cost of used cobra in 1969

[4Scargo]

Woulda, coulda........In 1969 I bought a new Mustang w/C6 for $5,500. Of course in the early 70's and the gas crunch they were worthless and sold it for a BIG loss. I was thinking if I had bought a used 427 S/C then, may still have it and, well.......

Any other old timers remember what used Cobras sold in '69,'70?

[DanEC]

Wow - $5,500 for a Mustang in 1969 is a lot. Was it a loaded 428 Cobra Jet or Boss 302?

Yeah, I graduated from high school in 1969 - wish I had gathered up a bunch of rare stuff over the next 5 years or so and stuffed away in a warehouse.

[Blue66]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Wow - $5,500 for a Mustang in 1969 is a lot. Was it a loaded 428 Cobra Jet or Boss 302?

I bought my new 1970 Mach 1 Cobra Jet Drag pack car for $3800 on a clean sale. Stickered a little over $4100. That was 10/31/69. Still have the contract I have all the for sale adds for CSX 3147 up to 1976 when I got it packed away. I'd say in the early 70s $4/5K. In 1968 Robie Ford in Ma. had a new red 427 for $6500. Nobody was beating down the door to get to it. Street car Not a S/C.

[Shootnride]

Got out of the Army in March 1969. Went and looked at a used 289 slabside that the guy was asking $3500 for. I talked myself out of buying it because I could only afford to have one car, didn't have a garage and just couldn't convince myself to buy a car that I couldn't lock the doors, roll up the windows, etc. Bought a new '69 Z-28 Camaro for $3450 out the door.

My hindsight is 20-20 !

Ted

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by Shootnride

Got out of the Army in March 1969. Went and looked at a used 289 slabside that the guy was asking $3500 for. I talked myself out of buying it because I could only afford to have one car, didn't have a garage and just couldn't convince myself to buy a car that I couldn't lock the doors, roll up the windows, etc. Bought a new '69 Z-28 Camaro for $3450 out the door.

My hindsight is 20-20 !

Ted

Hey, absolutely nothing wrong with having held onto a '69 Z/28 all these years, if one could have held it for almost 50 years. One of my all time favorites. Of course, the Cobra would have been slightly better in financial terms.

I have a vague recollection of some SAAC magazines over the years with ads for Cobras from the 1970's with asking prices in the low thousands. $3,500 sounds about right +/-.

[LMH]

Geez, I was 5 in 1969! I had Hot Wheels!😀
Larry

[fordracing65]

Originally Posted by LMH

Geez, I was 5 in 1969! I had Hot Wheels!😀
Larry

I was not born for 8 more years. I missed out. Lol

[4Scargo]

Thanks. You know I may be, missremembering (like Hillary) about the $5500. That may have been the cost of a new Cadillac. $3500 sounds better. It was a 428 loaded up but had the dish hubcaps. It was a sleeper. Anyway, after I sold it I downgraded to $100 cars and old pickups. I could have kept the Cobra in the shed and carried on until I wanted it.

Oh well. I've got my 'fake' and I are happy.

[Bartruff1]

In 1969 I had a new 1969 911T that cost about $5000.... ( a new Camaro with a 327 and a 4 speed was about $2300....)...I owned both

That Porsche was the Weber Carb model and it ran like a Rolex..

At Pacific International Raceway near Seattle some guy offered to trade me his 427 SC for the Porsche.....so I drove the Cobra...it was noisy, smelly, very hot, and rode and rattled and handled like a car from the 40's .... I passed...

To tell you the absolute truth, the Superformance I did buy in 2008 was a much better car than the original.

[Maricopa]

Could have bought a Slabside in '85 for $15K.....You know, if I'd had 15K in '85

[Nedsel]

In '69 the range for a decent 427 street car was roughly between $3700 - $5000. Some owners were asking more but rarely got it. Mileage and condition carried the day even then. Don't forget, the last few new examples had only been sold the year before and these were just used cars.

[Tommy]

Just to put this into perspective, according to one inflation calculator, an item that cost $4,000 in 1969 would cost about $26,400 today. That's a year's pay for someone earning $13/hour today. In other words, even when original Cobras were "cheap" they weren't affordable or practical daily drivers for most ordinary working stiffs. ... As best I recall, my first year's pay as a lieutenant in the Air Force on flight pay was about $7,000 in 1972. I used some of that to buy a 1969 Olds 442 that I later gave away for $400 when gas prices tripled in 1973.

