“Don't buy anything!” were the parting words from my partner/wife as I left for the Sukanen Museum antiques/collectibles show.
There was no plan to buy anything. Our house is already overcrowded with treasures neither of us can bear to part with.
On viewing the exhibits my eyes were drawn to a little coil-bound yellow book, called Motor Vehicle Data Book, 1948-49.
“It’s the black book for car prices,” said the vendor. “It lists all the prices then for cars made from 1935-49.”
I wondered how much that ’39 Ford sedan our family had from 1945 to 1950 was worth.
“How much?”I asked.
“Ten dollars.”
“Will you take five?” I countered. She accepted.
Now I owned this book, published by automotive industry data broker Sanford Evans.
To my surprise, the book contained values for car manufacturers I had never heard of, not that I am well-versed in the area.
The American Bantam Car Company of Butler, Penn, was one with 16 models produced between 1940-41, ranging in price from $546 to $660.
American Bantam was formed in 1935 from the remains of an American Austin company and produced a variety of cars, trucks and van-like vehicles until 1941.
Bantam actually won the wartime contract to build the first jeep but lost the contract to Ford and Willys Overland when it was unable to handle the 75 unit per day production schedule.
Cord was another new car company to me. Made by Auburn Automobile of Indiana, Cord had 16 models listed. It must have been a luxury car, as prices ranged from $3,195 to $4,680.
Auburn built its first car in 1903, the same year the Ford Model A came out. William Wrigley from the chewing gum fortune invested in Auburn. The Cord was named after a new president who bought the Duesenberg Company for Auburn.
Auburn sold 3,400 cars in 1931, bringing out 12-cylinder models the next year. In 1935, during the depths of the Great Depression, a line of supercharged speedsters was introduced.
Not surprisingly the company filed for bankruptcy in 1937.
The Kaiser-Frazer Export Corporation of Willow Run, Mich., had four sedan models from 1948 and 1949, priced $2,777 to $3,565.
This company was a partnership of U.S. industrial leader Henry Kaiser and J.W. Frazer who acquired the assets of Graham-Paige which was an unsuccessful startup after the Graham brothers worked with the Dodge Brothers.
Kaiser-Frazer was the only new post-war company to survive even if only until 1951 when it became Kaiser until ceasing production in 1955. Kaiser did continue manufacturing vehicles in Argentina. Israel and the Netherlands into the 1980s.
Graham-Paige Motors of Walkerville. Ont., had over 100 models listed from between 1935 and end of production in 1941. Graham-Paige was associated with the Graham Brothers who built a truck with the Dodge Brothers.
Another Canadian model unknown to me was the Terraplane, made in Tilbury Ont., by Hudson Motors. The book listed 42 models from 1935-37, all priced under $1,200.
Built between 1932-38, the powerful and sturdy Terraplane was Hudson’s lower-priced response to the Depression.
By the way, that ’39 Ford sedan my family had was worth $882 in 1949. Asking price for a restored model today: between $16,500 US. and $26,000 US.
Correction. The March 12 article about Mosaic Place contained incorrect information. Combined profit was $319,368, or 9.5 per cent of revenues.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected]
