What happened to new car sales during WW2 when most of the auto plants were making tanks and planes? What did the new car dealers have on their lots to sell?
Car dealers took a hard hit in the WWII years. The ones that thrived and survived, they bought and sold used cars and of course did repairs. Used cars actually got a pretty good price then and right after the war, until they caught up with the new '46 line. Bob
As per my dad born 1917 no new cars late almost new cars were hard to find as few wanted to sell. He had a 40 chevy sedan that he had purchased for around 1200 or so before the war. He had a car dealer offer him a nice A model ford and 1800 dollars for the car. Dad saved that money until after the war. He used that money to make a very good down payment on a house. the only people who were allowed cars were those who severcied the communitys. Like Doctors/ people and animal. In early 1944 A Doctor. here in Huntsville Alabama got delivery of a 3/4 ton chevy truck painted navy gray. His children still have possesion of this unit.
No way in heel that a 1940 chev, prior to the war was $1200. also no way in heel that anybody has ever offered $1800 for a used 1940 car prior to 1970ish and it wasn't a 1940 chev when it did happen. -A new Ford Business coupe in 1940 was $619 -At the highest end, a new "Deluxe" Woody Wagon done in finest maple with Radio and heater installed was $947 - On the lot. And in classic style, the lesser quality Chev or GM product was priced about $30 more than the competition up to and including 1941. -In 1940, and on the new dealer lot, a 1940 chev sedan was priced in, under or less than $700 dollars at the very, very, very most. The shear quality or lack thereof, of a new on the lot (in) 1940 GM coupe/sedan did not command a %100 percent mark up over a long lasting quality built comparable model and it certainly did not command %300 percent mark up (no, not even Twice++ the price of a new -Quality- built Packard) over any other competing brand with or without a "Model A" thrown in in pre war America in 1941. ....All that being said, there sure where a lot of $uckers who fell for GM's "The best things in motoring for 1940 belong to buyers of chevorletch!!!" bullshit as Chevrolet handily outsold Ford by almost 2 to 1 in 1940. And chev also outsold Chrysler (about 3 to 1) and Packard (by about 15 to 1) in 1940. Of that 2 to 1 ratio of chev cars sold over Ford in 1940, about 10,000 to 1 of the Ford's still run, drive and exist today. Not that there's anything wrong with that . .
Of that 2 to 1 ratio of chev cars sold over Ford in 1940, about 10,000 to 1 of the Ford's still run, drive and exist.. you forgot to add most run, drive and exist with a small block Chevy in them.
I was born in 1937 so I can remember when the local vet got a new pickup in 1944 it was the talk of the town. The 43, 44, and 45 models were all re-titled 42's. Meat was essential to the troops so vets, who had to travel many miles over then unpaved roads, got a priority on available civilian trucks. I still have ration books, stamps, coupons, and some 1943 steel pennies that I squirreled away after the war was over.
I think the car manufactors built some extra army cars before shutting down and started war production. the dealers would take orders so everybody was on hold for the duration.I was 9 yrs old when my Dad was notified his 47 Pontiac was at the dealer. I was excited to go see it, but no such luck, Dad had made a pretty good deal with some salesman that really needed car and he overhauled our 39 Pontiac with the xtra $$. The US got serious when we went to war in WW2. we had coupon books that regulated how, what where, why and how much we could purchase. Gasoline.oil tires. and food etc etc was hard to get. Had to use margarine instead of butter, meat,milk etc, all rationed, and yes many of our rights were messed with, along with the shameful treatment of the Japanese, which never was mentioned in my hi skool history.
My mother told the story of her father,a Russian immigrant,who was a scrap dealer in Ohio.The war was coming,he sold out his scrap for inflated prices.Bought the last new Packard in town,left the motherless kids with money and a relative and drove off ,alone.
