Only $3920.80 out the door....

[electra225]

I was digging around in my service manuals this afternoon and came across the shop manual for my Buick. I was just browsing, not really looking at anything specific. I ran across a little yellow sales slip, about six inches by nine inches. It was a sales slip for a man named Brouk who bought a new 1963 Electra 225 model 4847 two door hardtop. It cost $3870. It had, as options, cornering lights, E21 windshield, which was a tinted glass windshield, tilt steering wheel (Comfortilt), whitewall tires, Power windows, power seat, leather interior and bucket seats (these last four options were a package). The charged 150.80 additional for "full undercoat and Porceleinize". Undercoating all over everything and a wax job. All done on 7-11-63. Mr. Brouk traded in his '55 Century 2-door hardtop, got $100 trade-in allowance and, according to the ticket, he could buy it back for $200. All this cost, out the door $3920.80. The new '63 had white exterior paint, no mention of interior color. No air, no dual exhaust, no Positraction, no cruise control, so it was a fairly basic Electra with leather bucket seat interior. That is not a bad price for a new Electra. I think Mr. Brouk got hosed on his '55 trade-in, but used cars were cheap back then. You could get a really nice used car for $100 with lots of serviceable miles left. I can't read the dealership name. It is written in cursive rather than being printed. If I can figure out how to get a picture of the invoice on here, I will.....

This transaction took place in Illinois. I can't make out the city, but I think it says "Harvey".

[danrclem]

That was a lot of money back in 1963. I think it's interesting that someone would buy a car like that with no AC but then again 1963 was a completely different world than what we live in now.

I was eight years old when that car was purchased. I did a search and it said the average house cost $19,300 in 1963 and probably less than that in my area.

[TC Chris]

That price sounds like a bargain. My '61 Chevy-- a convertible--came in at $3,500. Two years earlier and 3 steps down the GM hierarchy.

And as to AC--I drove down here for the weekend in the Mustang, whose AC hasn't functioned in >30 years. Updating it would require paying arms and legs I don't wish to part with, I can still lower the windows or remove the T-tops, and besides, this is Michigan. The Chevy, of course, did not have AC. Nobody had AC in 1961, and cars of that era had those wonderful GM footwell ventilators. Pull the knob and there's a hurricane blowing at your legs (as long as you are moving).

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

All true, but the top came down on your Chevy, which was an option. So, even though your Chevy is not as heavily optioned as an Electra would have typically been, it was considered a "premium" car due to its being a convertible. An Electra convertible would have cost more, naturally, than a Chevy convertible. The GM heirarchy like it was allowed you to option a Chevy enough to get it into Oldsmobile price territory. My Electra was so heavily optioned it was pretty far up in the Cadillac 62 price range. My Electra has every option except power wing vents. Buick power wing vents were problematic until Buick adopted Cadillac power wing vents in 1962. I have a set of Cadillac power wing vents and door consoles for my Buick. You have to change the inner door panels to eliminate the hole for the wing vent crank. Mine are original and so nice I hate to do that. The time is coming I may do it anyways. I removed the cruise control because the system was dangerous. There was a chain running from the actuator to the carburetor. It could get bound up on the plug wire retainer and hold the throttle wide open. I had that happen on my '68 Electra. I don't want that happening again, so I removed, but retained, the cruise control on my '63.

My friend Rich has a '63 Bonneville wagon that is up heavily into Buick pricing territory. The Buick Invicta wagon was the most expensive wagon GM built in '63, but Rich's Bonne wagon is right up there both in quality and price. I believe his wagon has every option available on a Pontiac wagon in '63. Bill has seen it, and I think I can say it's the fanciest Pontiac I ever saw, regardless of body style. The Invicta wagon was built on the 126" Electra chassis and came equipped with Electra trim, rocker moldings and wheel opening moldings. Most were heavily optioned since they had such a high base price. The 1960's were arguably the most desirable decade for GM auto production, regardless of make.

There was a bodyman in town, Mr. Stahl, who ordered a '63 Impala 4-door hardtop that was basically a four-door Impala SS. Buckets and console, 409 and Powerglide, power everything, air, Guidematic and twilight sentinel, dual power radio antennas on the rear fenders, Positraction, the works. People ribbed him for spending enough on a Chevy to buy a Cadillac, but he liked driving Chevys, like the looks of the '63's and could afford whatever he wanted, so he had McCammon Chevrolet order the works. Black on black with SS hubcaps. Quite the car.....