Brussels 1938 - report of car prices at the Salon / automobile show.

[Walt G]

At the major annual Automobile/motor car shows/salons in Europe held each year in Paris, London, Berlin and Brussels there was an enormous thick program issued as a souvenir, listed all participants and details of what they had on display . One of the few things that one rarely encounters is the supplement that was a separate thin catalog the lists the "Tarif" ( prices/cost) of the cars on display. I have this  16 page booklet of tarif information for Brussels for their January 1938 show. Here you view the cover and two of the inside pages. American cars were well represented .  Note that Plymouth has both a  7 passenger sedan and limousine on offer.

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Walt G (see edit history)

[8E45E]

The Plymouths were all price competitive with Morris and Peugeot, and in some instances, a better deal, with a six cylinder over a four.

 

Craig

[Walt G]

Craig

Great observation and comment - it is why I love material like this, it paints a bigger picture of the whole car scene at the time , and reflects how American cars "over there" and European car "over here" were viewed . Chrysler had a factory in Kew near/west of  London in England.  As of 30 years ago the buildings were still there.

Walt

[60FlatTop]

Thank you, Walt.

 

Lots of things relate.

 

Here is a clip from a chart comparing the US dollar to a Franc.

 

About a quarter at the time. Makes those cars quite expensive.

 

In my sailor days I would carry around a pocket full of 100 Yen pieces and a few 50 Yen. The 100s were about a quarter at the time. I remember getting away from "The Strip" and into town where a Popsicle was 1 1/2 Yen and the smallest we had was a 50. There was either a big time search through the neighborhood for change or you gave the whole thing to their amazement.

 

Your brochure was really an item for the wealthy and quite limited. And in 1938 there was a hot war in progress not far from the eastern borders.

 

Quite a time to hold the Salon and live life as usual.

[58L-Y8]

Thanks, Walt, for sharing this, quite an eyeopener!  Notice the Nash Ambassador Eight Cabriolet convertible was 88000 Francs but the Packard Eight Coupe Convertible was only 70900 Francs!  Even the Packard Eight Convertible Sedan was less at 85500 Francs.  Packard was the buy!

[Walt G]

The reaction that this is bringing is exactly why I search my archives and post it here! Every little bit helps to paint the picture and puts it all in a time frame as well that most of us can not conceive of now. History beyond the main topic of cars.

[Gunsmoke]

Wonderful and rare insight offered here Walt. I note a 2 door 6 cyl Plymouth Sedan for 1938 was typically selling for $750-$800 USD stateside. The Tarif lists one at 38,750 francs if I read info correctly, and based on a 4.37 francs per dollar exchange rate (as posted by 60FlatTop), that would be close to $9000 USD at the time (versus maybe should be $900?). So some factor missing in calculation or am I missing something? 

[60FlatTop]

In the early 1980s I met up with a couple of Europeans traveling the United States. They were from Antwerp, Netherlands. After camping on our living room floor I took them to a local car show, great time and a lot of talking about how we lived.

 

I had a 1970 Cadillac Eldorado with a 500, 8.2 liter engine at the time. They told me they were taxed on the CC displacement of the engine of their car. One had recently had a promotion and was able to afford a 1000 CC car, something he was quite proud of.

 

He stood in front of the Eldorado reading the displacement badge aloud over and over. "acht dot twee" in Flemish. He finally turned to me and said "It would be a very wealthy man in my city who could own such a car" with a very strong emphasis on "very". Over the years that stood out and I have sold a lot of cars as well as parts in Europe. There is a lot added on the foreign prices and the VAT tax is protective of the local market, even in used cars. My plan of exporting used Chevy Silverados to Sweden didn't get far at all.

[Walt G]

the tariff/tax on cars going to Europe or coming into the USA from Europe has always been an issue to cope with. This going on since at least WWI era. Chassis coming in from Europe ( Isotta Fraschini it seems especially) were often imported as a running chassis - this included everything except the body but did include the firewall. Apparently that meant the car was"incomplete".  I-F agency in NY City had a great relationship with the Fleetwood Body Co. in Fleetwood , Pa. ( long before it became part of G.M. ) Fleetwood was not that far from NY City and there was a railroad line right next to the Fleetwood plant for easier transport of a chassis and or a completed car. The I-F was imported to NY City because it was the closest deep water harbor - then the cars made their way across the USA by train for eventual deliver. Not in every instance by 99% of the time. I have sales catalogs printed in the USA on I-F that have those cars for sale when new and issued by I-F of the USA. I also have a decent number of period photographs of the cars that Fleetwood built bodies for taken on the streets around the factory when they were just completed in the 1920s.

