Glasses guide 1958

[richard]

always a good read. to those not in the know these monthly  guides used ,mainly by the trade , to ascertain the value of second hand cars. the latest one i found was october 1958 . interesting valuations on some of the rarer cars - how on earth did they come up with these :

Bond 1949         with 73000 on the clock !!               (cost new £199)             now worth £45
AC Petite 1953          49000                                                    309                               145
Coronet 1957            10000                                                    450                                310
fuldamobil 1956          22000                                                    430                                180
Gordon 1955              31000                                                    270                                155
Powerdrive1956         19000                                                     412                                235
Tourette 1957           10000                                                     288                                185
did these sort of mileages actually occur on these cars? no wonder there arent many left ! 10,000 miles a year in a micro . brave men indeed   



 

[Big Al]

These valuations used to be based on trade feedback. As such they were pretty accurate for run of the mill mass produced stuff. The less cars that were traded the more the case history is important to avoid distorting the figures. Nothing changes as today's classic valuations tend to reflect auction results and/or club valuations. Clearly therefore they are pretty accurate for common stuff but the rare stuff can be manipulated or wildly out of touch with real prices.

I like these old price lists though as it shows relative values to what else was available and often the spread of depreciation. This is telling as it shows the reaction of the general car buyer. It is often at odds with what is later found to be a well designed and engineered car with merit. The fickle fate of tittle tattle.

Yes folk were hardy in those days but you girlfriend was well impressed by some of these cars over an old sidecar outfit. The Smart or Figaro of thier day!