On Jul 29, 5:59 pm, Rich > wrote:
> On Jul 28, 9:26 pm, Falcon Guy > wrote:
>
> > Not a chance in hell of getting a condo or cheap house in Toronto at
> > that price. Maybe if you were trying to buy two GT40's.
>
> > Rich wrote:
> > > The traditional idea of a muscle car was a stripped-down product, with
> > > power. In later years (1970-71) the muscle car version of a line
> > > became almost a luxury vehicle. Now, Ford only knows that kind.
> > > Check out the sticker on a convertible GT in Toronto, Canada.
>
> > > $45k, plus $3000 insurance (way more if you are younger) and $3000/yr
> > > in gas means this car costs about the same as the mortgage to a medium-
> > > priced condo or a cheap house.
>
> > >http://www.pbase.com/andersonrm/image/100830683
>
> $250,000 mortgage at 7.5% for the condo.
I agree that today's Mustang costs more than a '65-'73 Mustang, even
after adjusting for inflation. Last time I checked, the correct
multiplier for a 1970 dollar is five 200x dollars. The Department of
Labor website has the complete info. So adjusting for inflation a
$4000 1970 428 Cobra Jet Mustang would get you to $20,000 today. The
$20,000 price point today is the home of the Honda Civic, but nothing
much in the way of performance.
However, today's cars have so much more standard equipment than the
cars of the '60's, it's apples to oranges. Try to buy a performance
car without power steering, power brakes, AC, AM/FM/CD, pdl, pw, power
seats, cruise control, trip computer, etc, etc. You can't! Not to
mention driveability, fuel economy, emissions controls, and yes
horsepower too, that weren't available at any price in the '60's.
Although not exactly on topic, the fact is that we have recently
passed a tipping point, where the route to cheap thrills via high
performance cars is not to buy and hotrod the old heaps but instead to
pick up a late model in the $10,000 to $20,000 price range. That
range covers turbo Supras, '03-'04 SVT Cobras, LT4 '96 Corvettes and
LSx Corvettes and Cambirds. If you like to live dangerouslyl, there
are also many BMW M cars and a few MB AMG cars in this price range
too.
My personal choice is the '04-06 GTO. In April I got a 60,000 mile
'04 for $15k, which was not a screamin deal but I got impatient and
took the plunge. For $15k I got a 350 hp, high 13s 155 mph car, with
irs, 4-wheel discs, lsd, all leather interior, OD auto (T56 6-spds are
much more common), 6-disc 8-speaker stereo, AC, cruise, pdl, pw, power
seats, power rearview mirrors, trip computer, and other odds and
ends. For $4k to $6k more you can find 10,000 mile '05s and '06s with
the 400 hp LS2. Or for $6k you can throw a roots blower on an '04 and
get 500 hp. Not smog legal, so that's not an option here in the SF
Bay Area, unless I want to pull it all off every 2 years for Smog
Check.
Point being, I'm not crying crocodile tears for anyone who wants hipo
fun in 2008 and whines that it used to be cheaper 40-45 years ago.
180 Out