Yesterday my mother-in-law gave me the Dallas Morning News from September 23, 1963; the day after Kennedy got shot. She saved all the local papers for weeks after he was shot.
She got ticked off at me because the first thing I did was turn to the classified section to look at the car ads. Lots of cool stuff but what really got to me was the 1957 Chevy Bel-Air Convertible (needs some work) for $330.00.
$50 down and $50 a month would get you a new 1964 Ford F100 or only $2465.00 cash.

 

I know eh. Time, if only one could go back. Not all the time but just once in a while.

Jim
CYWG

 

James.
JFK was shot & died November 22 nd 1963.

Would you like me to change the date on your post?

 

Oh, I kow how you feel. My dad was born in 1955. He always tell me these stories:

'57 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz in the late '70s he told me it needed a new top and new weatherstrip 34,000 miles baby blue. Was a funeral flower car. $4,000 He bought a '30 ford coupe hot rod body for $500 instead. He hasn't worked on that since 1981.

'54 Eldorado convertible rotted on the bottom $400

'58 Cadillac coupe 58,000 miles for free!!! Thats right FREE!!!! All my dad had to do was get it. It didn't run. So the owner one day towed it around the block and got it to run. The owner decided to keep it. My dad seen the car years later said it was mint.

'54 Eldorado convertible rotted on the bottom no title $300

My dad didn't know about hemmings in the 70's. But one day at a swap meet, he picked up a 70's hemmings. Inside there was all kinds of sweet cars dirt cheap. Noone wanted 50's and early 60's cars in the 70's. The icing on the cake:he saw in 1976? hemmings there was '58 Eldorado Biarritz, Arizona car $2,500. 28,000 miles. Mint.

There is other cars he could of got, but I can't remember.

I almost cry when he tells me about these stories. He kicks himself in the rear now too. At the time, there weren't repro parts or anywhere to get parts, so that was his main reason for not pursuing them more.

Lenny

 

My Gramma bought a new 64 chevelle malibu SS Conv for, I think, $3200. I've have to look. I have the window sticker somewhere around here. It's a nice car. Been in the garage for years-I should give it a bath at least.

EDIT:

Found it.

Malibu SS 8 Convert 2857.00

Powerglide Trans 199.10
Power Steering 86.10
650 x 14 2ply WSW 28.70
C&C group- includes: 30.15
inside no glare mirror
outside rear view mirror
2 spd washer and wiper
Tinted windshield 19.95
Belts w/retractors 7.55
Power top 53.80
Comforttilt Strg Whl 43.05



Destination chg 146.00

Total 3471.40

 

I bought a new Ford Falcon in 1962 for $1910.00

Cars were still put on 36 months (max) to pay for them. Only recent generations felt they could/should go to 60 or 72 months to pay for a car.

My 1966 Pontiac Lemans (326 Cu/In) was $3333.69 out the door.

 

thats funny....

my dad will be 61 years old on the 14th of this month. he grew up on the "iron range" in minnesota during the '50s basically the middle of no where.
he use to buy cars, or 3 or 4 bucks- litterally.

yes-3 or 4 dollars! they werent pretty- but they ran.

a week or 2 later, theyd die, he would leave them in the ditch,
( since he never changed titles ) and go buy another one.

he owend his first car when he was 14.

by the time he was 21 he owend at least 125 different vehicles


he didnt care how they looked or what company made them, heck they were only 3 or 4 bucks anyways. hed buy them, sometimes own more than on car at a time, drive one and do demolition derbys ON THE HIGHWAY !!! my uncle got caught one time by the highway patrol !!

 

Man, I would want the time machine just so I could go back to the 50's, sit on a bus stop bench, and look at all those classic cars driving around. That in itself would be a treat.
If we ever get the chance to trade with Cuba, think of all the restorable classic American cars they have down there. It's a treasure trove of those old sturdy cars....that's the closest thing you'll ever find to an automotive time machine!
BDV

 

My great-grandfather was 71 years old when I was born, and he decided to retire that year. Up til that point he'd driven any old car or truck that he could come by cheaply and keep on the road. Well, since he was going to have more time to drive around and visit relatives, he and Grandma decided they'd better have a "good car" to do it in. And to Grandad, that meant a Cadillac. So he went to the car dealer in town and told him to keep his eye out for a late model Caddy. The dealer got back to him and told him that he'd found one, but it was a convertible, and wondered if that would be okay for them. It was, and Grandad bought it sight unseen. It turned out to be a 1959 ElDorado, with the huge fins. It had about 30,000 miles and had belonged to an insurance salesman. Grandma thought it was very nice, but she never allowed the top to be put down. Grandad paid $2600 and traded in a 1951 Ford station wagon for it.

One of the first trips they took was to the hospital to see my mother and me, about 50 miles away.

I have a picture of my great-grandparents and me in front of that car. I was about 2 years old at the time, standing between them in front of the grille with them sitting in chairs in front of my own grandfather's house.

That car got hit by lightning in 1968 and burnt to the ground. Grandad never had another car.

 

Right on BDV. Could you imagine the first auction? Some Cubans would think they were independently wealthy after their first sale.
In Castro's Cuba, they would be.

 

I'd rather just go back 1 week.
With the last lottery results.
Then I can have one of them cars.
If you go back to the 50's they won't be called classic cars would they?

 

Think of this. Our kids will be kicking our butts. There are dozens of late seventies to mid eighties pick-ups, Camaro's, and Mustangs around here dirt cheap. I see 10-15 year old Lincoln Town Cars and Caddillac Fleetwoods being stripped and crushed all the time. These cars will be collectible and cool in the furure. Why aren't we scarfing them up right now?? I was at Hodges today and poking through the yard while he was fixing my tire. I saw a mid eighties Ford 4 door sedan. I can't remember what it was called, it was a little car and had a hatchback. Anyway I used to see it in Europe all the time. It had all wheel drive, a 5 speed and a turbo. I think it was called XRsomething. Looked sort of like a hoppped up Mondeo. Is this ringing any bells? My point is I have seen a lot of these cars in Europe but this was the first one I've seen in the U.S. Why is is rotting in a junkyard? Ok it's not a 60's musclecar. So what? Cars like that will mean to our kids what a 64 1/2 Mustang means to us. I think it's time we started saving the cool cars from our time. When was the last time you saw a real clean 1986 Chevy Camaro IROC? I haven't seen one in a while. I tell ya what, I'm gonna start looking.

 

That's just the problem- cars from the 80's-90's were junk, plain and simple. A Kcar? A cavalier? An Escort? Give me a break, those cars weren't popular new! The Merkur XR4TI is a nice car, but tons of problems, and expensive to fix. Probably why it is sitting in the junkyard. Even the Mustang from the early 80's- come on, who wants a 255 v8? And who wants a late-80's Hyundai? When Ford puts an engine in a car that displaces more than 5.4l, and you can pick one off of a dealer lot, then we will have a classic. Otherwise, smog ***** and safety freaks have forced the musclecars into oblivion.

 

If we ever get the chance to trade with Cuba, think of all the restorable classic American cars they have down there. It's a treasure trove of those old sturdy cars....that's the closest thing you'll ever find to an automotive time machine!



Do a search on google for "Cuban automobiles". Yah they are cars from the 40's and 50's, but you have to remember that they have been going everyday for more than 42 years!!! Most have different engines and probably almost no interior. All the salty air doesn't do much good for the chrome either. I'm sure some people fix them up really nice. Still, it would be kind of cool to go to Cuba and see all those cars running around.


Lenny