Saturday, May 22, 2021
Price != status
The latest issue of Collectible Auto has a long and satisfying article on the Ford small V8/60, produced from '37 to '40 in US, failed to sell here, then enjoyed a happy Second Life in many other countries until '67. Ended up as a fast OHV Hemi in Brazilian Simcas.
BEST ARTICLE EVER. Shows how history can include all other subjects. Math, economics, politics, personality, engineering. Every aspect is comprehensive and neatly linked into a solid narrative. Author Karl Ludvigsen deserves an award, if there are awards for this type of writing.
A shorter feature on Chrysler's last custom Imperials is less satisfying and more puzzling:
The Ghia Crown Imperial offers a window into something intangible, the power of glamour. With just 132 produced over a nine-year span, only a very select clientele, the rich, famous, and powerful, could enjoy such a car. That, of course, was the program's purpose. A Who's Who of users included presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson; RCA chief Sarnoff, novelist Pearl Buck, heads of several Middle Eastern royal houses, Dominican dictator Trujillo, and Yugoslav president Tito.What's puzzling? The Crown cost $18,500. That wasn't a "presidential" price in 1965. It was the price of a basic two-bedroom house. My parents could have bought one if they were savers instead of borrowers. Any upper-middle earner could afford 18k. Inflated to today, it would be $150k. I could buy one if I wanted to use up all my savings. So price wasn't the constraint. Chrysler must have been selecting the buyers carefully by status, with official standards for the permissible Crown Imperial buyer. Or else they were taking LARGE off-the-books payments. The writer didn't seem to catch this point.
Labels: Asked and partly answered, Happy Ending
¶ 5:03 PM
