IT WAS IN 1925 THAT AUTOMOTIVE DAILY NEWS published its first issues—in of all places, New York City. (“I go somewhere, I take a cab….”) Of course, we know it today as Detroit-based Automotive News, a definitive record of the American auto industry.
Here are tidbit gleaned from AN’s January 6, 2025, issue including a facsimile of the inaugural front page of A.D.N., as it was known, which came out August 27, 1925.
The Summer of 1925. The banner headline read “Price-Cutting War in Gasoline Spreads,” with subhead “Over-Production Blamed for Drastic Reductions.”
Drill, baby, drill.
At that time Tide Water Oil sold its gasoline for 17¢/gal. Before some wacko blames the Deep State for today’s national average of $3.138/gal., the CPI Inflation Calculator shows 17¢ in 1925 equates to—uncannily enough—$3.12 in 2025 dollars.
Car Prices. A.D.N. had news from the Moon Motor Car Company that it “Reduces Prices on Cars $50 to $250.” Again, another bit of possible misinformation for the X influencers: Did a $300 Moon now go for $250? Uh, no. The headline’s real meaning: Moon cut its prices by a range of $50-$250.
A 1925 Moon Model 6-40 Roadster. Image by Eastfrisian via Wikipedia.
Wikipedia describes, “The company had a venerable reputation among the buying public, as it was known for fully assembled, easily affordable mid-level cars using high-quality parts…. Moon Motor’s peak production year was 1925 when the company produced 10,271 vehicles and the prices ranged from $1,195 to $2,540 (equivalent to $44,129 in 2023).”
In today’s dollar, Moon’s prices were $21,927–$46,607. CarEdge notes, “The average price for a new car is $49,740 in January 2025. New car prices have remained near record highs since 2022.”
Or is that “since 1925.” When the CPI is included in one’s figuring, matters are uncanny again.
Fords in A.D.N. “New Ford Cars Combine ‘Eye’ and Service Appeal” reads another headline, “Closed Bodies Seen in Colors for First Time.” It’s also noted, “Special from A.D.N. Detroit Bureau.”
The year 1925 was an interesting one for Ford. Its Model T was introduced in 1908 and, amazingly enough, the last was produced in 1927 when it was replaced by the Model A. In 1925, Ford’s assembly lines were cranking out Tin Lizzies at a rate of 9000-10,000 cars a day. A base Model T was priced at $260 (CPI figure day: $4743).
Ford Model T 5-Passenger Touring Car. Image by Harry Shipler, Salt Lake City, April 11, 1910; see “Ford Model T Lore.”
In 1925 it was no longer Henry Ford’s “Any color the customer wants, as long as it’s black.”
Henry Ford, the Person. “A New Ford Angle” A.D.N. wrote: “Henry Ford has just been eulogized from a new angle. This time it’s in connection with his interest in the advancement of aviation. J. Gainer, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, in Detroit a few weeks ago, said, “Thanks to Mr. Ford’s patriotism, America will be in the front rank of preparedness in event of another war.”
Hmm…. Mr. Ford’s extreme antisemitism was not recognized back then. More recently, PSB American Experience recounts, “In 1918, Henry Ford purchased his hometown newspaper, The Dearborn Independent. A year and a half later, he began publishing a series of articles that claimed a vast Jewish conspiracy was infecting America. The series ran in the following 91 issues. Ford bound the articles into four volumes titled ‘The International Jew,’ and distributed half a million copies to his vast network of dealerships and subscribers.”
PBS American Experience continues, “What Henry Ford says, people stop and listen.… There are people who talked about him as a potential presidential candidate in the 1920s. And Ford is just about the most popular American, certainly one of the wealthiest; here’s the person whose money and whose influence commands tremendous attention, spewing stuff that’s no different than what Hitler is saying in his beer hall meetings in Munich at the same time.”
I pause nostalgia here and wonder if Automotive News jumped the gun on its celebration because who knows what the United States will be by August 27, 2025. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025