That really wasn't that cheap in those days dollars though. We tend to forget that in those days the average young hot rodder was most likely making well under 2.00 an hour unless he had some special skills or a lot of training or schooling. I remember looking at the cl***ifieds in the back of Hot Rod in the early sixties and thinking "Man, that's a lot of money for that car". And now days it looks pretty damned cheap.
I don't think the price difference between A's and 32s were as extreme then either...pre American Graffiti I guess
We did a comparison and the rate of inflation verses wages then and now,,, the current minimun wage would need to be $24.oo an hour just to keep up with the earned buying power of the late 50's. Basically we're losing ground,,especially nowdays.
When dad bought his first house in 1954 he was making $40 a week, his house payment was $40 a month so $450 for a car was a lot of money back then.
AMEN! The old, "that was a lot of money back then" argument doesn't cut it anymore. That car would cost at least 100 times that much today, wages haven't gone up that much, that young rodder today would probably need to be making at least $200 an hour!
$450 in 1956 "has the same buying power" as $3,549.33 in 2009 according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator... so still not a bad deal
A 32 Ford wasn't that old back then either, It was only 24 years old, thats like buying a Hot Rodded 1986 Ford today. Heres a menu form Woolworth from 1957,..... a year after this Deuce ad came out.
Maybe "Monk" never sold the car and it sits in a garage somewhere? here's a lead; I Googled Monk Adams, Pittsburgh here's an exerpt from an obituary; "The oldest Son of Monk Adams,J. Mack (Adams) graduated from Fabens High School in 1950. His education was just beginning; he proceeded to earn a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas Western College in 1954, and his MS and Ph.D. in Mathematics at NMSU. After obtaining his undergraduate degree, he went to work for Westinghouse in Pittsburgh, PA" That could place him in Pittsburgh c. 1956 the time the ad was run! Full obit; http://www.cs.nmsu.edu/CSWS/JMackAdamsObit.html
I'll bet Jim Griepsma's 34 (cover car) was worth more than $450 back in 56. Anyone know what became of that coupe?
Saw an ad from '79, the McMullen Deuce was for sale at $30,000 I wonder what the price was last time it got sold
Sure that wasn"t the average wage??? Somebody just posted that their Father made $40 a week and ***uming that he worked 40 hours aweek would amount to a Dollar an hour! I was working for minimum wage of 90 cents an hour in 1967????
I quit my first job because the boss wouldn't raise me from .90 cents an hour to a dollar per hour. 5 years later I was making 2.00 an hour and tickled to get it.
A friend of my father bought six or seven different newspapers and clipped a bunch more the day I was born - November 20 1961. Here's a few ads from the pile of clippings. Dig the '57 sedan delivery, the '58 2-dr wagon and a '54 Ford - $149.00! Or a '55 convertible with a continental kit and wide whites for $650.00! No Fooling! furyus
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