince the audience that the braking ability of the 1973 Chevrolet Cheyenne was appropriate, they strapped a couple of flamethrowers underneath the front of the truck, superheating the brakes. Chevrolet says that these extreme circumstances were used to test out the ability of the components under lots of stress and shouldn’t be tried at home. Duh.

We aren’t exactly sure how impactful something like this would be when it comes to truly prove how good a braking system is. However, we have to admit that it definitely gives us something interesting to look at that really catches the eye.