Sale of the Century was Channel Nine’s marquee game show airing at 7pm offering prizes for the winners at the end of the quiz, which included cars as major prizes.
Hosted by Tony Barber first, then Glenn Ridge, Sale of the Century enjoyed a 20-year run on Channel Seven and through that time many different models were offered as the major prize.
The first model to be offered on Sale of the Century was a Mercedes-Benz 230, which was $32,000 at the time, The 230 was an executive sized model offering all of the luxuries to be expected.
After Mercedes-Benz ended its sponsorship of the show in June 1981, BMW came onboard and the 735i was the main prize.
The 735i was the flagship model of the BMW range featuring four-doors and an inline six-cylinder engine.
BMW was on Sale of the Century for five-years before Toyota briefly took on the role only to be replaced by Holden in late-1985, with two models offered as the major prize during this time.
Holden offered Jackaroos, Camiras and turbo Commodores during a long stint as sponsor.
During the early 1990s, Nissan came onboard where it offered 300ZX T-Tops and the updated four-wheel-drive and steer 300ZX Coupe.
A premium brand to the prize circle in 1994 with Audi providing a 5000S in a deal, which lasted just the year and helped promote the manufacturer locally.
The final run for Sale of the Century continued with the premium element by offering Alfa Romeos including the GTV and 156 sedan.
Alfa Romeo returned to Australia in the mid-1990s after changing distributors and leaving the marketplace a few years earlier.
This agreement lasted until the show ended in 2001.
Many Australian dreams were made true by Sale of the Century and the quality of the cars offered was generally quite good making the win all the more special.