The well known "Rudolph Valentino " I-F roadster has a Fleetwoord body since new. Ordered by R.V. but he died before he could take delivery and it was bought by a fellow who worked for the I-F dealership in NY City , his name was Joseph Gaeta and he lived in the Manor haven area of Port Washington, NY on long island.  Joe was a neat guy with a great memory and as a teenager I would chat with him to a great extent at the Cow Bay Fair held near his home each year for most of the entire day. He enjoyed talking to a young guy who knew what a coach built car was and was more interested in old cars then baseball. Even then I had questions about how the cars were built /designed/sold and where and by whom. Some things don't change.................... the value is the history, the story , not the $ value on the market for sale .

[bryankazmer]

The listing for a Packard Six convertible with a custom Belgian body is intriguing.

[Rusty_OToole]

Not sure about Belgium but in Switzerland there was a heavy tax on imported cars but of course, no such tax on Swiss made cars. But if the car was 40% or more Swiss made it was considered a domestic car and was not taxed. The result was, you could buy an imported car with a custom made Swiss body for about the same money as a standard steel stamping. So there were quite a few American cars in Switzerland with Swiss made, convertible coachwork which was a specialty of their coach builders.

 

In the thirties a Hudson eight cylinder sedan cost around $750 but the chassis was only $450.  The Englishman Reid Railton bought Hudson chassis and had them bodied by a local coach builder and sold the result as a Railton car for 500 pounds, about $2500. This was considered quite a bargain in England, as comparable English cars sold for 1000 pounds and up.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[Walt G]

Can anyone else contribute a period spread sheet like I did ( yes there are several  more pages this is just two) so we can see what was told when new by the information from the car people then? Other countries, or even years for same place? Nice to see it broken down by specific body style, series of the chassis etc. on original material .

Rusty you are full of comments/ answers can you do that for us ?

Edited June 21, 2023 by Walt G (see edit history)

[58L-Y8]

Note the three figure prices for the Mercedes-Benz 540K models.

[alsancle]

1 hour ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Note the three figure prices for the Mercedes-Benz 540K models.

In the USA, the special roadster was $14,000 in 1936. A standard Cabrioket C was $10,000. Cabriolet A around 12 K.

[Walt G]

this is the kind of stuff from period publications that really give a great view of what the small details about a series of cars/body styles was like. That is often over looked in articles or stories now to put another perspective on the cars under discussion. A Buick 90 series Limited limousine at the Brussels show was 110,000 francs.  This booklet is neat as you can easily compare cost and it mentions the series and body styles as well.

Booklets like this were tossed away, who cares the next year what a car cost the previous year, it is why to find a booklet like this is worthwhile , it adds to the bigger picture eliminates guess work as to cost and even what cars were on display at that time . Among some of the other American cars on display/offer were Graham, Dodge Hudson, Terraplane, La Salle, Studebaker , Willys . Dodge had a huge number of cars present. 

[Rusty_OToole]

4 hours ago, Walt G said:

Can anyone else contribute a period spread sheet like I did ( yes there are several  more pages this is just two) so we can see what was told when new by the information from the car people then? Other countries, or even years for same place? Nice to see it broken down by specific body style, series of the chassis etc. on original material .

Rusty you are full of comments/ answers can you do that for us ?

Walt somewhere around here I have a box of old MoToR magazines from the thirties. Their annual new car issue had lists of car models with specs including prices. Sorry I can't put my hands on them. They are at the bottom of a pile in a store room turning to coal. Also have a salesman's handbook from the thirties with prices of used cars. I think I know where that one is, will look it up if I can find it.

[Walt G]

Great, since this is about prices and models available in Europe/England try to focus on that if you can. Several books have been written on car specs etc decades ago but to find the information as I mentioned as to what the cost was on the east side of the big pond is  difficult. I could scan and post the rest of the 1938 Brussels item to show all the cars mentioned but do not want to be a dominant "pushy"  contributor all the time, I think it is really great to see everyone take part if they can.

Walt

[Rusty_OToole]

Sorry Walt the info I have is USA only.