The price of racing cars in 1968

Hi all
Can anybody help on the price of racing cars around 1968 ? I'm particularly looking for both new and used F1, F2 and Can-Am cars value. Either customer ones (Brabham BT23, BT23C, Lola T100, T160, T70/Mk3, McLaren M6B, Tecno and Merlyn F2s, etc.) or ex-works machinery sold to privateers (Brabham, BRM, Cooper, Eagle, Lotus F1s). I would also be interested in engine prices (Cosworth DFV, V8 Climax and V10 Maserati 3-litre F1, Ford-Cosworth FVA F2, V8 Chevrolet, Ford and Oldsmobile Can-Am) either new, used or for lease and their running cost. Thanks in advance

Frank

Autosport Ads in 1968:

Ex film Grand Prix Lotus 20, Ferrari body, competitive Formula Ford trim £350.00 ono

Lotus 27/32 prototype 151bhp TC Hewland 5 speed £1050.00

Brabham BT21 (1967) £1850.00

Lotus 19 less engine & box £380.00

Ford GT40 ex-David Prophet £4995.00

Brabham BT21B £1965.00

Brabham BT18 £1450.00

Brabham BT23B F1 Climax 2.7 FPF engine Hewland HD5 box £3750.00

Ginetta-Climax V8 G12 Grp 6 prototype 1.5 litre FT200 box £1875.00

Lotus 30/40 fitted GT hard top, 4.7 Ford V8 5 speed ZF box + spares £1695.00

Brabham BT21 roller £1300.00

1968 BT21B only done 30 laps at Goodwood driven by Jack Brabham £2375.00

1968 Chevron F2 plus FT200 less engine £2050.00

1967 Lola T100 £1500.00

Crossle 12F F2 Mk 5 Hewland Cosworth TC £1750.00

Lotus 35 1600 Cosworth TC £1295.00

1967-68 Brabham BT21/21B with BT23C mods ex Peter Westbury £1750.00

Brabham BT18 F2 £1500.00

Engine: Ford V8 4.7 full race spec £455.00

1966 Repco Brabham raced by John Love £3000.00

Costin Brabham F2 FVA engined ex-Cosworth/Bill Jones FT200 box £3200.00

Brabham BT23B 2.5 Climax engine FT200 box £3550.00

Most of the more modern machinery (Lola T70s, Porsche and Ferraris) are advertised without an asking price being mentioned.

In 1967 A McLaren Mk 2 or 1B as people are now calling them went for about $8,500. That was with a fresh Traco 333 cu in engine. In 1968 a Lola Mk 3 went for about $10,000 less engine. The engines cost about $7,500 for a 365 cu in Bartz engine that put out about 500 hp. Used 333 cu in engines went for about $4,500. The 333 put out about 420hp. A mk 6 McLaren cost about $12,000 this was less engine but with a gearbox. So a complete brand new Mk6 was about $20,000. It probably would have cost about $2,000 per race to run it. That would be if your friends were your pit crew. That would include entry and rooms and food.

Oh! Boy! Makes me drool with envy...I know money and time have changed a lot...but man when I think of what I could have gotten with what I spent!

At the end of 1968, David McKay advertised the BT23 that Jack Brabham drove in the '67 Tasman Cup series for sale...

Fully rebuilt, 2.5 Repco V8, including some spares and the Rice trailer, $9,950.

At the same time, the Globe Products Elfin 400 was for sale with Hewland but without engine for $6,500. Niel Allen's similar car, complete with Chev engine and some spares, came up a couple of months later for $8,900.

That figure would go close to buying a suburban home in an outer suburb of Sydney at that time, if you want some perspective. Such a house today would be in the order of $300,000 to $400,000.

Many thanks for your answers !
Jerry can I dare ask how do you compare the McLaren Mk2 and the Lola T70/Mk3 ? I think you drove both in the days, although often with an Olds in the McLaren ??? Still on the money side, did everybody win money in Can-Am ? I seem to remember $100,000 purses per race with something like half of it for the winner - what could independents hope to grab ?

The McLaren I had in 1965 had an Olds engine. It was a very nice car but I had alot of trouble with the engine after Traco rebuilt it. It had a hydrallic cam and it kept destroying itself. After going through 3 cams I finally switched to a roller cam. However I never ran the car with that engine. I sold it less engine and bought a McLaren Mk 2. That had the Traco 333 in engine. It was a very good car. The Lola T-70 was smoother and it seemed more solid. The McLaren Mk6 was way faster and lighter it seemed than the Lola T-70. That $2,000 figure to run the car would have included everything for the weekend. Freshening the engine and paying the hotel and Food and what it cost to get there. Fuel was like 35 cents a gallon than. I thought the Lola was better than the McLaren mk 2 until I saw Mike Spence drive one and he drove it faster than all the Lola's. The money issue wasn't that great in the CanAm. You only made about $1,000 if you weren't in the top 10. The winners made about $20,000 I believe. The winners were usually Formula One drivers that also recieved apperance money. And of course they had sponsership. A private entrant usually didn't have sponsership and they weren't Formula One drivers. They also could only buy the cars that the Factory Teams like McLaren had raced the year before. So you had to race Formula One drivers in newer better developed cars with way more power. However like Ray has said if you bought a house in Palm Springs in 1968 for $40,000 it would be worth near $600,000 today.