I learned to drive in my fathers 1955 Pontiac Starchief. I loved that car! I was thinking about it today as I was out walking the dog. Cars then had so little extras, and the extras were expensive. We had an automatic transmission (Hydromatic), power steering and power brakes but no air conditioning. That was pretty standard, the steering and brakes were considered important, if you remember the non power ones, these were a snap. Standard shift was also common, but automatic was the way to go.
Cars came in with different equipment and you negotiated on cars in or coming into stock. You could order one but it took a long time and was perceived not to be as good a deal.
The Pontiac had an electric antenna. I know this sounds nuts, but it was fun. There was a toggle switch under the dash on the drivers side and you could raise a the antenna. It had an AM radio (of course) so the antenna was fine but probably not necessary. It came on the car, was an extra $25, but was included in the negotiations.
Cars cost around $3,500, nicely equipped. This would have been for middle of the road General Motors cars, Cadillac’s not included. They were more in the $4,500 plus range, I think. It’s a bit hard to remember, but teen aged boys, especially in the 50’s, really cared about cars.
I don’t remember anyone having power windows or power seats. There were a few air conditioned cars around, although I seldom saw one. One of eventually the richest men in America, who lived nearby, had a Cadillac, a chauffeur and a car phone! I have no idea how that worked, but in 1953 he had one!
There were few foreign cars, if any. A friend of mine had a brother who owned an MG and it was amazing! There was a foreign car dealer, a small place I used to see, and as I remember they sold only English cars.
My first car was a 1950 Ford two door with no extras I can think of except maybe a radio (yes, radios were extras as well). It was a six cylinder, even though I would have preferred an eight. I had it for a while and made the mistake of following it with a 1960 Morris Minor. This was an English car with no extras and it never ran too well. It spent most of it’s time in the shop.
I won’t bore you with my personal history of cars, I was just thinking that a $25 electric antenna can be a really important thing to a kid with a car. I could make it go up and down, and that’s all it did, but it was amazing!
Cars came in with different equipment and you negotiated on cars in or coming into stock. You could order one but it took a long time and was perceived not to be as good a deal.
The Pontiac had an electric antenna. I know this sounds nuts, but it was fun. There was a toggle switch under the dash on the drivers side and you could raise a the antenna. It had an AM radio (of course) so the antenna was fine but probably not necessary. It came on the car, was an extra $25, but was included in the negotiations.
Cars cost around $3,500, nicely equipped. This would have been for middle of the road General Motors cars, Cadillac’s not included. They were more in the $4,500 plus range, I think. It’s a bit hard to remember, but teen aged boys, especially in the 50’s, really cared about cars.
I don’t remember anyone having power windows or power seats. There were a few air conditioned cars around, although I seldom saw one. One of eventually the richest men in America, who lived nearby, had a Cadillac, a chauffeur and a car phone! I have no idea how that worked, but in 1953 he had one!
There were few foreign cars, if any. A friend of mine had a brother who owned an MG and it was amazing! There was a foreign car dealer, a small place I used to see, and as I remember they sold only English cars.
My first car was a 1950 Ford two door with no extras I can think of except maybe a radio (yes, radios were extras as well). It was a six cylinder, even though I would have preferred an eight. I had it for a while and made the mistake of following it with a 1960 Morris Minor. This was an English car with no extras and it never ran too well. It spent most of it’s time in the shop.
I won’t bore you with my personal history of cars, I was just thinking that a $25 electric antenna can be a really important thing to a kid with a car. I could make it go up and down, and that’s all it did, but it was amazing!
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