Used car prices from decades ago

[Donald]

Around 1972 I bought a used 1969 Mach 1 Mustang. That's basically a three year old car. No idea how much I paid. I was a poor college student earning $2.35 hour working at a roof truss factory in the summer.

So back then a three year old car must have been a lot less than a new car compared to a three year old car today.

I just think back and cannot figure how I afforded the Mach 1 Mustang.

351W engine if you were curious. Maroon.

 

[k1xv]

I think new cars are better made, but much more expensive, than they were in the old days. People keep them much longer, which means that fewer three year old cars are hitting the used market. So, as a result, the rate of depreciation today is much lower than it used to be.

And people take better care of their cars these days, and/or less maintenance is needed. I used to have to do an ignition tune up on a Corvette every 6 thousand miles or so. Now, a set of spark plugs lasts 100,000 miles. So fewer cars get put on the used market.

 

[fantastic]

"Back in the day" "The old times"
"Death trap" by today's standards.

The pay rate vs auto costs was probably closer than today's spread? No Polaroids to post of this "muscle car"?

 

[fdcg27]

Those of us of a certain age can remember what would now be considered valuable collectables languishing on the used car lots in the seventies and eighties.
You would not believe how cheaply one could buy something truly neat, like a W115 or an early XJ-6.
Beetles and VW vans were at giveaway prices.
Today, quite pedestrian used cars are offered at quite extraordinary prices.

 

[The_Jeff]

Yeah a new car probably cost 500-1000 man-hours of middle class work, similar to today.

But you might get 100k out of it, and that's if you opened the motor up, did a valve job, maybe rings etc.

Tires were way more expensive then, adjusted for inflation, sucked, and gave way fewer miles.

Gas was around the same, adjusted for inflation.

Aircooled VWs are collectible because they're quirky. They sucked. You'd sit RIGHT NEXT to your passenger on a unbolstered seat padded with horse-hair and after a few years, rust would eat your heater duct, which was also a load-bearing part of the chassis. VW owners were cheap or poor (maybe both) so they just dressed for the weather and maybe cracked a window if it started frosting up inside.

Rose tinted glasses, man.

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

I'm not that old but I remember being able to afford an 80s-90s Toyota pickup easily. Not the case anymore

 

[fdcg27]

Aircooled VWs are collectible because they're quirky. They sucked. You'd sit RIGHT NEXT to your passenger on a unbolstered seat padded with horse-hair and after a few years, rust would eat your heater duct, which was also a load-bearing part of the chassis. VW owners were cheap or poor (maybe both) so they just dressed for the weather and maybe cracked a window if it started frosting up inside.

Rose tinted glasses, man.

We had one air cooled VW, a 1981 Vanagon, and it in no way sucked. The heat was enough to keep the windows clear in cold weather, although not shirtsleeve warm. The gas heater would have been a good add, too bad ours didn't have one.
The Type 1 is very entertaining to drive, while the Type 2 is a cult classic and priced accordingly. The Type 3 and 4 cars also have a following.
These air cooled VWs had a lot of appeal new in a way that nothing from this country or Japan did. Name some basic cars from either country that are considered collectible today. Oh wait, there aren't any.
But you already knew all of this.

 

[samven]

Ah the good old days, I bought a 1960 Renault that still had a crank start and electric inspected for $250, hated it and bought a 63 Chevy Impala that the owner had retrofitted a 4 speed manual transmission with a Hurst shifter and air bags 52k miles and $475, drove it for a year until it was stolen for the Mags and L60 tires I put on it, replaced it with a 65 Mustang with a straight 6 and 45K miles for $750 and drove it until I was drafted and my sister took the car.
And as a reference my parents bought a brand new 72 Chevy Impala full loaded while I was visiting SE Asia for $3200.

 

[Chris142]

I remember I paid $600 for my 69 Chevelle with a blown 6 cylinder. Everything else was ok just the oil pump fell off cooking the engine. I put a v8 in it and was driving it that day.

The engine I put in that Chevelle was in a 75 impala I paid $125 for and drove that home. This engine had the good double hump heads on it. The seller said it was a 327. It was not! It was a 1967 Chevy 302 someone must have pulled from a wrecked Camaro and put a 2 bbl carb and intake on to use in the impala .

Wonder what the value of that engine would be today? The bore was still standard.

I traded that Chevelle for a real 340 duster with a broken valve but ran on 7. Go price a real E55 ,340 car today



Paid $400 for my scout with a blown up 266 ihc in it. I pulled a 345 from a wreck at pic a part ($100) and was driving that a day later. I drove that thing many years

 

[Donald]

Ah the good old days, I bought a 1960 Renault that still had a crank start and electric inspected for $250, hated it and bought a 63 Chevy Impala that the owner had retrofitted a 4 speed manual transmission with a Hurst shifter and air bags 52k miles and $475, drove it for a year until it was stolen for the Mags and L60 tires I put on it, replaced it with a 65 Mustang with a straight 6 and 45K miles for $750 and drove it until I was drafted and my sister took the car.
And as a reference my parents bought a brand new 72 Chevy Impala full loaded while I was visiting SE Asia for $3200.

