Any love for the 'Price Leaders'?

[Guest abh3usn]

I'm sure these cars were much more numerous when new. Now they're rather rare as everyone turns them into V-8s, or scavanges parts to build up more desireable models. I'm sure these things were intended for advertising bragging rights and fleet use or otherwise mundane motoring and gov. use but I dig 'em.

You know the Ford Customlines, Plymouth Savoys, Chevy Biscaynes, Ford Custom 300s, Studebaker Scotsman, Ford V-8 60hp, Chevy II 4 cylinders, exc.

It would be interesting to see one on the show field complete with, rubber floor mats, three on the tree, dog dish hubcaps, blackwall tires, radio delete, 6 cylinder power, exc. Is this cool or have I been sniffin' to much model glue?

What do ya think ? -Steve

[1937hd45]

Yes, way too much Testor's glue, but I will take all the Ford V8-60 engines and tube front axles you can supply.

[R W Burgess]

I don't know about a price leader, but our Chevy was sold in California to the military for use as a flower car. It was delievred with the 235 six, 3 speed transmission and a 4:10 rear gear.

As pictured it has incorrect hub caps, although dog dish style, and it came with a rubber floor mat. We're still waiting to get the complete interior redone, with probably a carpet mat this time. We put an higher rear gear in it, so it cruises on down the road at a real good clip. This car has been on 2-3 National Meet show fields as a DPC car. There are a lot of DPC bottom feeders on the show field. Check them out sometime. Our car also has been on National Tours in Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia. We will tour with it in Texas next year on the Sentimental Tour. It's anything but special, but we have lots of fun with it.

Wayne

[Restorer32]

We are just completing a frame up restoration on a '37 Ford Standard 60 HP 4 door sedan (long story). Parts are hard to find for the 60 cause all the vintage racers hoard them.

[Guest Gary Hearn]

My parents bought a 1966 Chevy Biscayne new, 6 cylinder, 3 speed, vinyl seats, no radio, a real turd.

[poci1957]

I see them occasionally and always find them very interesting. Indeed, cars being restored are usually higher trim level models and convertibles & hardtops, and they are the most widely seen at car shows. But ironically, if you find the "little old lady drove to church on Sunday" original survivor it is often a base model, as the thrifty little old lady never seems to have bought top of the line.

My boss has a clean original 1956 Ford, and naturally it is a black Mainline sedan, the cheapest looking car possible.

A local Chevy dealer has a little old lady 1965 Impala, and she bought an SS 2dr hardtop, but with the inline six and no radio! Just a few examples, Todd

[1937hd45]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Restorer32</div><div class="ubbcode-body">We are just completing a frame up restoration on a '37 Ford Standard 60 HP 4 door sedan (long story). Parts are hard to find for the 60 cause all the vintage racers hoard them. </div></div>

Did the '37 have the narrower wheels and smaller tire size or was that on later 60HP cars? Didn't the V8 60 cause Lee Iaocca to get into the auto business?

[Barry Wolk]

In the early '50s Max Hoffman, sole US importer of Porsche cars, convinced the tiny car maker that the American market could absorb most of its production if the cars had names instead of numbers. He said Americans only bought cars with names. He also convinced them that they needed to produce a stripped-down price leader. The luxurious Coupe and Cabrio were badged "Continental" and the stripped-down version convertible called the Speedster.

The Speedster had side curtains instead of roll-up windows. The top was a nightmare of tubes. The seats were very basic and there was no carpeting at all. While the Speedster shared its exact body with the Cabrio, its low-slung windshield is what makes a Speedster a Speedster.

So, while there were 1,300 Coupes, 1,300 Speedsters and only 230 Cabrios produced you'd think the Cabrios would be the most valuable. They're not. The Speedster, basic VW technology with few creature comforts, now commands $150,000+ while Cabrios go for something more than half of that.

I'd say that in some circles, the price leader is the value leader, too.

[keiser31]

Here's an "average" Studebaker wagon price leader.

[Barry Wolk]

Does it look like a catfish to you?

[keiser31]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Barry Wolk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Does it look like a catfish to you?</div></div>

VERY much so.

[Barry Wolk]

Another example of a price leader that's become valuable is a 1933-34 DeVaux Continental, produced by the Continental engine company. They were an innovative car produced inexpensively. To me, they are valuable as no one saved them. They barely seem to exist. They made a convertible that would fit nicely into my Continental Collection of convertibles, but I can't find one. In fact, I've never even see a photograph of a convertible, only a drawing in a company brochure.

