A Little Nostalgia.. Used Car Prices

[BIRUDY]

Found this old newspaper from Toronto dated April 1966 while cleaning the old family home.

Just a sample of the used cars available.

 

[joe_padavano]

Median household income in 1966 was $7,600. That Mercedes SL was the better part of a year's salary.

[John Bloom]

I enjoy pulling out an old Hemmings Motor News in the old brown wrapper from the 70’s and looking at prices. 
 

U

[Dave Mellor NJ]

59 Meteor convertible sounds interesting

[Joe in Canada]

If we are still around in the near future what are the odds on seeing those prices again.  Reality Check: The Collector-Car Market Has Reached Correction Territory | Hemmings

Yes I know I am being a pessimists again! 

[Frank DuVal]

4 hours ago, joe_padavano said:

Median household income in 1966 was $7,600.

Well our family was under median... 

 

My first car (1973) was a '62 Biscayne. I paid $15 for it and drove it home. Hit in the rear, but I still drove it for several months before I picked up a trunk and rear bumper. Sold it a year later to move up to a '66 Biscayne station wagon.😃

 

Before I bought the '62 I had looked at a lot of $5 and $10 cars in the "Trading Post" a 25 ¢ newspaper version of Facebook Marketplace.😉

 

🦃🦃🦃🦃🐖🍠🥔🍲🍯🛠️

[joe_padavano]

4 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

Well our family was under median... 

 

My first car (1973) was a '62 Biscayne. I paid $15 for it and drove it home. Hit in the rear, but I still drove it for several months before I picked up a trunk and rear bumper. Sold it a year later to move up to a '66 Biscayne station wagon.😃

 

My first car (in 1974) was the hand-me-down family 1968 Vista Cruiser. I bought a string of $50-$200 cars after that. I find it more interesting that my first car was only six years old. The newest car I own today is nearly 40 years old.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

25 minutes ago, joe_padavano said:

My first car (in 1974) was the hand-me-down family 1968 Vista Cruiser. I bought a string of $50-$200 cars after that. I find it more interesting that my first car was only six years old. The newest car I own today is nearly 40 years old.

 

 Joe, are you like me?   " They don't make em like they used to " and glad of it?   My newest is 31 and going strong.

 

  Ben

[EmTee]

2 hours ago, joe_padavano said:

I find it more interesting that my first car was only six years old.

When I was a kid, one could generally see daylight through the floorboards of a six year-old car.  Smaller items carried in the trunk risked sliding into the gap between the quarter panel and trunk floor, where they either became frosted with a sand/salt slurry or simply fall out onto the road...

[28 Chrysler]

The "Thrifty" section in the want adds was for cars and trucks $25 and under, then for 1970 they raised it to $35 and under.

I got a couple of cars for just over the price of the add.

[plymouthcranbrook]

When I see a car advertised today for $2000 I immediately think” There is a good $50 car”

[Dave Henderson]

Read 'em and weep....  Yup, hard to believe, Model A Duesenbergs for $35 to $100.  Jan-Feb 1935 Kelley Wholesale Blue Book  

[Leif in Calif]

My first car was a pretty nice Hillman convertible. It ran OK but had been sitting and needed a brake job. $50.  A couple of years later I almost traded my 4 year old Porsche 912 ($50K today) for a Mercedes 300SL Convertible. (now over a million). One of my father's friends tried to sell him a '55 Porsche 550 Spyder for $3500. He drove to for a week. My mom nixed it (they are around 3 mil today). 

[Andy J]

The first car I bought was in 1972,a '57 Chevy 210 2dr sedan in fair condition for $110. The right front fender was banged up,but other than that,it was a good driver. Today $110 might buy a wheel cover for the thing.

[60FlatTop]

In 1966 about in May I was 17 and nearing High School graduation. I bought a 1960 Buick Invicta from our local Buick dealer for $600.

 

I have posted this picture before. It is the only one I have of it. That was a pretty good reach at the time.

I look at the Chevies for sale in the ads. They represent the high end of what we were selling at my grandfathers used car lot. $125-$350 was our range and the higher priced ones were not common.

I went to work for him when I was 11. First it was just to mow the lawn but I soon ended up completing a full day in the tire shop. Expanding into the car lot was concurrent with my starting work there. I always made $1 per hour plus 10% when I started selling used tires. By the time I was 14 I was selling cars. My grandmother kept the books and she decided 10% on the cars was too much and cut me to 5% on them.

Chevies were always a good used car seller. Tri-five Chevies were still a hot daily transport when I went into the Navy in '67. My grandfather figured everything else was an off brand.

 

Somewhere online there is a picture similar to this post war lot with a Duesenberg priced at $450 on the windshield. I think of it in hours a person had to work to buy it. Pretty hefty price for a 15-20 year old car. Remembering that picture helps me justify paying a premium for a 15-20 year clean car that is a little special and I can age with. That has always been my preferred collector car purchase. Not $450 today, but you can sure get a nice one in the $8,000-$10,000 range. For me much better than a restoration project.

 

[BIRUDY]

Here is my first car in 1967 when I was 17 and had to use my savings to buy this $125 beauty.

( My Mom getting her first ride)and here is a (same location)picture 55 years later with  Mom(now 102 yrs young and still lives there) with a new same car  ( don't ask how much it cost to get it to this condition because I am afraid to add it up).

[BIRUDY]

September 1966

debut of the new models ... when the norm was to build the car the way you wanted, pouring over those binders that the salesman cautiously allowed you to take a quick glance at as you picked out your options.

Edited November 25, 2023 by BIRUDY (see edit history)

[BIRUDY]

[BIRUDY]

[oldcarfudd]

Just to make it hurt a little worse:  The prices in the newspaper that started this thread were in Canadian dollars.

[pkhammer]

  I was only three years old in 1966, so I look at these prices and it kind of blows my mind. I got my first car (truck) in 1979 when I got my first part time job, making 2.90/hour. I bought and sold a number of cars over the next few years and here are a few noteworthy ones.

  1979 -1st car (truck) -1957 Ford F100 V8 Custom cab, good used condition -$425

  1980 -1970 Plymouth Duster 318 V8 three speed on the floor -good used condition -$450

  1981 -1967 Pontiac GTO, original paint, solid body and strong 400 V8 -needed brakes and tires -$500

  1983 -1968 Oldsmobile 442. Solid but a few dents and dings. Ran well -$250

 

  In 1983 I think I was up to about 4.00/hour. Me and all my friends drove stuff like GTOs, RoadRunners, Camaros, Chevelles and Mustangs to high school in the late 70's and early 80's. I guess they were just used cars then.

  

[Ed Luddy]

On 11/23/2023 at 11:50 PM, Dave Mellor NJ said:

59 Meteor convertible sounds interesting

These ads are in the Toronto Telegraph newspaper. Canadian cars and prices. As well as Canadian rust!

[Ed Luddy]

On 11/24/2023 at 8:50 PM, BIRUDY said:

Robinson Buick is still in business. Not the same  owners.

[John348]

On 11/23/2023 at 11:50 PM, Dave Mellor NJ said:

59 Meteor convertible sounds interesting

I don't think I ever had seen one in person, now that I think about it