In 1970 I bought a 1960 SII 109 12 passenger station wagon from a friend.
He bought it from his neighbor 4 years earlier, who had bought it new. It
was in very good shape. I paid $400 for it. In 1976, after fixing the
usual broken real axle shaft, I sold it to a friend for $400. He kept it
for a couple of years and sold it for $1200. That 3X price increase always
irked me a little, but my friend had attained some minor notoriety as a
writer, so I suppose you'd have to figure in a fame factor. I have a
suspicion that list member Rob Modica in Tucson may own it now, but I
haven't seen his '60 109 to confirm. I was making around $1.75 / hr as a
cabinet maker in 1970, and I'd worked up to around $3.50 / hr in 1976. Car
prices, both used and new, seem to have outpaced overall inflation a little.
I'd guess a cabinet maker makes around $17.50 these days, and you'd be able
to buy a nice low mile 10-year old Defender for about $4000. Oh, wait, I
seem to have lost a zero around here someplace.
Tom Gross
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