Frost & French's original '63 sales receipt

[WinM1895]

I think these old sales records are great fun. Here is one from the '52 Land Cruiser I owned in L.A. in the late 80's.

Warren Biggs later became a Chevrolet dealer.

Front & French salesman was Bill Wood, he was also the telephone operator and the parts and service cashier.

Both Rich and I worked at Frost and French, so I knew him too.

[studegary]

Gary I see we were on 2 different PAGES! I was thinking low for Studebaker Prices and YOU were thinking General CAR Prices.

I have heard your story at least 3 times before about how the "Performance Studes." were priced higher than other makes HP for HP but, that doesn't make a POC Plymouth a Studebaker, no offense intended.
I happen to know how poor the Quality and Longevity was on ALL Post 1954 Chrysler Products. How MANY of them are still on the Road vs Ford or Chevy?

When I was buying those new 1960s cars, longevity was not a concern as it wasn't for most new car buyers of the time. I put 32K on the 1964 in ten months, 27K on the 1965 in nine months and 150K on the 1966 in nine years. I saw the 1966 a few years and a couple of owners later. The owner commented on how well it ran for 80K. I told him that it had at least 180K. I did put a new water pump on it at 99K because it started to leak. The number still around is probably in about the same ratio as the numbers were when they were new. I have owned more than 50 V8 Studebakers (and worked on many more), some that were used only one or two years and some that were much older. I believe that I can make a fair comparison.

[ronpasquale]

I think these old sales records are great fun. Here is one from the '52 Land Cruiser I owned in L.A. in the late 80's.

[8E45E]

What I found interesting on the sales receipt was the date, Feb 1st, 1963. The most unusual 'option' (I thought) was the "3 seat belts." Not 4? Now, IF the driver's seat came with a seat belt as standard that would take care of that. (I don't have a clue.)

Most likely, 3 sets of belts in the rear seat. Seat belts became standard for the front seat only on February 1st of that year.

Craig

[JimsLeadCommander]

What I found interesting on the sales receipt was the date, Feb 1st, 1963 .... the trade-in is shown as a 1956(?? ~~ maybe a little 'back to the future' slight of hand?) The most unusual 'option' (I thought) was the "3 seat belts." Not 4? Now, IF the driver's seat came with a seat belt as standard that would take care of that. (I don't have a clue.)

[StudeRich]

Gary I see we were on 2 different PAGES! I was thinking low for Studebaker Prices and YOU were thinking General CAR Prices.

I have heard your story at least 3 times before about how the "Performance Studes." were priced higher than other makes HP for HP but, that doesn't make a POC Plymouth a Studebaker, no offense intended.
I happen to know how poor the Quality and Longevity was on ALL Post 1954 Chrysler Products. How MANY of them are still on the Road vs Ford or Chevy?

[tsenecal]

The trade in was $365.00, and he added $100.00. Seems like a fairly low down payment. I wonder what the monthly payment would have been. Just doing math in my head, it would have been roughly $120.00 for 36 months, depending on interest rates.

[studegary]

Yes I knew and worked with the Salesman, Mr. Wood

That is not a lot of money at all for a VERY well equipped Gran Turismo Hawk with Automatic Trans. Air Conditioning, Power Disc Brakes, Radio, Heater, Tinted Windshield, Reclining Seats etc.
Where you live in NY, you probably did not have to pay a Distribution and Delivery charge of $135.00 to L.A.

I still say it was a lot. I was comparing with Fury Hardtop, Sport Fury hardtop and Charger, all with 361 or 383 engines (330 HP), Torqueflite, Sure Grip, ps and much more. I believe that by then, shipping was billed the same no matter where the car went. If not, it was probably a very close charge. I would have to have gone to an R3 for the horsepower that I wanted in that size car. How much would that be? ($367 extra for an R2 and $1031 extra for an R3). The base retail price of a 1963 Hawk was $3095. The base retail price of a 1963 Fury hardtop was $2585 and the base retail price of a 1963 Sport Fury hardtop was $2851. That makes the Hawk 9% more than the Sport Fury.

[bensherb]

Wow, you guys can read that? I'm impressed. The only word on it I can read is NONE.

[StudeRich]

Yes I knew and worked with the Salesman, Mr. Wood

That is not a lot of money at all for a VERY well equipped Gran Turismo Hawk with Automatic Trans. Air Conditioning, Power Disc Brakes, Radio, Heater, Tinted Windshield, Reclining Seats etc.
Where you live in NY, you probably did not have to pay a Distribution and Delivery charge of $135.00 to L.A.

[studegary]

He got an indicated $365 for a 1956 Lincoln Premiere sedan (seven years old). I say indicated, because he probably would have gotten some of that off for a cash deal.

EDIT: $3900 was a lot of money for 1963 (as compared to well equipped 1960s cars that I purchased new).

[Stanley Stude]

I've seen a few posts here mentioning Frost & French. Though I'm the third owner of my '63 Gran Turismo Hawk (I've owned it for 30+ years now), thought some of you who had any dealings with them, would get a kick out of seeing the car's original sales receipt from Frost and French. Happy Studebaker-ing in these crazy days!