[NOS-EDDIE]

I bought a 6month old 1971 steel cities gray corvette in 1972 for my 25th birthday from me to me for $3800. It came with a $97.08 per month 36 Paige payment book. I wanted the black cobra at Sportscar Showcase in Auburn,Ma. in the worst way but just couldn't swing the $5500 price tag.

[Blue66]

Originally Posted by NOS-EDDIE

I bought a 6month old 1971 steel cities gray corvette in 1972 for my 25th birthday from me to me for $3800. It came with a $97.08 per month 36 Paige payment book. I wanted the black cobra at Sportscar Showcase in Auburn,Ma. in the worst way but just couldn't swing the $5500 price tag.

OMG I remember that place to . Auto Engineering in Lexington, Ma had a few to. Did you know Guss Z from Harr Ford ?? Ran a shop Competition Automotive in Worcester in the mid 70s.

[NOS-EDDIE]

Gus moved his shop to N.Brookfield. He passed away a few years back. Bump into his brother wayne once in awhile. After all the records Gus broke with the 427 Dragonsnake ,it's a shame he didn't get a lot more recognition.

[moore_rb]

Originally Posted by Maricopa

Could have bought a Slabside in '85 for $15K.....You know, if I'd had 15K in '85

HAH- I wonder if it's the same guy that offered my step-dad a trade for the Hallet racing boat that we had for sale during the same time frame.... I was 16 at the time, but I remember it plain as day:

Guy showed up to look at the boat, and flashed a picture of a dusty old Cobra, with wire wheels and a worn out vinyl top- He said it was a one-owner car with 40k on the odo, which was also verified on the title. He offered it to my step dad straight across for the boat, and my step-dad passed on the deal...

Like I said, I was only 16 at the time, but it was at that moment that I realized that I was NEVER going to take financial advice from my parents, ever again, for the rest of my life...

[Blue66]

Originally Posted by NOS-EDDIE

Gus moved his shop to N.Brookfield. He passed away a few years back. Bump into his brother wayne once in awhile. After all the records Gus broke with the 427 Dragonsnake ,it's a shame he didn't get a lot more recognition.

Ya I know he lived there. I started to remodel a farm house close to him for a guy named "Javed". One of Gus's customers. He did a lot of work on my Cobra back them. He didn't open till the afternoon but was there all night The storys back then were a riot. Wish we had our cell phones back then.. Imagine the pics !!

[Tim7139]

Originally Posted by 4Scargo

Woulda, coulda........In 1969 I bought a new Mustang w/C6 for $5,500. Of course in the early 70's and the gas crunch they were worthless and sold it for a BIG loss. I was thinking if I had bought a used 427 S/C then, may still have it and, well.......

Any other old timers remember what used Cobras sold in '69,'70?

Well......you could buy a used Ferrari GTO for $15,000.

[Bartruff1]

Originally Posted by Tommy

Just to put this into perspective, according to one inflation calculator, an item that cost $4,000 in 1969 would cost about $26,400 today. That's a year's pay for someone earning $13/hour today. In other words, even when original Cobras were "cheap" they weren't affordable or practical daily drivers for most ordinary working stiffs. ... As best I recall, my first year's pay as a lieutenant in the Air Force on flight pay was about $7,000 in 1972. I used some of that to buy a 1969 Olds 442 that I later gave away for $400 when gas prices tripled in 1973.

Truth....no one thought that muscle cars would ever be worth a dime, much less old race cars...

The Trans Am and Can Am were the golden age of road racing but who would have bought Penske's clapped out old Camaros ???

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by 4Scargo

Thanks. You know I may be, missremembering (like Hillary) about the $5500. That may have been the cost of a new Cadillac. $3500 sounds better. It was a 428 loaded up but had the dish hubcaps. It was a sleeper. Anyway, after I sold it I downgraded to $100 cars and old pickups. I could have kept the Cobra in the shed and carried on until I wanted it.

Oh well. I've got my 'fake' and I are happy.

A 428 Cobra Jet Mustang would be one of the cars I wish I had bought up in the early 70s and stashed away. Probably be worth a good deal today.

Thought about a Cobra in 74 when I graduated - figured it wouldn't be very practical without a garage. Then thought about a 67 427/435 Vette. Then realized I was making some money and sold my 70 GTO and bought a new Trans Am. Turned out to be an absolute dog and spent a lot of money to make it run like the GTO.