For what a new car costs, he can buy a heck of a lot of gas!
Before Bush and Obama screwed us by ruining the bank interest rates and running the price of gas sky high with their bleeep wars, you could put the price of a new car in a CD and it would keep that DeSoto in gas forever!!
Of course we don’t have any inflation now!! Says our dear government! And if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge I’ll sell you cheap too!!!
Remember, guys, super premium gas cost about a dollar and a quarter a gallon when Bush got elected – and we thought it was expensive then!!
I wouldn’t trade that DeSoto for FOUR of any cars they make nowadays. It will probably carry most of the cars they make nowadays in its trunk!!
My basic requirements for a car is that it will carry six adults and an eight foot Christmas tree at 130 miles per hour without damaging the tree. Yes, an eight foot Christmas tree will fit into the trunk of that DeSoto with the lid closed WITHOUT damaging it. I’ve done it many times in bringing a Christmas tree home from the tree farms around the San Francisco Bay Area back in the 1970s. I was driving less than 130 MPH but the car will go that fast if I want it to.
Lets see you do that with any car they make nowadays!
Yeah, I remember when gas spiked to over a dollar a gallon the first time. Oddly enough I seem to remember the old Chrysler K car ads saying they got 60+mpg. Granted it was when the speed limit was 55. By the way, raising the speed limit (which I like) and returning to the big gas guzzling cars (Hummers, big Trucks, SUVs, etc…) is what caused gas prices to pop up again.
Heck, I remember “Gas Wars”… when that meant gas stations across the street from each other would slash prices in an attempt to increase business! (I was a Kid Goaler at the time – too young to drive; the best part of THOSE “Gas Wars” was nobody was shooting at each other!)
I remember $.25 per gallon. I also remember that at that time I made less than 10% of what I make now for basically the same job. It’s all relative, folks.
BigChief - Now you could use a Smart Car as an ornament on your tree!
I remember the Oil Embargoes of the 1970s when it took an hour’s wait or more to buy a tank of gas and the prices had doubled in 4 months time - from 65 cents a gallon to $1.30 +. THAT was painful! Gasoline theft became huge. It started happening again a couple years ago when gas was almost $5 per gallon here in Kaliforniastan - where the state gas tax is just as high as the federal tax. Something on the order of 36 cents a gallon in taxes.
Sigh… back in the 50s and 60s, cars were rolling works of art with crummy, unreliable and dangerous mechanical parts underneath. Now we get cars that are durable, reliable, efficient and safe… but look like dumplings. Why can’t we make a car that’s both beautiful and well-engineered?
I saw such a car about fifteen years ago: a ‘56 Chevy Bel Air convertible, beautifully restored body atop drivetrain, suspension, steering and braking systems from a new Corvette. Way out of my price range, though (sigh again)…
The only thing good about the good old days is they are gone!
Alone with low prices came low wages, no health insurance, 4 channels on the TV (which went off at midnight), and minipulation of your life by rich people.
When gas was 39¢, so was a pound of hamburger, a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, or a ½ gallon of milk. Minimum wage was about a buck & ½.
I learned to drive in a ‘69 Chevy ‘wagon with a 427 under the hood. It got 13 miles to a gallon…downhill with a tailwind, drafting behind a truck. But it idled at 80mph & seated 9.
Was over on Catalina last weekend; $5.62 a gallon, and remember, we still have subsidized ‘petrol’ here!
Still remember that commuter jet several years ago that went off the reservation at Burbank, and the photo of it nosed up to the Chevron station made papers worldwide. The comments? “You guys only pay that much, and for a gallon, not a liter?!”
Slipstreaming or drafting, whichever… truckers call them ‘mudflappers’.
Yes, things were cheaper…I remember 19cent gas, and new cars costing less than 2000.00. Our house cost less than most cars do today. (last laugh on the banks…we are still living in the house w/ no mortgage..)
Llewellenbruce about 14 years ago
Cosmo! I thought you were going to get a newer vehicle?
EarlWash about 14 years ago
They refused to trade straight across.
Yukoner about 14 years ago
You’d get better mileage if you parked it and walked.
BigChiefDesoto about 14 years ago
For what a new car costs, he can buy a heck of a lot of gas!
Before Bush and Obama screwed us by ruining the bank interest rates and running the price of gas sky high with their bleeep wars, you could put the price of a new car in a CD and it would keep that DeSoto in gas forever!!
Of course we don’t have any inflation now!! Says our dear government! And if you believe that, I’ve got a bridge I’ll sell you cheap too!!!
Remember, guys, super premium gas cost about a dollar and a quarter a gallon when Bush got elected – and we thought it was expensive then!!
BigChiefDesoto about 14 years ago
Trade straight across??? You gotta be kidding.
