Prices on Dealer Invoices

[C.J. Larrick]

Can anyone explain why some dealer invoices have prices on them, but most don't?

[Pat Marshall]

Actually all of the Dealer Invoices had the prices (Continental selling price to dealers) on them. What we know as the Dealer invoices are the copies that were made from the original Continental invoices. Axel Holm and Bob Davis discovered them in a box when visiting the Wixom facility. They asked if they could make copies of them and were given permission to do so. They started copying but because it was such an enormous task the Ford people said they would take over making the copies and send them to Axel in Nogales (at Desert Classics).

When the Ford employees took over copying it apparently was decided not to show the selling price.

1517 appears to be the last invoice with prices. Invoices 1518-1999 were copied off-center so the right side of the invoice wasn't shown (not very attractive copies) and 2000 and on were copied fully-centered but with a piece of paper blocking the pricing area.

Ford Quality Control must have gotten involved!

[Knickoliss Iv]

What would be the harm in showing the factory to dealer price on a car sold decades before?

[Pat Marshall]

These copies weren't made decades later. They were reproduced just a few years after the end of the Mark II run. Most of these dealers were still in business when the copies were made.

[Knickoliss Iv]

Understandable. Based on the few that were copied with the price, can any thing be determined about pricing? What was the mark up like? When we say $10,000 new is that pretty accurate?

[Pat Marshall]

As far as I know, $10,000 is a pretty accurate number, not sure if that's with or without A/C. Towards the end of the production run, I believe customer pricing got flexible.

In looking at the Dealer Invoices about an average of $7,450 for non-A/C and $8,150 for A/C cars seems to be pretty good numbers.