Flower Powered – The Mod Top Car
When the sixties had finally stopped swinging and The Who’s singer Roger Daltrey started wearing tassels, the word “Mod” became a word that advertisers casually used to brand anything. There was Barbie’s partner Ken with his Mod Doll Hair and his not so modernist moustache. Then there was the more hippy than hipster Mod Generation stickers without a fishtail parka in sight. And bizarrely in 1969 Kraft used the slogan Mod American to sell their cheese slices. To twist the words of Mod icon Pete Meaden – This was cheesey advertising under difficult circumstances.
And now we add to the list with the Plymouth Mod Top barracuda “the car you wear”. The more flower power than mod mobile was available to buy in your local car showroom in America in 1969. For your hard earned dollar you could have your car decorated with a “Mod” interior and exterior with the choice of a floral design or a paisley pattern. You could expand your package with an AM/FM radio that “plays everything everything from Beethoven to Hard Rock for the discriminating listener” and air conditioning – a fan.
If you were thinking of buying one at the time, we’re not sure if these slightly disturbing sentences at the end of the advert would have sealed the deal. “See your nearby Plymouth dealer. He has a whole mad, mod story. He’s fond of women too”
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