One rarely talked about byproduct of having all the information you could ever want uploaded to the internet is the death of the car brochure. I still remember going to the auto show every year as a kid and collecting every glossy book available like they were Pokémon. I’d spend hours poring over them, admiring the photography, committing trim walks to memory, and marveling at just how thick paper can be. These days, printed brochures are still a thing for many automakers, but like physical newspapers, they’re a lot less widespread.
Where the internet takes, however, the internet gives back. One website has archived what feels like every car brochure that’s ever been made—and they’re all PDFs, viewable completely free of charge. The Auto Catalog Archive describes itself as “a journey through the history of cars. An extensive archive of brochures from all over the world for all car lovers out there.” And whoever’s running the site isn’t kidding when they say “extensive.”
Usual suspects like, say, Toyota and Ford get appropriately deep archives. You can refresh yourself on the colors that were available on the Korean market 2024 Mustang before educating yourself (in Japanese) on the rebadged LS400 that was the 1989 Toyota Celsior (or is the LS a rebadged Celsior?). But there are also marques you’ve likely never even heard of. Fornasari, anyone? What about Lamari?
Nostalgia is a helluva drug, though, and I suspect most of you will use this site to revisit literature that once sat on childhood coffee tables for months at a time. For me, one of those has gotta be Acura’s full model line book from 2003, where the second-gen TL is presented as a shiny, new thing and the NA2 NSX was still a car you could theoretically just … walk into an Acura showroom and buy for about 90 grand. Also, remember the CL?!
Another one that hits close to home is the booklet made for the 2001 Toyota Sienna (my parents had a 2000). The graphic design is vaguely flowery but refreshingly uncluttered. The copy is promotional in nature, yes, but there’s an honesty and brevity here that feels very much from a bygone era.
Or put your virtual sacred text gloves on and peruse the German brochure for the OG 1975 BMW 3 Series. No prizes for the commenter who can point out the most nostalgic/interesting finds, but either way, there goes your afternoon.
Top graphic images: BMW; Acura; Porsche; Auto Catalog Archive
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