Vintage Car Ads, Hidden Houston Date Night and the '26 Subaru Outback!

The fastest way to time-travel through car culture is to flip through old ads and we do exactly that, one glossy page at a time. We react to vintage magazine car advertisements packed with chrome, bold taglines, and illustrated renderings that feel closer to concept art than photography. Along the way, we ask a simple question with a complicated answer: why did car marketing used to feel so direct, and why does it feel so scattered now? 

From there, we chase the nostalgia into newsprint. We talk about the era of full-page dealership newspaper ads, the ones that listed rows of cars with prices you could circle, plus weekend service specials like oil changes and tires. It’s a practical look at how inventory, consumer laws, and modern buying habits pushed that whole experience online, and what we miss when the entire local market no longer fits on one page. 

Then we point the car toward Houston with a set of driving destinations built for date night: a tucked-away speakeasy-style cocktail lounge, a neon-soaked quirky spot with pizza, a historic wine bar with haunted reputation, an outdoor beer garden, and a small retro neighborhood bar. We close with a real-world 2026 Subaru Outback review, covering trims, standard AWD, CVT behavior, fuel economy, and why the return of physical buttons matters for everyday driving. If you like car history, smart travel ideas, and honest new car reviews, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave us a rating and review.

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Transcript

Flipping Through Vintage Magazine Ads

Don Armstrong 0:05

All right. Time out for Jeff's car culture. Where did the full page car ad go?

Jeff Dziekan 0:10

Well, uh, we talked in the preview of the show that well uh Mike and I were trying to coordinate some videos of some of the old car commercials, Dinosaur, Chevrolet, you know, the Bonanza Boys, all that. Couldn't really coordinate that, so we came up with this. Uh they're static. These are actual magazine ads from back in the day. The first one that we've got is basically a vintage 1966 ad, and it's good deals back in the day, is what it's what it's called. No, that's not the right one, is it, Mike?

Don Armstrong 0:37

That's not the that's not a 66, I can tell you that.

Jeff Dziekan 0:40

But that's okay. Let's move on to this. This one, I believe, is uh well, don't know what that is. That's the chrome, chrome head more chrome in 1957. That's not even it. Move on to the next one, Michael.

Don Armstrong 0:53

That's a pretty picture.

Jeff Dziekan 0:54

Yeah, it is. This one is uh the Cadillac. Yeah, it's a chrome uh chrome chrome and more chrome is what that is. So you'd see that in a magazine ad, you'd be flipping through your uh uh what with the ladies' magazines that they had back in the day, you that would pop up. Look! Look magazine. There you go. Look at that. Move on to the next one here. The LaSalle. The LaSalle. That one is uh the 1240. It's for$1,240. So you won't find that on Hemings for$1240, that's for sure. Nice little family.

Don Armstrong 1:31

Yes. What does it say something? Now go go sailing on the highway. Yeah. Now we'll go sailing on the highway.

Jeff Dziekan 1:41

Yeah, as a Mercury A for 41. Look at that bad boy. Yeah, not a big fan, but whatever. But it's the way they actually drew that picture, the rendering of it. That's that's pretty nice.

Don Armstrong 1:51

You don't see it kind of like a one thing that I've noticed on these, they they actually didn't take a picture of the car. Somebody did a drawing.

Jeff Dziekan 2:01

It was like Bill Hitch making a rendering, yeah. The artist back in the design shops of the actual manufacturer would make the pictures, like you see in today's automotive car shows where they make an actual picture of the car. That's what they would do.

Don Armstrong 2:15

Mercury 8 for 1941. Next up. Ooh, it's a Woody. Yeah.

Jeff Dziekan 2:23

Boston.

Don Armstrong 2:24

A hit in Boston and Buenos Aires. Yeah. Got a little European flair there with the wooden sides of the wagon.

Mike Marrs 2:33

And of course the other thing, almost all of them have got family members in them, either in the cars or even the drawings. But you know who makes that?

Jeff Dziekan 2:43

Jeep. That's a jeep.

Don Armstrong 2:46

That is a Jeep.

Jeff Dziekan 2:46

So you could have a Jeep down.

Don Armstrong 2:48

Is it a wagoneer?