My Dad had a big old Farmall tractor with a crank start. He told me to put the crank at 7:00 and with my fingers interlaced you pull straight straight up on the crank. No thumbs over the top of the crank. I think the intent was to prevent broken thumbs if the engine tried to start backwards.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Couple of decades. I bought a 3 yo 1996 cutlass supreme. Had 50K on the clock. I think I paid $11,600 plus fees. I was making maybe 40K a couple years out of college. Was a great car.

 

[walterjay]

As a kid in grade school my dad had a used car lot. I can remember a lot of those cars are are absolute classics today. 59 Ford Sunliners selling for $500 in good condition. High end mid 50's Buicks and Pontiacs for 450 and so on.

The one that really gets me was a 55 Mercury. It was green with a green glass roof. He had a hard time selling that one because of the roof. I think he dumped it for about 150. Recently found out that was an ultra rare limited edition worth crazy numbers today. I wish I had a few of those cars.

 

[Jay73]

Back in my twenties I could drive around and pick up $500-$1000 cars all day long. If they needed mechanical work I'd do it and if they needed body work I had a friend that worked at the best body shop I've ever known who would do stuff after hours for a case of beer and minimal cash if any for friends. I had a 78 & 79 Cutlass. I paid $200 for the '79 from a girl who's Dad just dumped thousands of dollars into any repair it needed with no questions asked so mechanically was perfect but body needed some work. The '78 I don't remember how much I paid but know it was under 1k for sure so maybe $500-$750 same story ran great but needed some bodywork. There was also a grocery store out in farmland USA where my gf at the time lived and people would park their cars for sale at this grocery store so every week I would peep what was there. Stuff I was grabbing back then is stuff people grab today, restore and auction off for 30k+ easily. My dad was buying Chevelles etc... brand new from the lot as a kid struggling to make the payments even though cheap compared to today where I was more driving around buying fix me ups without payments for cheap. I miss those days as doesn't get simpler than motor, trans, rear end and a bag of tools in the trunk and you could basically fix almost anything on the side of the road. Without a car note you could dump cash into them and totally restore them cheap especially if doing the work yourself. Now cars are probably safer as made to self destruct but expensive and so much tech not as easy to fix and older cars definitely had more character. If I lived in a non snow state I'd probably take on an old project car but since snow I got memories and I'll stick with my AWD but I do miss the shiny chrome, heavy doors and V-8 exhaust rumble.

 

[02SE]

Around 1972 I bought a used 1969 Mach 1 Mustang. That's basically a three year old car. No idea how much I paid. I was a poor college student earning $2.35 hour working at a roof truss factory in the summer.

So back then a three year old car must have been a lot less than a new car compared to a three year old car today.

I just think back and cannot figure how I afforded the Mach 1 Mustang.

351W engine if you were curious. Maroon.

$2.35 an hour in 1972 is equivalent to the $18.00 per hour the nearest McDonalds is currently paying unskilled new hires.

 

[Donald]

$2.35 an hour in 1972 is equivalent to the $18.00 per hour the nearest McDonalds is currently paying unskilled new hires.

Working at a MCDonald is safer than working at a roof truss factory. There were big saws, nail guns, staple guns, big presses moving up and down a track and forklifts all over the place. And liquid lunches.

 

[gman2304]

I bought my 66 Chevelle L34 SS396 Muncie M22 4 speed in 1969 for $1,200. Couldn’t buy a used console for that now.

 

[JunkdrawerDog]

Up through about 1972, in the Midwest, you could buy rough, but running, 1950s pickup trucks for $50-$75. My friends and I trashed a bunch of them running the gravel roads and hauling our dirt bikes around.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I got $50 for my '66 Goat after the cam was in 3 pieces. Sheesh. One of the most beautiful cars ever.

 

[69GTX]

In 1977 I bought my first used car.....a 1974 Dodge Dart Swinger Slant 6 with 22,000 miles. Paid a stupid $2200 at the time.
What did I know? The dealership charged XXXX, and you paid that. LOL. Should have bought a HEMI.

In 1991 I bought my first used muscle car.....a rust-free, all original body panel, 1969 4 speed Roadrunner 383 with AC and 3.55 gears for only $3000. Freshly built HP motor too. Car came with the original 383-4v engine too. Ran great. It was a far better car at over 20 yrs old than that first Dart was at 3 yrs old. That's one I should have kept....worth $25K to $30K today just as I sold it.

 

[02SE]

Working at a MCDonald is safer than working at a roof truss factory. There were big saws, nail guns, staple guns, big presses moving up and down a track and forklifts all over the place. And liquid lunches.

Yep, I've had some dangerous jobs too.

My point was that minimum wage then, is comparable to today.