Way Back When – Sweet Dreams in a Car!

A Montecito couple made the pages of the Los Angeles Times because they chose to sleep in their car here after the 1925 earthquake. Of course, it wasn’t just any old “tin Lizzie” or “flivver” that they slept in. Their Chandler sedan cost $1,590 in 1925 dollars. [Spoiler alert – this would be about $28,665 today.] The couple told the paper, “There was no telling when the next quake would occur or what destruction it might bring with it.

However, it was either sleep in the open or in the Chandler, as neither of us would consider remaining inside a building. However, all our fears were for naught. Although several severe shocks occurred during the night hours, we were not at all disturbed, and in fact, did not even know about them until we were informed by others the next morning.’” – Los Angeles Times, August 9, 1925