Jeff Dziekan 2:49

Uh, that I don't know. But you could drive it from Boston all the way down to Best. That's right. Yeah, yeah. Stick it on the boat. Well, no, I think you could probably get there. Yeah, you'd have to cross the uh Panama Canal to put it on a boat. Okay. This is going well. Yeah, okay. Nash. Nash.

Don Armstrong 3:12

Which is combined with Rambler, and it was called a Nash Rambler eventually.

Jeff Dziekan 3:17

And that's uh every engineer in the air, or every engineer the air. That's what it is.

Don Armstrong 3:25

We've we've re-engineered the air.

Jeff Dziekan 3:27

Yeah, something like that.

Don Armstrong 3:28

I guess because of its aerodynamic capabilities. And that big old front end looks like a fence.

Jeff Dziekan 3:34

It does. Yeah, it really does.

Don Armstrong 3:37

Not really attractive. No wonder the floor.

Mike Marrs 3:39

Big flat fenders, kind of like uh uh back into the 40s, maybe even 30s.

Jeff Dziekan 3:44

That's for the coefficient. The drag coefficient. That's right. All right, Mike. Next. I don't know how many you got there. Oh, yeah. This is my favorite.

Don Armstrong 3:56

This one is uh uh blindfold test opens eyes of motorists.

Mike Marrs 4:02

Yeah, so you're driving blindfolded?

Don Armstrong 4:04

No, the driver's not blindfolded. Come on, look at the you gotta look at the picture, Mike.

Mike Marrs 4:10

Why are we on the road?

Jeff Dziekan 4:11

I'm trying to read it. Why are we on this dirt road in the middle of nowhere and you got a shovel in your hand?

Don Armstrong 4:17

Because they're trying to demonstrate, apparently, the ride quality of rides like a Cadillac, but it's a dodge. It's a dodge.

Jeff Dziekan 4:26

And why do you have rope? It's just that's crazy. Thank you, Mike. That didn't work out. No, it didn't work out at all. What happened? I uh well, they're kind of different that they were they were not in order. I might have sent them the wrong ones.

Mike Marrs 4:43

Well, there was no order.

Whatever Happened To Full-Page Ads

Don Armstrong 4:46

There was no order, great. Well, we you know what, we need to try that again. We'll do it again. And we needed to we need I want newspaper ads of car dealerships. All right. Um that and they they should be easy to find because I ran across one. I I'm on the same. I sent it with you. Yeah, I sent it over to you, but I was too late getting it to you to put on there. But I will tell you that uh it's funny because if you remember correctly, on the weekends, mainly on Saturday, the car dealerships used to run full page newspaper ads for the cars. Well, that one there is the parts department at Kmart.

Jeff Dziekan 5:23

Yeah, that's the one you sent me.

Don Armstrong 5:24

Yeah. And uh the full pay and they had all of the prices, all of the cars on there. So you go there and say, I want that car right there. Oh, I'm sorry, we sold that. Yeah. I don't think it'd be diff it'd be difficult to do these days, especially with the new laws that and the lawsuits.

Mike Marrs 5:42

Exactly. Yeah.

Don Armstrong 5:42

Yeah. I don't know how you'd do it, but you'd have to do it online, I guess. But uh yeah, full page ads, all of the new cars, all of the used cars, and then there was always a big thing in there about you know oil changes uh this weekend or$9.95 or whatever it was. And different grades of oil. Yeah, good. Yep, all that. And you could also buy tires. I know at Richardson Chevrolet, guess what kind of tires we sold? Don't know. Armstrong tires. Oh boy, trip the road. Do you remember those ads? Armstrong tires?

Mike Marrs 6:14

Now that you mention it.

Don Armstrong 6:16

Yeah. Wow. Well, that was back in the day. Armstrong tires. Do they still make those?

Jeff Dziekan 6:20

I bet you it was U Royal, wasn't it? Uh I I don't I don't think they make them. Armstrong tires. But that's something, you know, don't know.

Don Armstrong 6:27

Yeah. Said I thought Armstrong on the side of the tire. Look at that. Yeah.

Jeff Dziekan 6:32

Famous.

Don Armstrong 6:33

You were proud. I wasn't. I was embarrassed. Because I mean, no, who would who would go at that time? You'd never go to the car dealership and buy tires. Unless you they came in on a wrecker and you had no choice. Collision shop for something else. Yeah.

