Check out the original Invoice for my '64 356C

[dafischer]

Originally Posted by speeder

And $5300 was HUGE money for a little 4-cyl sports car in 1964. A VW bug was around $1600 new, for comparison sake.

My dad paid $1800 for his new 65 Beetle convertible.

[Jeff Alton]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Interestingly, in today's money, a 356 was about a $30,000 - $35,000 car.

Interested in your math on this.... NOT SAYING you are wrong by any means.

Now, we are talking Canada here. My dad paid 7900 for his 72 911T brand new. He paid 25K for the house I grew up in in 1969. He earned 6K as a high school teacher in 1972, the same year he bought the car (he fished commercially in the summers to pay for the car). So, as a teacher he could not afford a 356 priced car. It was more than his salary. A 35K car right now is half (give or take a few thousand) a teachers salary here.

The perfectly restored 60 356 S90 we brought home from Kenya when moved back here he sold for 35K in 1980.

Many ways to compare today's buying power vs years gone by. Same as salaries vs costs of goods.

[Bill Douglas]

Originally Posted by dafischer

My dad paid $1800 for his new 65 Beetle convertible.

That means in today's money a Porche has got cheaper. Or more to the point a VW has got disproportionately more expensive.

[Evans, Marv]

The inflation calculator I used said $46K. Still not a lot of $ by today's standards.

[wdfifteen]

That's awesome Baz!!

[drcoastline]

That's pretty cool.

[slow&rusty]

Awesome! Love seeing these original window stickers, very nostalgic and a great piece of history.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Jeff Alton

Interested in your math on this.... NOT SAYING you are wrong by any means.

Originally Posted by Evans, Marv

The inflation calculator I used said $46K. Still not a lot of $ by today's standards.

There was an article in Panorama in the last few months that stated the $30-#35k figure. Sounded low to me, but I wasn't interested enough to run it down. It did kind of surprise me enough that I remembered they had stated that. I mean, that's low end Subaru money these days. Personally, I think Marv's number must be closer but, again, I'm not curious enough to check it out.

The salient point is that these cars were a good deal "cheaper", relatively speaking, when new than equivalent cars are today. But, then again, we really do not have anything "equivalent" today. The wonderful simplicity of a 356, early 911, or any car from that era stands in stark contrast to the rolling electronic nightmares we are stuck with today. We expect more and our regulatory agencies demand more. All of that has added substantially to the cost of any vehicle, of course, rendering them in today's market as far more relatively expensive than in the past.

[rusnak]

Originally Posted by id10t

Nope, head rest is for passenger comfort. Driver doesn't need to be chilling back. Same reason there are no cup holders.

Well, that just makes it that much more fantastic!

[Baz]

The car came with the driver's side headrest as standard. The right (passenger) side headrest was an option.

[Jeff Alton]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

There was an article in Panorama in the last few months that stated the $30-#35k figure. Sounded low to me, but I wasn't interested enough to run it down. It did kind of surprise me enough that I remembered they had stated that. I mean, that's low end Subaru money these days. Personally, I think Marv's number must be closer but, again, I'm not curious enough to check it out.

The salient point is that these cars were a good deal "cheaper", relatively speaking, when new than equivalent cars are today. But, then again, we really do not have anything "equivalent" today. The wonderful simplicity of a 356, early 911, or any car from that era stands in stark contrast to the rolling electronic nightmares we are stuck with today. We expect more and our regulatory agencies demand more. All of that has added substantially to the cost of any vehicle, of course, rendering them in today's market as far more relatively expensive than in the past.

Well said Jeff,

We don't seen to have an equivalent. I don't think you can get a boxster out the door for those number

Great discussion!

Cheers

[id10t]

Few more things to consider on the pricing, the DM was pegged at 4:1 on the dollar....

And the most desirable 356 - the iconic Speedster - was meant to be brought in as "the cheap version" ...

[Starless]

Originally Posted by speeder

Your memory isn’t great, new Mustangs were not $2k in the late ‘70s. They had a base price of ~$2500 in 1964 and that would be a 6-cylinder hardtop with a 3-speed manual and not one single option. They were about double that by the late ‘70s.

I was just about to say the same thing. I bought a Fiat X1/9 new in 1978 and it was @ $5500. No way a new Mustang was half the price.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Baz

My 356 didn't come with any service records when I bought it. But when I joined the 356 Registry - my car was logged in along with my contact info. A few years later I was contacted by a fellow registry member who owns a repair business in Virginia. Turns out he ran across several boxes of old service records from two different old Porsches. Mine being one of them. So he sent me all the stuff. Interesting all the work that was done on my car by the owner, who lived in Virginia. Includes correspondence with various Porsche dealers and shops around the country - including even Vasek Polak!

Anyway......thought it might be of interest to share the invoice when the car was first sold. I thought is was cool that it also shows a '62 Volvo as a trade in! Was purchased by a doctor in Ohio.

I also have the invoice when it was sold to the fellow in Virginia who accumulated all the service records and invoices.

According to the inflation calculator that comes to about $46,000 in 2021 money.

[Steve Carlton]

Mustang base prices from 1964.5-2021 including inflation adjusted prices:

https://www.cjponyparts.com/resources/mustang-prices-through-the-years

[fastfredracing]

That is awesome Baz . . Id love to find the original invoice for my turbo carrera .

[Racerbvd]

Originally Posted by Starless

I was just about to say the same thing. I bought a Fiat X1/9 new in 1978 and it was @ $5500. No way a new Mustang was half the price.

[URY914]

I had a friend that bought a '64 Ford wagon from an old timer. He had saved EVERY everything to do with that car; all sale documents, loan docs, service docs, and he kept a running log of all fuel fill ups with dates and prices in little flip folders. My friend said it was like going back in time looking at it all.

[Geneman]

i have the receipt for my 71 pinto, brown, before explosion..,,, any interest here?...

[GH85Carrera]

In 1973 I paid $2,600 for a 1973 Super Beetle. I paid it off in one year, and traded it in for my 74 914 2.0 as the down payment. The bug was in pristine condition, and they gave me $2,300 for it.