A Corvair in the snow? Don't be fooled...

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We’re approaching the middle of winter and what better way to observe that than with a lovely snowy scene like the one seen here?

Yes, that’s a Chevrolet Corvair and, yes, there is no doubt that this is a publicity shot. It was actually taken by General Motors’ chief photographer Walter Farynk in 1960 to promote the 1961 Corvair. Where did he do it? Well, the location is known, too, but it’s not a rural Michigan farm near a ski resort in the Powderhorn Mountains or Boyne Highlands, as it seems to be. No, this was taken in the GM Tech Center photography studio where the ceiling was famously filled with 1000-watt photographic lights.

When you look good at the picture you will find that the first line of trees is razor-sharp, but behind that it’s slightly more out of focus. That’s because the backdrop was painted onto a screen with the rest of the winter landscape built around the Corvair. Farynk shot lots of GM cars there on what looked like sunny palm beaches and seemingly impossible-to-reach river banks.

A 1962 article in Detroit News Pictorial Magazine wrote: 'Car manufacturers have gone to the mountains to photograph their new models, and now they’re bringing the mountains to the cars. The car makers like to ‘shoot’ their products with soft studio lighting that will bring out every sculptured line. They also want exciting backgrounds to catch the reader’s eye. Chevy went for large canvas backdrops, painted from colour photographs. Ford used miniature backgrounds fashioned by Cass Technical High School students and photographed separately from the cars.'

Words: Jeroen Booij; picture: General Motors PR
 

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