Guess the Price (1974)

LONG_KEELER

LONG_KEELER

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The year is 1974. Three day week and two general elections.
A forumite mentioning the Bristows book of Cruisers. I have a copy dated 1974. It has launched another pointless thread because of the lock down. The book gives purchase prices, as far as I can see inc inboard engines where applicable ,and not kits. I have no idea if the cruisers which don't have inboard include the cost of an outboards. Your job is to place the price against the cruiser . your answer would be in order say e,c,a,i,h,b,j,d,g,f,


1. Anderson 22
2.Contessa 26
3.Cutlass 27
4. Etap 22
5. Foxcub 18
6. Moody 33
7.Pedro 17'3"
8.Rival 40
9.Centaur 26
10. Contessa 32

a. £20,000
b. 9786
c. 7800
d. 4950
e. 4450
f. 3750
g. 2800
h. 1950
i.. 920
j. 587
 
1. Anderson 22 - £1950
2.Contessa 26 - £4950
3.Cutlass 27 - £4450
4. Etap 22 - £2800
5. Foxcub 18 - £920
6. Moody 33 - £7800
7.Pedro 17'3" - £587
8.Rival 40 - £20,000
9.Centaur 26 - £3750
10. Contessa 32 - £9786
 
My dad got his first boat in about 1973/4. It was a Vivacity 650, and cost £1,800 new.
 
With no great confidence:


8.Rival 40 a. £20,000
10. Contessa 32 b. 9786
6. Moody 33 c. 7800
3.Cutlass 27 d. 4950
2.Contessa 26 e. 4450
9.Centaur 26 f. 3750
4. Etap 22 g. 2800
1. Anderson 22 h. 1950
5. Foxcub 18 i.. 920
7.Pedro 17'3" j. 587


PS, I do know the cost of one of those boats in 1978 and it had doubled since 1973 :(
 
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1. Anderson 22 h. 1950
2.Contessa 26 f. 3750
3.Cutlass 27 d. 4950
4. Etap 22 g. 2800
5. Foxcub 18 i.. 920
6. Moody 33 b. 9786
7.Pedro 17'3" j. 587
8.Rival 40 a. £20,000
9.Centaur 26 e. 4450
10. Contessa 32 c. 7800
 
MY 8M Catalac was £8800 new in 1975 but was sold as a "used"/demonstrator to avoid VAT perhaps.
 
Mataji said:
Was even more a rich man’s sport in those days. A new semidetached house in Cheshire was £3500 in 1973.
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I'm guessing there were far fewer viable used boats in the 1970's so more people would buy new. I'm pretty sure though that buying a new boat today is more expensive, relative to average incomes, than it was in the 1970's.
 
My Contessa 26 was £2300 new in 1969. I paid £6500 in 1979 so that looked like a good investment for the first owner:)
Will probably be worth about the same as I paid for it 40 years ago after the current crisis . With the current price of small boats that are almost being given away it is only the running cost that counts.
 
scruff said:
Surely the Anderson 22 - the finest and Best yacht ever to leap off the drawing board and fits every conceivable need, will be the one at £20k.
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Not only that, but it is the only one that can still command at least the same price today, if you can find a cheap one. Most of the good ones are tied up on circumnavigations, so hard to come by.
 
Mataji said:
Was even more a rich man’s sport in those days. A new semidetached house in Cheshire was £3500 in 1973.
Click to expand...

:)

I bought my first house in 1975 for £7600 in Norwich. It took ages to try and get a mortgage . You could only borrow two and a half times your salary. I wondered how on earth I was going to make the payments. Manic inflation in the seventies seemed to help.
 
I like the sales blurb .

This a bit from the 17' 3" Pedro
"Seaworthy ? Just ask any of our customers, The North Sea, Irish Sea, English Channel, Atlantic,Baltic, Pacific, Mediterranean , have all seem Pedro's in up to gale force 8 ...
Yes, she's seaworthy !"
 
doug748 said:
PS, I do know the cost of one of those boats in 1978 and it had doubled since 1973 :(
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The WOA used to have a page showing the prices of a Centaur year by year, and it shot up in the mid-70s, as did all GRP boats thanks to the oil crisis and the "25%" luxury rate of VAT.
 
obmij said:
I'm guessing there were far fewer viable used boats in the 1970's so more people would buy new. I'm pretty sure though that buying a new boat today is more expensive, relative to average incomes, than it was in the 1970's.
Click to expand...
ISTR there was a thriving used boat market in the late 60s and 70s - but many used boats were home-built, or lifeboat conversions or similar. Also, far more boats were one-offs than there are now - wooden boats were still common, and they were often built to order and to the buyer's specifications. Just for example, I must have looked at quite a few Hillyard 9 tonners - and I don't think any two were alike! Like many people, we spent time browsing in boatyards, and I remember seeing one or two horrors! I still remember the vast motor boat with two Scammel truck engines - but the hull was built of plywood on with frames spaced about the length of a 4x8 plywood panel! Each panel could be seen, bending in a different direction to the one next to it. We did wonder what would happen if the engines were started - we suspected it would just fall apart!
LONG_KEELER said:
:)

I bought my first house in 1975 for £7600 in Norwich. It took ages to try and get a mortgage . You could only borrow two and a half times your salary. I wondered how on earth I was going to make the payments. Manic inflation in the seventies seemed to help.
Click to expand...
And in 1980 - only 5 years later - I bought my first house (2 bed end of terrace) in a village that was (then) a cheap alternative to Cambridge at a price of £18,000! Inflation was truly rampant in those days. And not only were mortgages restricted to 2.5 times salary, you had to have a deposit of at least 10% and mortgages were rationed; you had to wait for your bank/building society to have mortgages available. I still remember moving in and spending the fist night sleeping on the floor because we didn't have a bed until one was delivered a few days later!
 
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