Wow, they were expensive. I know the 201s were $185 and that was as much money as a car or a couple month's labor back then. I think the installment plan was implemented for the 201s. They have a potted motor and are gear driven, rather than belt driven. The big gear is a worm cut gear (one gear fits into another-- very strong) so they eventually got too expensive for Singer to build any more and production had to stop. They are still wonderful machines today. I have two of them.