I certainly could buy a new car for under $1000 in the 60s (if I'd been willing to spend the money). Maybe YOU couldn't - but I can't help that.
I lived seven miles from New York City in the 60s, in a vegetable farming area on the other side of the George Washington Bridge. Far enough away not to smell the city or the Hudson River, but close enough to have all kinds of cheap little foreign cars shipped in and sold cheap. People would buy them new as oddities, and sell them for $50 a few years later. I bought many, just to take apart and learn mechanics - or to drive in the woods and beat to death. There were many that sold new for under $1000 - including two-stroke 360 Subarus, DAFs, Borgwards, Lloyds, etc.
My father bought a brand new 1959 Volkswagen in 1960 and paid $983 for it. I still have the records. It was impressive since it actually had a gas gauge - wherease our 1949 Volkswagen did not. The 49 came with a little reserve tank like a motorcycle. Same year, I went with my dad to buy a left-over, brand new 1959 Ford 2 door "business coupe" with the 223 "Mileagemaker six", vacuum powered windwhield wipers, three-speed stick on the column, and power-nothing. That was 1960 and he paid the dealer $1650 cash for it - brand new. List price had been $2,103. It was built just a few miles from our home at the New Jersey Mahwah Ford plant - that is long gone now.
Our neighbor, sometime around 1961 bought two brand new "foreign" cars. One a German DKW with a two-stroke engine that he paid around $900 for, and also an Isetta BMW for around $800. The Isetta looked like a three wheeler, but it actually had four. Dealer list price on the Isseta in 1961 was $1,063, it was supposed to be capable of 63 MPG, and a top speed of 53 MPH.
My first wife bought a brand new Renault for something like an advertised price of $999, and that was in 1965. It had a rear-engine, but not sure of the model - but I think it was a Dauphine. She also bought a brand new Subaru 360 in 1969 for $1099.
Yeah, I'm well acquainted with the King Midgets, Crosleys, etc. but that is not what I am talking about.
Also, just for perspective - in 1960, dealer list price on a new Corvette was $3,872. Fuel injection for the 283 engine was $484 extra if you needed more power.
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Today's Featured Article - New Life for an Old Allis - by Tyler Woods. My friend Jon, has an old '39 Allis Chalmers B. He thought it a marginal tractor that had long since served its time. She smoked terribly and never had much power but he couldn't afford another so he was limping along with what he had. Jon's Allis has a small front loader and though it doesn't carry much, it serves his needs. It was the hard starting and low power that made him think it was time to replace the old girl. Jon called me to help him discover why his tractor wouldn't start
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