[Guest Skyking]

Here's a car that was priced around $1600.00 new. For that price you got a radio, heater and electric wipers. It came standard with rubber floor mats and dog dish hubcaps. The rubber floor mats and trunk mat are original and like new in this car. Of course, prices have come up since then.........

[Guest Richard D]

The 1970 first Gremlins had a value leader model, I was looking for my first new car (High School Present) and it had no radio, no outside rear view mirrors, 3 on the tree, rubber mats and most amazing of all no back seat. It was later made an option before becoming standard in 1971. I finally found a 71 Plymouth Cricket with rubber mats, no radio but it had four doors and I had A/C installed and I put in carpet and am/fm stereo. It was amazing how much quieter the carpet and padding I installed on top of the rubber floor made the car. The A/C slowed the car but in Miami it is a must have, even for a 16 year old. Oh yeah, The car cost $1,820 with all taxes, sticker was $1,915.00 A/C cost $240.00 and the rest I did for almost nothing.

[DLynskey]

My first new car was a 1966 Pontiac Catalina "post" 2-door sedan. The only option was an AM radio. It had the base 2-barrel low-compression 389 engine, 3 speed column shift tranny, blackwall tires and dog-dish hubcaps. No power steering, brakes, windows, locks, A/C, tinted windows, safety equipment or any of the junk we now consider essential. A macho semi-performance car that looked like your grandmother's land yacht. I paid $2500 out the door. I remember my payment was a whopping $50.44 per month.

I planned to drive it for a long time, but alas romance intervened -- I got married. After a while "we" became pregnant (remember, that was ancient times, marriage came first back then). With her belly dragging the huge steering wheel (needed for leverage, for the sake of those of you who haven't driven such a beast), sitting on a thick cushion so she could see out of the big Catalina and contending with non-power steering, 8.25x14 bias ply tires and non-power drum brakes which she could barely reach, she finally had enough; my macho machine had to go.

I often think I'd like to have it back, but I think it woud be a huge disappointment compared with today's cars.

Don L.

[Guest abh3usn]

When you think about it, the muscle cars were bargan basement cars with zero options except huge engines and wide oval tires. The Plymouth Road Runner is very much an example of this.

[Guest marlin65]

I currently own a "price leader". It's a 1960 Plymouth Belvedere sedan. While not the bottom of the line, being all black, very sedate interior, not many options sure makes it look like a price leader. Original owner bought it in Dec '59 for $2336.71. She opted for PS,PB,fancy steering wheel but no radio, slant six/three speed stick.This car is I would say 98% original unrestored and yes it's for sale.

Wayne,I don't think your 56 Chevy is considered a sedan delivery although the SD is based on that body. I have seen a SD with a tailgate rather then a lift door but not sure if it was factory.I think Chevy called your car a "150" series wagon.

[R W Burgess]

Marlin, this car has a lift door, not a tail gate.

[Reatta Man]

Back in the day, those cars were usually very hard to find. Lots of dealers advertised them but when the customer came in, they were 'sold' but often never existed in the first place. Thus, the term 'bait and switch' and all that fine print you now see at the bottom of most dealership ads in the newspaper.

And, some dealers, like Fiesta Dodge in San Antonio, are STILL engaging in bait and switch tactics. Fortunately, after 9 June, they will no longer be a Dodge dealer...but that is another discussion.

I also remember reading a few years ago in the Bugle that a customer wanted to order a new Lesabre back in the '60's with a three-speed manual, and the local Buick dealer claimed you couldn't get a Lesabre with a manual. He made the dealer order it, and it came in as ordered. Most of the dealership employees had to look at it because they had never seen one.

A couple of other things to remember; often those cars are in very good condition if they belonged to a private owner because the owner used it lightly and kept the mileage low. Another thing to keep in mind is that often, those bare-bones cars are the rarest made for a model year. For those reasons, they should be valuable but often are under-priced at auctions because they are not as desirable. So, they offer the chance for someone to get into the old car hobby at a very reasonable price.

Joe

[R W Burgess]

Took me 30 minutes to find this elusive picture!!

[Guest marlin65]

Wayne, wow very unusual car, know anything about it's history?