I wouldn’t trade that DeSoto for FOUR of any cars they make nowadays. It will probably carry most of the cars they make nowadays in its trunk!!
My basic requirements for a car is that it will carry six adults and an eight foot Christmas tree at 130 miles per hour without damaging the tree. Yes, an eight foot Christmas tree will fit into the trunk of that DeSoto with the lid closed WITHOUT damaging it. I’ve done it many times in bringing a Christmas tree home from the tree farms around the San Francisco Bay Area back in the 1970s. I was driving less than 130 MPH but the car will go that fast if I want it to.
Lets see you do that with any car they make nowadays!
Dkram about 14 years ago
oh yes ladyfingers86, you could fill your tank for five dollars or less. My memory only goes back to 20 cents a gallon.
\\//_
CarolinaGirl about 14 years ago
Slip-streaming?? I thought that was called “drafting”….
pamlicorat about 14 years ago
Yeah, I remember when gas spiked to over a dollar a gallon the first time. Oddly enough I seem to remember the old Chrysler K car ads saying they got 60+mpg. Granted it was when the speed limit was 55. By the way, raising the speed limit (which I like) and returning to the big gas guzzling cars (Hummers, big Trucks, SUVs, etc…) is what caused gas prices to pop up again.
NE1956 about 14 years ago
Lady and dkram – my memory doesn’t go back that far.
It goes back, but I forget how far :-D
Drafting in the slip-stream!
travburg1 about 14 years ago
25 cents a gallon, we could cruse all night on $2 worth in my ‘52 chevy 6 cyl. two door.
The_Ol_Goaler about 14 years ago
Heck, I remember “Gas Wars”… when that meant gas stations across the street from each other would slash prices in an attempt to increase business! (I was a Kid Goaler at the time – too young to drive; the best part of THOSE “Gas Wars” was nobody was shooting at each other!)
JanLC about 14 years ago
I remember $.25 per gallon. I also remember that at that time I made less than 10% of what I make now for basically the same job. It’s all relative, folks.
treBsdrawkcaB about 14 years ago
BigChief - Now you could use a Smart Car as an ornament on your tree!
I remember the Oil Embargoes of the 1970s when it took an hour’s wait or more to buy a tank of gas and the prices had doubled in 4 months time - from 65 cents a gallon to $1.30 +. THAT was painful! Gasoline theft became huge. It started happening again a couple years ago when gas was almost $5 per gallon here in Kaliforniastan - where the state gas tax is just as high as the federal tax. Something on the order of 36 cents a gallon in taxes.
puddleglum1066 about 14 years ago
Sigh… back in the 50s and 60s, cars were rolling works of art with crummy, unreliable and dangerous mechanical parts underneath. Now we get cars that are durable, reliable, efficient and safe… but look like dumplings. Why can’t we make a car that’s both beautiful and well-engineered?
I saw such a car about fifteen years ago: a ‘56 Chevy Bel Air convertible, beautifully restored body atop drivetrain, suspension, steering and braking systems from a new Corvette. Way out of my price range, though (sigh again)…
oldguy2 about 14 years ago
The only thing good about the good old days is they are gone!
Alone with low prices came low wages, no health insurance, 4 channels on the TV (which went off at midnight), and minipulation of your life by rich people.
ChukLitl Premium Member about 14 years ago
When gas was 39¢, so was a pound of hamburger, a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, or a ½ gallon of milk. Minimum wage was about a buck & ½.
I learned to drive in a ‘69 Chevy ‘wagon with a 427 under the hood. It got 13 miles to a gallon…downhill with a tailwind, drafting behind a truck. But it idled at 80mph & seated 9.
mrslukeskywalker about 14 years ago
Flatbeds get you the best mileage of all.
GROG Premium Member about 14 years ago
Bicycles work pretty good, too.
starguy about 14 years ago
“Slipstreaming” is F1; “drafting” is them good ole boys at NASCAR.
ububobu about 14 years ago
I remember 25 cents per gallon, but I was making a dollar an hour flipping hamburgers at the time. Go figure.
sunnydog about 14 years ago
Parking gets the best rate of consumptin.
ninmas about 14 years ago
“all sanity is lost.”
pbarnrob about 14 years ago
Was over on Catalina last weekend; $5.62 a gallon, and remember, we still have subsidized ‘petrol’ here!
Still remember that commuter jet several years ago that went off the reservation at Burbank, and the photo of it nosed up to the Chevron station made papers worldwide. The comments? “You guys only pay that much, and for a gallon, not a liter?!”
ellisaana Premium Member about 14 years ago
Slipstreaming or drafting, whichever… truckers call them ‘mudflappers’.
Yes, things were cheaper…I remember 19cent gas, and new cars costing less than 2000.00. Our house cost less than most cars do today. (last laugh on the banks…we are still living in the house w/ no mortgage..)
But incomes were a lot less, too.