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Above: From Wikipedia's entry on "Sex in Advertising" Page Sections Women & Vehicles Event Models Motorsports Movies Advertisements

"Sex sells" has long been an adage of the advertising business, and Wikipedia's entry on the subject handily shows a sample from the early automotive industry as its main example.

Sometimes sex isn't the method of advertising but the product itself. In these instances, photographs of scantily dressed women are often accompanied by cars as props, often high-end automobiles used to give the photograph an impression of wealthy living. Other times models are used on automotive magazine covers or photo shoots, with Low Rider and Truckin' magazines as prime examples.

In motorsports, cars appear before the race accompanied by "grid girls," women wearing skimpy clothing with sponsors' logos. Post race, the usually male race winners are greeted in Victory Lane by and pose for photographs with beauty contest winners or models often connected to a major sponsor (NASCAR's Miss Sprint a top example).

In any case, this Special Collection documents some of the items in The Crittenden Automotive Library that show how sex is intertwined with the automobile.

Women & Vehicles

Women posing with cars & motorcycles...

Rosa Peñaherrera by Mauricio Torres
Photo courtesy emelec
View photo of Rosa Peñaherrera from "Sexy Car Wash" - 356KB

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

Event Models

Women from car shows...

Film Year: 2007
Producer: Martin Lukanz, Luxmedia, MotorNewsTV
Duration: 6:53
This video is licensed under Creative Commons Namensnennung-Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 2.0 Österreich (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Download Tuning World Bodensee: Miss Tuning in Ogg Video format - 28,238KB
Download Tuning World Bodensee: Miss Tuning in Windows Media format - 25,465KB
Download Tuning World Bodensee: Miss Tuning in 512KB MP4 format - 29,018KB

	1968 Shelby GT 500-KR The New York Times, June 28, 1968 Playboy Playmate Tish Howard at Gotham Ford View photo of 1968 Shelby GT-500/KR Playboy Playmate Tish Howard at Gotham Ford - 160KB
	SEMA Show Photo courtesy Car Show Models View photo of SEMA Show 2011 Spokesmodel - 329KB
	SEMA Show Photo courtesy Car Show Models - Blog View photo of SEMA Show 2011 Spokesmodel - 283KB
	SEMA Show Photo courtesy Car Show Models - Model of the Week View photo of SEMA Show 2011 Spokesmodel - 233KB
	SEMA Show Photo courtesy ExhaustVideos.com View photo of SEMA Show 2011 Spokesmodel - 268KB
	SEMA Show Photo courtesy ExhaustVideos.com - Blog View photo of SEMA Show 2011 Spokesmodel - 257KB
	SEMA Show Photo courtesy ExhaustVideos.com - Chevrolet Camaro View photo of SEMA Show 2011 Spokesmodel - 248KB
	SEMA Show Photo courtesy Car Show Models View photo of SEMA Show 2011 Spokesmodel - 279KB
	SEMA Show Photo courtesy Car Show Models View photo of SEMA Show 2011 Spokesmodel - 244KB
	The Ladies at the Nickey Chevrolet Section Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden 2010 Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals November 21, 2010 View photo of the Ladies of Nickey Chevrolet - 4,471KB
	The Ladies at the Nickey Chevrolet Section Pose with a Fred Gibb Camaro Photo ©2010 Bill Crittenden 2010 Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals November 21, 2010 View photo of the Ladies of Nickey Chevrolet & Fred Gibb Camaro - 3,739KB
	Car show model & a custom Chrysler 300C Importfest 2010 Photo by JP Photo/Video View photo of Car Show Model & custom Chrysler 300C - 1,529KB This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
	Car show model & a custom Chrysler 300C Importfest 2010 Photo by JP Photo/Video View photo of Car Show Model & custom Chrysler 300C - 1,529KB This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
	Car show model & a custom Chrysler 300C Importfest 2010 Photo by JP Photo/Video View photo of Car Show Model & custom Chrysler 300C - 1,529KB This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
	Car show model & a custom Chrysler 300C Importfest 2010 Photo by JP Photo/Video View photo of Car Show Model & custom Chrysler 300C - 1,529KB This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic License.
	Promotiongirls des ADAC beim ADAC MX Masters in Freising. Photo by "Usien" Diese Datei ist unter der Creative Commons-Lizenz Namensnennung-Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen 3.0 Unported lizenziert. Promotiongirls des ADAC, 2011 ADAC MX Masters Freising - 1,194KB
	Ford Fiesta Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden Massive Speed Cruise Jam 4 View photo of Ford Fiesta - 4,190KB
	Ford Fiesta Photo ©2009 Bill Crittenden Massive Speed Cruise Jam 4 View photo of Ford Fiesta - 3,230KB

Date	Article	Author/Source
13 March 2006	Car Show Models	Thomas Morva

Motorsports

Grid girls & other women at the race track or with race cars...

	Photo courtesy View photo of Infield Jen - 45KB
	Fuzzy's Vodka Makes 2013 Fuzzy's Green Flag Girl Calendar Available Now View photo of Fuzzy's Green Flag Girl - 135KB
	Vegas Showgirls at the Kobalt Tools 400 Photo courtesy Brian Neudorff View photo of 2012 Kobalt Tools 400 - Vegas Showgirls - 5.3MB This photo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) License.

Date	Article	Author/Source
14 December 1999	RaceQueens? - RaceQueen.org, a new ranking web directory, specializes in them.	RaceQueen.org
10 January 2013	Fuzzy's Vodka Makes 2013 Fuzzy's Green Flag Girl Calendar Available Now	Tom Blattler
5 December 2013	Spearmint Rhino Charges Into Car Racing	Matthew Court
1 August 2014	Kandy Girl Angie Smith Will Suit Up for Remainder of 2014 NHRA Season for Kandy Magazine	Brandon Mudd
30 October 2014	MEDIA ADVISORY: Kandy Magazine Event TONIGHT	Brandon Mudd
1 December 2015	Discountstripper.com Came in Hot on the Race Track this Season Making their Sponsorship Branding Mark on the Infamous Desert Racing Circuit	Discountstripper.com
4 January 2019	Penthouse World Media and Penthouse Clubs Global Licensing Partner to Sponsor Olga Rouckova for Dakar Rally	Penthouse

Movies

Unexpected Experience of Two Girl Hitch-Hikers
~1940's
Duration: 2:40
A short humourous film from sometime in the 1940's about two girls who get stuck at the side of the road and get increasingly desperate for a ride...
This film is available courtesy of the Prelinger Archives (public domain).
Download Unexpected Experience of Two Girl Hitch-Hikers from The Internet Archive

	The Girl on the Magazine Cover 1940 Duration: 8:48 How professional models (and new automobiles) are photographed. This film is available courtesy of the Prelinger Archives (public domain). Download The Girl on the Magazine Cover from The Internet Archive
	Nordec Popular Hot Rodding, July 1972 View Nordec Girl Poster Advertisement - 495KB