[Dave@Moon]

Wow, with the handle in the middle (the normal location for the split tailgate usually on these cars) that must be one he!! of a lift to open the liftgate. You'd think they'd at least add a secondary handle at the base.

[R W Burgess]

It's spring loaded Dave, one hand to lift it up....until it's at eye level, at any rate.

This car was ordered new by the military and used as flower car in Oregon, from what I have learned. I saw it advertised in the "Roundup" magazine. The fellow that owned it was a building contractor. He had just finished this fellow's kitchen remodeling job, when he found the owner couldn't pay the bill. He took the car in trade. He didn't want an "old" car, he wanted cash. It was already repainted and loaded down with parts in the rear, dash parts, door handles, sun visors, cardboard door covers, etc. It also came with some nice chrome reversed wheels. Of course, since Director Earl D. Beauchamp required that all Sentimental Tour vehicles had to look stock externally, the wheels ended up in my storage shed.

I hate dog bowl hub caps!

Back to the car.....the "new" owner sent me pictures of the car and a price of $4500.00. All I had to do was get it back to the east. I bought it sight unseen, by pictures only. We waited with anticipation for the delivery day. When that day came, I instructed the driver to park at the local Ames Department store parking lot. By the time that my wife and I had gotten there, there was a small crowd wondering what was in the big shiny truck. The driver dropped the tail gate, went up onto the upper deck and lowered the deck down somewhat to allow the ramp angle to be correct. The audience was hanging around..."What's in the box? What's in the box?"

The driver said the battery was dead, but hey, it's a stick. He rolled her down the ramp a little dropped the clutch and she started right up, a shiny red '56 Chevy. Now, that I think about it, I think a couple in the crowd even clapped.

I drove her the 5 blocks home with the dead Oregon plates on her. They'll still hanging on my basement wall.

Amazing that you can buy a nice solid rust free car sight unseen, isn't it?

Wayne

[Jim Rohn]

^ I LIKE it ! ! ! ^

[Dave@Moon]

<span style="font-weight: bold"> <span style="color: #6600CC">COOL!</span> </span>

If you haven't joined yet, you should hook up with the Professional Car Society. This has to be a very rare bird, even by their standards.

[LINC400]

Very interesting Chevy wagon. However, my friend was a past chapter president of the professional Car Society, and I don't see how this would fit in their club. They are for the stock preservation of Limousines, hearses, car-based ambulances, and flower cars. While it may have been purchased by the miltary for use as a flower car, it is not a flower car. A flower car is somewhat similar to a El Camino, only on a commercial Cadillac, Packard, or other chassis usually with a stainless steel fower bed.

As far as the bottom of the line price leaders, they are interesting to see at a show if they are stock and not upgraded or hot rodded. But as far as owning one, I want the top of the line deluxe model with all the goodies, not the car that came with nothing. No a/c, radio, and accessories are not fun on a long car trip.

[Dave@Moon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: LINC400</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Very interesting Chevy wagon. However, my friend was a past chapter president of the professional Car Society, and I don't see how this would fit in their club. They are for the stock preservation of Limousines, hearses, car-based ambulances, and flower cars. While it may have been purchased by the miltary for use as a flower car, it is not a flower car. </div></div>

This is from the Professional Car Society's web site:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">A professional car is loosely defined as a custom-bodied vehicle, based on passenger car styling, and used in the funeral, rescue or livery services. Such vehicles may be hearses, flower cars, service cars, ambulances, limousines, or cars which are special built to combine two or more of these different functions, such as combination hearse-ambulances, sedan ambulances or invalid coaches. These body styles are all hand built. The commercial chassis and the front and rear clips of these cars are the only thing they have in common with their factories of origin. The roof, glass, and doors are all manufactured by expert craftsmen. Next time you pass by a hearse or a limousine, study the design, and see the designers are able to maintain fluid proportions on such a long wheelbase. For many professional car enthusiasts, these vehicles are the epitome of automobile design. </div></div>

First of all, it's a "loose" definition. More importantly the vehicle is clearly a purpose-built modification of a stock chassis. While it was used as a "flower car" and clearly was not designed as one in the traditional sense, it is by no means a stock 1956 Chevy station wagon. It may be the least modified professional car in existence, with nothing but the (very well done) conversion of the tailgate into a liftgate, but it's certainly at the very least a purpose-built "<span style="font-style: italic"> custom-bodied vehicle, based on passenger car styling, and used in the funeral, rescue or livery services</span>" by this very definition.