Mike Marrs 6:51

Well, you're one thing you don't think about it. And you just that's not where I would think about going to buy tires for my car.

Houston Date Night Driving Destinations

Don Armstrong 6:57

Yeah. Uh we are going to do driving destinations, but not right now, Mike. Okay. Okay. Uh we have Jeff's cruise in. But first, though, let's do driving destinations. I know that uh we teased that, so let's let's let's do that if you don't mind.

Mike Marrs 7:16

Where is that, Michael? So it's it's been a long time since I was over in Houston running around like on the previous life, but there's a lot of things to do over there. We talked about fun and play. And then we're gonna talk about date night, trying to find something that's a little bit different for date night.

Don Armstrong 7:32

Without a gun.

Mike Marrs 7:33

Without a gun, hopefully. If not, go to make sure you go to a place that gives you one when you go in. So we're gonna start with Captain Foxheart's Bad News and Bar Spirit Lounge. Now, if you're not sure where it's at, because you're gonna walk right past it. It's it's very speakeasy-ish looking. Uh it's tucked away in an upstairs area in downtown Houston. It's kind of a moody cocktail spot, low lighting, vintage lounge vibes, and it's got a very nice hidden skyline view of the city from the patio area. The drinks are serious without getting pretentious. It's kind of a place where you might hang around a little bit longer than you might want to. Now, if you're looking for something a little different from that, you might go to uh something with a little weirdness. Go to Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. Now, this is gonna have your neon lights, you're gonna have sci-fi decor, you're gonna have creative cocktails, and some pretty good pizza in this place. So it's kind of like a restaurant, but it's really not. It's more relaxed, quirky, and it's great for people that just want to go someplace, have a few laughs, and kind of sit through some uh unexpected experiences and just something to be different. Then from there, if you want to go something back to more quiet, more intimate, you check out La Crepe. This historic little wine bar, and it is historic because of the building was built in 1847. The Kennedy Bakery is what used to be there, and the Kennedy's actually owned this building for five generations before it was sold, and it's considered the most haunted bar in Houston. So you're gonna have lots of candlelight, old brick walls, you're gonna have handwritten tabs, not the computer touch screens. So there's no rush here. If you just want to go someplace that's nice and slow and have a real conversation, kind of feel a little bit different from the normal Houston nightlife that I'm aware of.

Don Armstrong 9:23

Get yourself a Jim Fizz. La Craft.

Mike Marrs 9:30

So from there, if you want to stay casual but get outdoors a little bit more, you might go to the Axelrad beer garden. Now, this is uh a place that you're gonna find. It's actually in the old Axlrod grocery that was built in the 1920s. So hence you get the name of the beer garden. You're gonna have uh it's gonna be out underneath the trees, you got live music, you got food trucks nearby. So it's kind of a laid-back crowd with some picnic tables and just kind of place you can go settle in and hang around for a place just to kind of have a nice time in the evening.

Jeff Dziekan 10:04

Looks like you could probably take your dog with you to that type of event there.

Mike Marrs 10:07

Oh, you might. Yeah. Then uh the other one, the last one I wanted to bring up was a place called the Little Dipper Bar. Now, this is small, it's retro, kind of low-key. It's got that old Houston neighborhood bar energy with the vintage decor and a little relaxed atmosphere that kind of makes it easy to kind of go in and just settle down, have some light conversation, and just have a relaxed evening if you're looking for something like that. Yeah, a lot of these places are downtown. This was downtown in the 300 block of Main Street. So, so there's a lot of places you can go for date nights. It's not necessarily about spending a lot of money and going out to a big fancy place. Just kind of take a little drive and find something different and see where things go.

unknown 10:53

Perfect.

Don Armstrong 10:54

Very nice. I like that.

Jeff Dziekan 10:56

Well, uh, yeah.

