F.O.B. Detroit

The rites of fall were beginning--f.o.b. Detroit. And already the celebrators, that cast-iron band of U.S. journalists who cruise the automotive beat, were up to their hubcaps in favors and rich food. Flown to San Francisco last week as guests of Chrysler Corp., they sluiced through all the brightest nightspots, took a charter cruise across the bay, listened to songs by Chrysler Guest Artist Pat Suzuki--and inspected the 1964 models that Chrysler had providentially brought along (see U.S. BUSINESS). When the San Francisco revels ended, more were in store: shooting, riding, and fishing on a Utah dude ranch (Studebaker); a wild drive in new Galaxies up Colorado's Pikes Peak (Ford); swimming at Wisconsin's Lake Geneva (American Motors)--to mention just a few of the bashes on the schedule.

Time was when Detroit's carmakers simply pushed their new models into a factory garage and convoked the press. But this businesslike annual event has blossomed into a promotional orgy as lavishly tooled--and about as useful--as a tail fin. For four years running, Chrysler chartered Miami Beach's Americana Hotel for galas, at some $300,000 a throw. Ford once unwrapped not only its new line but a lissome young lady who pranced around in little but her chassis. Another time, Ford distributed Fairlane fenders as gifts. General Motors' Buick Division once tore up the lobby floor at Flint's Durant Hotel and installed a trout stream for newsmen.

Whether these press extravaganzas help sell cars is a question even Detroit cannot answer. As a matter of fact, they do not often sell newsmen, who have a nasty habit of biting the very hand that treats them. In the stories that flow at new-model time, there is little evidence that their authors are drunk with gratitude for their hosts. After General Motors' 1962 fete, New York Times Automotive Editor Joseph Ingraham filed a story accusing Chevrolet of plagiarizing the competition. Says Chrysler's public relations man William Stempien: "Most of the guys lean over backward to show how independent they are."

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