[LINC400]

It is not a custom bodied service vehicle. The only thing not stock about it is the tailgate. That does not make it a custom bodied vehicle. A service car, is a plain unadorned hearse used for picking up bodies from airports, hospitals, etc. These were used to save wear and tear on the expensive elaborate hearse used for funeral services. The Chevy wagon is definitely not one of those either.

[Rusty_OToole]

There is another variation on the price leader car. That is a stripped car with no options except the biggest most powerful engine available.

I have run into cars like that a few times. You may think they were young guys hot rods but they weren't. One was a 1968 Buick Electra 225 2 door hardtop with NO options except a radio and the big high compression 425 cu in 365HP engine. The other was a 1966 Dodge Coronet 4 door sedan with 440 and automatic.

My theory was they were special ordered by old farts who wanted to tow a trailer.

[keiser31]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Rusty_OToole</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There is another variation on the price leader car. That is a stripped car with no options except the biggest most powerful engine available.

I have run into cars like that a few times. You may think they were young guys hot rods but they weren't. One was a 1968 Buick Electra 225 2 door hardtop with NO options except a radio and the big high compression 425 cu in 365HP engine. The other was a 1966 Dodge Coronet 4 door sedan with 440 and automatic.

My theory was they were special ordered by old farts who wanted to tow a trailer.</div></div>

My theory is that they were the first muscle cars (except for the Electra 225...that needed the big engine just to go from point A to point B because they are land yachts).

[Guest DustyOne]

Here's an "average" Studebaker wagon price leader.

Your car is quite intriguing to me as an ambulance collector. I know of only 2 other Studebaker's of that vintage that are also ambulances. They belong to 2 members of the Professional Car Society. The correct web address for the Professional Car Society is www.professionalcarsociety.org

Dusty..

[Guest kaycee]

Hi Keiser31,

The last Buick 425 cu.inch was in '66. The '68 Electra 225 would have to have been a 430 c.i. 360 h.p.

kaycee

[starfireelvis]

Every car has a story; I wholeheartedly believe that.

What I love about the AACA in general and going to Fall Hershey in particular, is that you see each car as it was without modification, and if the car is a base-line model, so be it. This is the case whether a vehicle has undergone a frame-off restoration, or is an HPOF survivor.

Sure, I am a sucker for the big, sexy cars (being an Olds guy, cars like the '61-'66 Starfire or a Ninety-Eight). But, just as much as I love these cars, I tremendously appreciate a good ol' 88 (later Dynamic 88 as the '50s turned into the '60s). Same deal with seeing a Catalina, as opposed to a Grand Prix, or a Biscayne in contrast with an Impala.

And, though I am sure others older than me could attest to this with far more recollection than I can provide (being a mere 46), let's face it--there were way more of the base-model or mid-model cars produced than the top-of-the-line cars that are now seen in a more plentiful fashion. Most of them were used, sometimes abused, and just provided basic transportation in its day (albeit in a much more exciting fashion than today's BLAH vehicles); as a result, most ended up in the salvage yard.

In a sense, the station wagon also tends to be more of a practical vehicle. although I'm fairly sure that they tended to be in the middle of the pricing hierarchy than toward the bottom. Sure, there were stylish exceptions like the '55-'57 Chevy Nomad, but I would venture to say that a great deal of wagons produced were based upon the base-to-midline models (for example, Olds had a Dynamic 88 and Super 88 full-size wagon from '57-'64, known as the Fiesta, but there were no corresponding Ninety-Eight or Starfire counterpart).

As for the "love" of the price leaders, the '62 D88 Fiesta wagon I'm in the process of getting back on the road was listed at $3,460 (base) back in 1962 (as a two-seater); by comparison, the lowest full-size for Olds in '62 was their D88 Celebrity (post) sedan, at just three bucks shy of $3K; while the most expensive Rocket, not surprisingly, was the Starfire convertible with a base tag of $4,744.

In contrast with the black '62 Starfire coupe I have, the wagon is white, has scant chrome being an 88, features dog-dishes as opposed to spinners, and about the only "pricey" option it has is the power rear-window (a whopping $28.62 in its day).

So, with apologies to Dennis Gage, enjoy those classics, as they are and were. In closing, this month's Hemming's Classic Car features a lot of nice six-cylinder Chevrolets, which of course were mainly found in the low-cost models like the 150 and Biscayne.