PortlandRL

When I first started getting into cars right around the time I turned ten, brochures were like crack for me. I always had a very vivid imagination as a kid so having the brochures and seeing every angle of the car as well as colors and options allowed me to fantasize about what I would do and where I would go if I could drive it.

School was always hard for me so and the brochures were an escape but around 1999 or 2000, my parents chucked the entire collection I had as they believed the brochures were distracting me from my studies. It wasn't like I had hundreds of them...probably around 30 or so but regardless, losing that collection was hard and I never bothered rebuilding it.

About a year ago I was cruising around eBay and decided it would be fun to see if I could find a copy of the very first brochure I ever got which was for the 1997 BMW 7-Series. I still remember that day of being given the full tour by the salesmen and it was formative in my love of cars. I think I paid $8.95 and a brand-new, never-handled copy of the 1997 7-Series brochure arrived in the mail a few days later. Slowly but surely I've been picking up others that I had in the past and lost to time or the great chucking. Most of it is for pretty pedestrian stuff that only kids find interesting (1997 Chrysler Town & Country, anyone? ) while others are for cooler cars Corvettes, BMWs, and Land Rovers. What amazes me most is that these books smell just like they did when I first got them all those years ago and the smell takes me right back there. I even got one for the 1964 Lincoln Continental which was destined for a guy I know but he's not returning my calls so I may just keep it for myself.

So....with that said, is there anyone else out there who enjoys brochures or even has a few lying around?

NBP04TL4ME

I have always had the brochures for the cars I have owned, but only during the time I owned the cars. I turned over all the paperwork and brochures when I sold/traded.

neuronbob

I have a brochure for almost every car I have purchased. I also have all the window stickers going back to my very first new car purchase in 1991, my 1991 Civic base hatchback.

I've even gone far enough to source a mint 2002-vintage brochure for my 2002 S2000, which I purchased used seven years ago; I got the brochure shortly after purchase. Since my RLX Sport Hybrid did not come with a brochure, I found one online.

MaxMike93

I was probably like 12 and I made my dad order me the brochure for my grandmother's '99 CL which turned out to be my first car. Ordered the one for my I30 off eBay too. I think I'll keep a collection of brochures as I go as a list of the cars that I've owned.

Rick_TL-S

I used to get them a lot, mainly from auto shows as a kid. I'm sure they're still somewhere in the house.

Now-a-days, I've been after brochures from more exotic brands since they're typically only released to potential buyers to show the car before the order process.

PortlandRL

I've seen them on eBay occasionally from Lamborghini and Ferrari. They're more like books than brochures.

VisualEchos

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I have a bunch of them. I have some rare S2000 stuff (I worked for Honda), the FD, the Supra, NSX, 300ZX, all of that kind of stuff from the early 90's.

Yumcha

I do. The better ones I have are from Aston Martin, Porsche, and Mercedes-Benz (i.e. SL-Class)...I also have the ones for all the vehicles I've owned. They are nice to look at at times -- on the same shelf with my watch catalogs.

kixo

OP: Nice post.

I also have an affection for car brochures (and Monroney stickers) and have one for every car I have owned (17).

In a fit of nostalgia, a few years ago I picked up brochures for the cars my parents I had in my formative years. Let's just say they didn't make the savviest car choices:

1963 Continental with suicide doors
1972 Malibu
1973 Datsun 510
1974 Vega
1976 Datsun 610
1978 Granada
1981-1992 Crown Vics

I thought that browsing through these would bring back warm memories. Not really. The cars shown in the brochure were never what my family actually drove (Dad! Why didn't we get the Country Squire option!)

But they are a connection to my past, and once a year I do enjoy leafing through them...

I think in a few years, printed brochures will no longer exist. BMW boasts it it green by not printing hardcopy brochures for the last few years.