Here is yet another installment from my recently rediscovered 1986 “Deals on Wheels” magazine. This is the American Iron Edition. This first car is one that you may never have seen before.. IF YOU LIVE ON MARS!.. Ok, sorry. Yes, this car pretty much defines the 1950s in America: the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. $5,895 in 1986 would be around $13,152 today which would be a heck of a price for this car! Hagerty lists a #4 “fair” value as being $26,000 so if you can get one for half price that’s always worth jumping on. You can see that the seller lists a 350 V8, so even though the paint hasn’t been redone, the engine has been changed. Does that drop the value enough that you would have passed on this otherwise good looking car in 1986 for $5,895?
I lusted after a Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth business coupe for a couple of decades and I’d still love to have one. Better yet, I want this one for $2,500! Or, even for the $5,578 that would be the 2017 equivalent of that $2,500 today. Heck, double that $5,578 price today would be a bargain.
Now this is a big car. One big, American car – 4,200 pounds worth, almost 1,000 pounds heavier than the ’57 Chevy. $2,000 in 1986 would be around $4,462 in 2017 dollars, another seemingly good deal. Although, if this was a Minneapolis car for 28-years I would have wanted to check out the rust situation even though the seller says that the body is in good condition. Hagerty’s prices are approximately $10,000 to $20,000 for this car today, depending on condition. Even at a $10,000 value, this was a killer bargain for $2,000 1986 dollars.
Who wants a ’67 Grand Prix two door, loaded, for $800? I thought so. Man, this is the stuff that dreams are made of for me, finding this car in a garage somewhere. $800 in 1986 would be $1,785 today; ouch. Yes, this was a killer deal in 1986, why didn’t I buy this car back then?! Hagerty lists the value of a similar car as being between $5,300 and $17,800 for non-concours level cars, so if you can find one in this condition for $1,785.. no, you already know to buy it, I don’t have to say that.
I think that the 1962 Imperials are about the most unique for the brand, those headlights and tail lights are so different. $3,500 in 1986 would be around $7,809 today and the Imperial Price Guide lists a 1962 Custom 4-door hardtop in #3 condition as being worth $7,650. I’m a bit surprised, I thought it would be higher. The seller says that this car is in excellent condition but whether it was in #2 or even #1 condition is hard to say. The most that this car is worth, supposedly, is $17,000. This was pretty much the top of the hill for luxury in 1962, or at least it was competitive with Cadillac and Lincoln. Were there any good deals in this bunch of 1986 American Iron finds?
Time flies and prices change…..Love this ‘Revisited’ series…..
The ’57 Chevy is OK but it’s a ‘bellybutton;’ everybody’s got one. However it’s a good buy even back then.
My dad had a ’48 Plymouth Club Coupe; it was his first NEW car and he always had a special place in his heart for that model. I’d like to find one out there and restore it to driver quality.
The ’58 Olds? Too gaudy for me; I’d much rather have a ’57 Super 88.
The Grand Prix. What’s not to like about it? Back in the day when a car was still a car.
The Imperial? When my dad bought his ’62 Chrysler, he lusted after an Imperial that was in the same showroom. Mom won out on that deal claiming that on the country roads we lived down there were too many things to break on the Imperial…
Awe the good old days, I passed over a one-owner Yenko camaro for $12000…at that time $6000 would buy you the best camaro out there……I thought the guy was nuts…..
I assume on the 62 Imperial the “auto pilot” means cruise control. Anyways, the Imperial seems to be a good buy when looking at Hagerty’s #3 values of approx.$10,000. It would have to have all the unique 1962 trim pieces as those would be near impossible to find as so few 1962 Imperials were even produced.
My first car was a 57 Chevy Bel Air. I bought it from the corner gas station and paid $10 for it in 1969. Only had it a few months before some guy turned left in front of me and I broadsided him. He got the ticket for failure to yield. His insurance company gave me $100 and let me keep it. My Dad and I hauled it to the junk yard and they gave me $10 for it. My second car was a 62 Corvair. Paid ….$110 for it.
I hung onto a 1981 Atlanta Journal newspaper classified ad clipping with a 440 4bbl automatic Superbird for $9500. I saw the ad that evening and waited till the next morning to call just to hear the man say he already had a buyer coming to get it.
In ’86 I passed on a mint 68 Charger 383 for $750 after a couple of friends laughed and said I would never get a girl with a car like that (Blue Velvet had just been released, and they also brought up Dukes of Hazzard)
I used to buy about 5 different monthly periodicals like that while looking for a 71 RS. The internet changed everything.
I miss the old Auto Traders.
I wasted more hours looking through those,
every time I traveled.
I LOVE the site, and try and be a good contributing member, but PLEASE stop these posts. It literally hurts inside. In my personal experience I had a chance to buy a ’69 big block 4 speed Camaro for 3500.00in 1986 it had zero options and steel wheels. It could have been a real COPO car, and Pops would not let me buy it because it had a big block…….#@$%&%^@$^@$%&%^
Years later around 1998 I helped a friend dispose of his grandfathers things after he passed away. He had years and years of either Road and Track, or Car and Driver in boxes. i would look at the classified adds in the back and see multi million dollar Ferraris for sale for like 5000.00 dollars. I know 5K was a lot back then but dang……worst part is/was that all the magazines were mint and stored properly, we ruined them dreaming over old cars while sitting on the shitter. If we had saved the magazines they would fetch a tidy sum today.
The 58 Olds looks to be a Super 88 as it does not have the “98” badge on the rear quarter panel in front of the Tremolo, but has the chrome strip on the front fenders. Don’t know what’s up with those Gawd awful wheel covers though.
I love looking at old newspapers,in the for sale section. Cars, homes ect.
Guess I have to put in my .02 here… among the many greats that got away from me, probably the best was the 1966 Impala convertible from Alabama. Rust free. I paid $175 for it in 1974 as high school senior. Already had two cars at home and my dad would have killed me if I brought home a 3rd so I parked it behind a friend’s business until the cops wanted to see plates on it. Sold it for $100 to put the money toward an expensive Nikon camera. $100 for an un-rusted 1966 Impala convertible….