If you were watching TV back in 1971, you might have seen a McDonald’s commercial in which a slightly fatigued-looking customer is pleased to learn, after tendering a single dollar bill for his lunch, that he had change coming back to him.
The cheapest car, ever?
For just one dollar, the lucky lunch goer scored two burgers, fries, and a Coke. Oh, and change. And, while fast food might have been a little less expensive in decade or two preceding this commercial, it probably wasn’t a lot less expensive. I think we can say that 1971 was, historically, the year of peak burger value.
Much like early Seventies McDonald’s, there was a time when Ford devoted serious time and energy to selling the most-affordable vehicle it possibly could. That amazing effort reached a value crescendo in 1925, when the base price of a Ford Model T was lowered to just $260. That’s about $4600 dollars, inflation adjusted.
Ford Model T advertising was always packed with pricing information, and the ad seen here is one of the few created which lists the Runabout—a bare-bones open-air two-seater, and the least expensive Model T—for just $260.
It’s likely that, given how often Model T prices were adjusted that the ad’s copywriters were not aware they were making history when they penned this magazine advertisement. We’re prepared to suggest that $260 is the lowest price ever advertised for a brand-new mass-market automobile in the U.S.
Over its lifetime the Runabout ranged in price from $260 to $900 (1910). The most expensive Model T, the Town—a closed 4-passenger car with a landaulet-style retractable rear-roof section, retailed for $1200 (about $21,000 today) in 1910 and 1911.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the Yugo GV, which retailed for $3990 in 1986, its inaugural U.S.-market model year, would cost about $11,000 today, inflation adjusted.
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1925 Ford Model T Gallery
(Click below for enlarged images)
The cheapest car, ever?
The cheapest car, ever?
