When the classics were still really cheap
08/18/2015
Well, the exchange rates were also different back then, but not by much. In 1975, for example, one American dollar (USD) was worth the equivalent of 2.46 marks (DM) or 2.58 Swiss francs.
But even if we take this into account, we can only scratch our heads when we look at the "used car prices" quoted 40 years ago in the American magazine "Road & Track". A car in the six-figure range didn't really exist; if something got really expensive, the selling price might have been USD 57,000. Mostly, however, the prices were in the USD 15,000 to 30,000 range, and this for vehicles that change hands for seven-figure sums at auctions today.
Want some examples? Why didn't anyone snap up the Jaguar XKSS back then?
Or why didn't we raid our bank account back then to buy a race-prepared Mercedes-Benz 300 SL?
Why didn't we snatch up an Alfa Romeo 33 Daytona Coupé for USD 25,000 (or less)?
Or why did we pass up a Ferrari Daytona Competition, which would probably be worth 2 to 4 million today?
Well, we probably didn't have the necessary change and perhaps we would have backed the wrong horse, for example a Peerless, which would have been considerably cheaper at USD 2750, but would probably have cost considerably more today with maintenance, workshop work and accommodation than the increase in value achieved over the 40 years.
