Because when you think “Best NBA Player Ever,” you definitely think 1988 Chevy Celebrity wagon.
This week’s Throwback Thursday video takes us back to the late 1980s, where Chevrolet was featuring Chicago Bulls point guard Michael Jordan in a new commercial. If you are somehow unfamiliar with Michael Jordan, he was (at the time) regarded as the greatest player in NBA history and while other players have stepped up to stake their claim as the best in the sport’s history since then – MJ still holds enough records to be considered the best to this day.
With Jordan being the best in his sport in the 1980s, it makes good sense for Chevrolet to feature him in a commercial for a new car. Michael Jordan was quick, elusive and nearly impossible to stop, so he might seem like a great celebrity spokesperson for the likes of the Camaro or the Corvette.
However, this commercial isn’t for either of those sporty Chevys from the 80s. Instead, General Motors used footage of Jordan dancing through the competition to promote the Chevrolet Celebrity. Wagon.
You know, because of all of the vehicles Chevrolet offered in the 1980s, the Celebrity Wagon is clearly the car which best embodies the spirit of one of the greatest American athletes of all time.
This Chicagoland area Chevy dealership commercial alternates back and forth between clips showing Jordan beating defenders and footage of a Celebrity Wagon driving around town, picking people up. There is seemingly no connection between the two types of footage, until we see the Celebrity Wagon pull up in front of the Bulls stadium – showing two kids and an adult rushing into the game.
Although, the way that the commercial is laid out, it seems like Jordan was playing while the little Chevy wagon was making its rounds, but as I suggested at the beginning of this piece – it really is an odd commercial. Then again, the 1980s were an odd time, so the fact that GM picked the Celebrity Wagon rather than a sports car for a commercial featuring Michael Jordan almost makes sense.
"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.
"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.
"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.
"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.
"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.
