One of the gifts I received over the holidays was an excellent book titled, Cars of the 60′s, written and compiled by the auto editors of Consumer Guide.  This book over 400 pages – is absolutely loaded with photographs and just about everything you ever wanted to know about cars from 1960 to 1969.  Cars of the 60′s is just one of a set of books by Consumer Guide (they also have Cars of the 50′s and Cars of the 70′s), however I did a quick search on Amazon and it doesn’t look like they offer the books I have, however there are most likely similar books you can purchase (or check out from your local library) which may be just as good.

I thought today it would be fun to share some of the information I compiled from the book.  It’s amazing to unearth what a car actually cost in 1960 as compared to what the base prices run today, which were the top sellers, what models made their showroom debuts and which cars were finally sent to the ol’ bone yard.

The following fun facts are specifically from 1960, so I’ll include more info from 1961 to 1969 over the next several weeks.  Enjoy!

Fun Car Facts – 1960

Ford

• Ford debuts the Falcon and sells 430,000 units, which included 2 door and 4 door sedans, the wagon and the Ranchero; a car/truck combo.
• Ford finally scraps the Edsel after dismal sales and producing only 2,846 units.
• The Ford Fairlane 500 Town Sedan was a best seller in 1960, selling 153,234 models at a starting price of just $2,388.00.
• A 1960 Ford Thunderbird convertible would set you back $4,222.00.

Mercury

• Mercury introduces the Comet.

Chevrolet

• Corvette sales exceed 10,000 for the first time ever.
• Chevy introduces the Corvair and produces 250,000 models.
• The V-8 Chevy Nomad was a lush wagon at $2,995.00.

Chrysler

• Chrysler introduces the 12 month/12,000 mile warranty.
• The most popular Chrysler in 1960 was the Windsor 4 door sedan, starting at a base price of $3,194.00. Chrysler sold over 25,000 of the Windsor models, which included the 6 seat hardtop Windsor wagon at a price of $3,733.00 and the 9 seater, priced at $3,814.00.
• In 1960, the 9 passenger New York Town & Country wagon was the most expensive Chrysler had to offer, starting at $5,131.00.

Dodge

• The 4 door Dodge Seneca had a base price of just $2,330.00.

Buick

• In 1960, the cheapest Buick was the LeSabre 2 door sedan, with manual steering and a starting price of $2,756.00. 

Cadillac

• A luxurious Cadillac Coupe De Ville cost $5,252.00 in 1960.

Pontiac

• The Pontiac Bonneville was the priciest non-wagon in the Pontiac line-up at $3,476.00, while the Pontiac Star Chief Sport sedan, which retailed for $2,932.00, was the rarest; only 5795 were built.

Porsche

• Porsche unveils the 356B at a price of $4,000.00.

Top Selling Imports of 1960:

1) Volkswagen 159,995
2) Renault 62,772
3) Opel 25,533
4) English Ford 23,602
5) Fiat 20,773
6) Triumph 17,720
7) Simca 17,077
8) Austin Healey 16,322
9) Mercedes-Benz 14,435
10) Volvo 13,926

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