Ferraris, Rollses : County May Be Tops in Snooty Cars

More expensive cars were sold in Orange County in 1986 than anywhere else in California, a spokesman for the International Auto Show in Anaheim said Wednesday.

Statistics for the first 11 months of 1986 showed that 112,534 cars were purchased in Orange County. That’s 10.8% of all the cars sold in California in that period.

Auto show spokesman Barry Greenberg, quoting figures from an auto sales research firm in Carson, said that 48 of 856 Ferraris sold in the United States in 1986 were bought in Orange County. The reason for that distinction, Greenberg said, is that Orange County’s only Ferrari dealer is the largest dealer in the nation. The average cost of a Ferrari is $75,000, he added.

Orange County residents bought 36 Rolls-Royces at an average price of $130,000 and 458 Porsches at an average of $37,000 each, Greenberg, said.

Imports outsold domestic models in Orange County, accounting for 57.6% of the cars bought during the first 11 months of 1986. Toyota sold 11,681 cars, while Nissan sold 11,349. The biggest selling U.S.-made cars in Orange County were Ford with 10,328 and Chevrolet with 9,797.

4,308 Cadillacs Sold

The 4,308 Cadillacs sold in Orange County during the first 11 months of last year represented 12% of all the Cadillacs sold in California. Cadillacs are priced at more than $20,000, Greenberg said.

“The trend in Orange County was the middle- to higher-priced cars,” Greenberg said.

But some low-priced cars also fared well in Orange County. The Korean-made Hyundai, with a starting price of $4,995, turned up on the scene in April and 4,835 were sold in the next eight months in Orange County, Greenberg said.

Greenberg said auto manufacturers already were taking their cues from Hyundai’s success and have introduced new lines of low-priced, quality cars such as the the Ford Festiva, priced at $6,000, and the Volkswagen Fox, at $5,690.

The International Auto Show will be held through Sunday in the Anaheim Stadium parking lot.