my father bought a new 1941 chevy sedan right before the war. i have no idea what he paid for it , but he always said he was offered more than he paid for it
The savvy dealers beefed up their service departments, and of course sold used cars. Wartime or peace, used cars ALWAYS make more money than new units!! A. D. Rayl Motors, a Ford dealer in Hutchinson, Kansas started rebuilding Model "A" engines in this period. With Henry's blessing, they expanded doing small parts; starters, generators, carburetors, distributors, etc. This was VERY successful, other dealers bought these exchange parts, Fred Jones Ford, Oklahoma City, liked it so well, they started their own plant to rebuild the same items! It was the start of "Ford Authorized Remanufactured", and this franchise system has only recently been downgraded, mostly from the steep decline of engines being exchanged and of course from other P. E. R.s, (Production Engine Rebuilders), that have cropped up; Jasper and others. The current cars; plasticated, electronic gee-whiz equipped P.O.S.s go from womb to tomb without having a valve cover or oil pan ever pulled!! I long for the old days!! I spent many years in Ford dealer parts and service; I am the resident expert!! LOL!! ; s
The scuttlebut was that old Mr Koons of the Koons ford dynasty bought all the 41 Fords that he could find and resold them during the war at a hansom profit. After the war there was a list to get on if you wanted a new car. My uncle was a Pontiac dealer and my dad was able to get a new 46 Pontiac. I guess my dad cheated.
Some sharp individual could have snagged Shapiro's repossed Plymouth while he was a POW. Just an idea...............
Immediately following WWII as the troops were returning from the end of the war in the Pacific theater, most soldiers were cut loose on the west coast of the USA, and many decided to stick around. Without any new cars available, the next best thing was a used car, and Earl "MadMan" Muntz sold 72 million dollars worth of 'em out of two car lots in Los Angeles in just one year! He outsold every other auto dealer in America ...
Ford Built airplane engines for the British government. B-24 Liberator and gliders bombers for the U.S. Military. Ford also turned out tanks, armored cars, jeeps and engines for robot bombs. HRP
In April 1942 the US government took all available new cars and locked them in bonded warehouses. During the war they were rationed out to essential users like farmers, doctors and veterinarians. You had to prove you really needed a new car or truck and your work was essential to the war effort. Hundreds of heavier cars like Packard were sent to bus manufacturers to be converted into stretch limos for transporting war workers. These were made with the minimum of steel, the stretch part was made of wood and Masonite. One of these was used at the atomic bomb research site in New Mexico, it survives, was recently restored and is in a museum. The atomic Packard, before restoration. http://www.flickr.com/photos/atomicmuseum/2753767735/ Dealers survived on used car sales and on servicing and repairs.
My dad ran construction equipment in the states during WWII, building runways and roads mostly. Remember that gas, tires, and other car necessities were rationed during the war. Dad said that because of his job, he was able to get ration tickets for some of these items when others couldn't. He said once during the war he got a good deal on a late model Ford because the tires were worn out and the owner couldn't get new ones. His dad (my grandfather) had a nearly new Ford with an inline 6 (I think that makes it a 41?). For some reason, the thing cracked distributor caps on a regular basis. Dad was able to get a replacement distributor cap or 2 because many of the dump trucks they used on the construction sites had the same engine.
Dodge still made civilian issue trucks. I own a 1942 Dodge WF-32 2-1/2 ton truck that was purchased durning the war. I guess they had to apply to the state to purchase it, and even then, a title wasnt issued until 1946
My dad was born in 1918. He said that cars were in short supply before WWII because the demand was increasing. He bought his first car, a 38 Chevrolet, at an estate auction in early 1939. He was drafted in November of 39 and the car was left in a shed on the family farm. They couldn't get enough gas and what they did get was used in the tractor. When he got out of the army in late 1945, he got it running again and used it to go to his job as a heavy equipment operator until he was able to buy a new 48 Chevrolet.
moefuzz you have a lot of passion but don't know much about wartime car prices that 40 chevy story rings very true except for the initial purchase used cars were sky high clear up to the early 50's---new cars were sold from a waiting list of buyers ---stickers were put on windows to stop price gouging ---unscrupulos dealers removed the stickers and sold them as used cars for more money--my guess is you can identify chevies by their tail lights
My father bought a brand new 40 Chevy, the rear fenders rusted away real fast on these cars. My dad's lasted a little longer cuz he painted the underside with heavy paint. tires and gas was hard to get. blow out patches and tire bubbles were the norm. I know of a machinist that was draft deferred cuz he was doing war work. He worked 7 days 12 hour shift all during the war. After the war he had saved a lot of money, He ordered a brand new 46 Ford and a new 46 Packard. He was going to drive the Ford till the Packard came in. Then sell the Ford at a profit. Dealers were restricted on making windfall profits on new cars, but private owners could sell what the market would bear. The Ford came in with wooden bumpers and was to be returned to the Ford dealer when metal bumpers were available. Anyway when the Packard came in the dealer called his wife (he was at work) and she told the dealer oh he doesn't need the Packard cuz he had a new Ford. He was real upset with her when he found out. The dealer sold the car to someone else. Ago
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