2026 Subaru Outback First Drive Review

Don Armstrong 11:03

All right. Time now for this hour's car review. I had the opportunity to drive the all-new, completely redesigned 2026 Subaru Outback. It comes in these trim levels: the Limited, the Limited XT, the Wilderness, Touring, and Touring XT. I had the Limited. Uh, it is a small SUV, two rows of seating, seats five, completely redesigned for 2026. It's taller, it's boxier, it has a real honest to goodness SUV look to it now. Gone is the lifted wagon look. Uh sharp-looking front fascia on this, black plastic wheel well openings, uh, very rugged looking, much more so than the outgoing model. Vertical bumper kickups. Now, we used to call them overriders back in the day. They don't call them that anymore. Yeah. So there's the bumper, and then you got little kickups on the bumper itself. Uh it's got obviously like that. That's it. Yes, there you see there. Um it is a much taller roof line now. Uh what I liked about it, it enhances an overall tougher off-road look. That's the way I look at it anyway. Uh, we could use improvement, nothing. I think that this one will really sell and get away from that uh lifted wagon look. Interior highlights, 12.3 inch display screen. And depending on the trim, it could be uh kid-proof or semi-luxury uh on the interior as far as materials are concerned. Door panel trim. Um most cars, uh, this this this one in particular transfers the door panel cover, if you want to call it that, to the dash. I think is a good unique uh touch to it. Uh rear seat leg room is good cargo. Cargo room is enough and it is competitive for its class. Uh what I liked about it, the return of buttons. Uh don't laugh, but you know, everybody seems to be going to this, oh, let's not put any buttons in it. Let's do it all through the app stuff. Yeah, on the center screen. Well, that's fine if you're sitting still, but if you're driving down the road and you want to include uh, you know, a little bump up in the temperature, let me have a button for that if I may have bump up in the base. Bump up in the base that as well. So uh anyway, uh they have buttons now, and that's good. It is. 2.5 liter uh four-cylinder engine, 180 horsepower. Now there is an option, it's a 260 horsepower version of it, better for towing and that sort of stuff. CVT transmission, all-wheel drive course is standard on all of the Subaru's. Till rating 2,700 pounds for this particular one, 25 miles per gallon in the city, 31 on the highway for a combined of 27. I got 29.2 miles per gallon over 398.9 miles. Uh what I liked about it, this is good for overall everyday driving on Houston Street. So don't take it for just off-road stuff. This is good for all round goodness in driving it to work or whatever the case may be. What could use improvement? I think that the downshift is a little bit slow to interact with the foot input, but that's just me, because I am a two-foot kind of guy, even with an automatic transmission. Ride and handling, it's compliant, it's good, it's not too stiff. What could use improvement? I put a question mark there because I don't know because it it rides really well and handles pretty good. And I did not take it off-road, so there is that. So here's the pricing. Base trim price,$41,715. Price is tested$43,560. The base model price is$34,995. I think they're going to sell a ton of these. Competitors, Honda Passport in size, but not in price. Chevy Blazer, it starts at$34.3. It would probably be its closest competitor. Uh the Mazda CX70, they like it as well at$42,250. So uh the price competitor uh really and size is the Chevy Blazer at$34.30. Again, the base model price is$34,995. Next week, we're going to review the Kia Telluride.

Mileage Questions And Off-Road Banter

Jeff Dziekan 15:33

So that the 29 miles plus per gallon that you I know that you take a certain highway to work back and forth, but you didn't do any extra usage during the week on.

Don Armstrong 15:43

I did, I did. Uh you know, and that goes with all of the stuff that I drive. Uh the the most mileage goes uh back and forth to work, and it's about 40 miles one way.

Jeff Dziekan 15:53

Would that mileage suffer if you're off-road? Obviously it would. If you're going the outback trails, you wouldn't get the 29 or 30.

Don Armstrong 16:00

Well, you know, I I'm not sure because it's got the CVT transmission, so it's not one of those that, you know, well, we've got to put it in the low. Maybe you can hold it in a lower gear ratio kind of thing with a CVT. I didn't get into all of that.

Mike Marrs 16:13

Isn't there still a lot of construction on your way to work? There's not. Oh, okay.

Jeff Dziekan 16:18

Well, that's on your way to work, Mike.

Mike Marrs 16:19

Not oh well, I was just gonna suggest maybe he could jump a few ditches and kind of go around some of that stuff to kind of test the off-road key.

Don Armstrong 16:25

Yeah, I'm sure that Subaru would really appreciate that. Hey, who drove this car last? Oh, it was Don Armstrong. Oh, he won't be getting into it off-road. There is that. All right.