Where's that time travel machine??

[Magnumcharger]

Funny, once in awhile I think "Wouldn't it be cool to go back in time and score a brand new Hemi Daytona,...you know..."the one the dealer couldn't sell".

Well, I came across this ad the other day. Sure, it's not a Mopar, but DAMN...It sure would be an AWESOME ride!

[SFRT]

in the mid to late 70's i worked doing pinstriping and installing that crappy vinyl sidemolding on a series of used car lots in sacramento. during the 'gas crisis' and you would not believe how cheap muscle cars where it was retarded. could not give the things away. I bought a real nice 69 gto for 800 bucks. cherry novas where like 400 bucks.if you had say 1200 you could basically get just about anything except corvettes. corvettes where kinda high. onr guy I worked for specialized in selling corvettes to farrah fawcet wannabee strippers. when I start to remember the cars we sold on those lots i get sad. woulda shoulda coulda.

[694spdRT]

Why would you want to go back in time for a 4 door Mercury Marquis?   JK

An older guy that works for me bought a 1970 Torino Cobra Jet 429 4 speed new.

[68charger383]

I'm wondering if I'll say that in 10 years about right now. Still trying to get myself to buy a new challenger

[ChgrSteve67]

I'm wondering if I'll say that in 10 years about right now. Still trying to get myself to buy a new challenger

You will be able to go to BJ and pick one up with 50 miles on it for $30K

[Black Charger]

Years ago, when I worked as a reporter for my hometown newspaper, I was in charge of a column called "Back Over The Trail" where I poured through the newspapers archives and did something along the lines of "on this date in 1972," etc. I ran across numerous ads for muscle cars when they were new. If there had been a way at the time for me to print them out and turn them into book form, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I distinctly remember an ad that the local Chrysler dealer had that announced the arrival of a 1971 440 Six Pack Road Runner. I would be willing to bet every kid in town went by to check out that car when it arrived. No one I have talked to remembers what happened to that car, but a short time later, an older gentleman ordered a 1971 HEMI Roadrunner that one of his sons now owns today. It was completely restored several years ago. By the way, that dealer is still in business today, under different ownership.

[Magnumcharger]

When I was a kid, I really wasn't aware of the presence of muscle cars (or Supercars as they were called at the time) although they were obviously all around me. I was into antique and classic cars of the 1930's, no doubt influenced by television shows and movies of the era; ie: The Sting, Bonnie and Clyde, The Waltons, etc.
It wasn't until I got into my mid-teens and went cruising in my brother's 1966 Monaco (383 four speed) that it finally started to sink in. It was a situation similar to the "Wizard of Oz" movie...when it turns into full color - an epiphany!
All of the sudden it seemed I was surrounded by lots of very cool cars, of which every used car dealer had an abundance! As soon as I got my license, I made it a point to hit as many of these lots to "test drive" as many of these cars as I could! We're talking the late 1970's to early 1980's timeframe.
Not only were the used car lots teeming with muscular iron, but the local junkyards were also burgeoning. And the cars I found in backyards, in barns and left for dead!

This is where that time machine would be sooooo handy.

[ChgrSteve67]

Just make sure you build the time maching big enough for the car to fit in.

I want to go back and buy stock in Chevron, Shell Oil, Intel, Microsoft and Cisco.

[Ponch ®]

So everytime I see this "can you believe how cheap they were new?" posts, I like to go on this Inflation Calculator and see how cheap they were.

Anyway, I ran the sale price ($4099) and the list price ($5113) to see how much those 1969 amounts would be today. The sale price $24,307 and the list price $30,320 in 2010 dollars. I dunno what the equivalent car would be today (definitely a mustang) but what...a GT? A supersnake?. So it's still a deal...but how great a deal is up for argument...

[Magnumcharger]

The inflation calculator is an interesting gizmo...but cars today are a totally different ball of wax.
I consider my new Challenger R/T Classic to be the equivalent of say, a 440 fourbarrel super track pack Challenger R/T of 1970. 376hp (net new) vs. 375hp (gross old).
I ordered my Challenger with the new Super Track Pack, and six speed, as close to an essential musclecar as I could option. No sunroof, no GPS...no frivolous (read: heavy) options.
But, it still came with multiple air bags, cruise control, six speaker stereo, heated seats, air conditioning, tilt-tele steering and power seats. New cars are a lot more well equipped than the cars of old, for essentially equivalent money!

So, in fact, I did my best to go back in time and buy the plum crazy Hemi Challenger I would have loved to have bought in 1970!

[mystarcollectorcar.com]

funny how that 428 is just a few bucks more than the 4 door.That has to be a Canadian ad with the Rideau 500 model

[Magnumcharger]

Yes, it's a Canadian ad.

[maxwellwedge]

Danforth and Pape - Greek Town!  Opa!!

[Magnumcharger]

Actually, it was on the back of a newspaper clipping advertising a John Petrie Supercar clinic!

[Ghoste]

John Petrie.  Reading that name makes me feel old and Canadian at the same time.

[Magnumcharger]

Look forward to a whole lot more about Mr.Petrie....

[jeryst]

I graduated from high school in 71 (Has it really been that long? -lol). Anyways, when I think back about going shopping
for my first car, I just get kind of crazy. You would pull into a lot, and there would be every muscle car imaginable sitting
around on the lots. Just rows and rows of them. Of course, back then, they were just cars, just like going to a dealership
today and looking at todays cars. I still remember looking at used Superbees, Cudas, and Road Runners. I finally settled on
a low mileage, very clean, 3 year old 1968 Dart GTS 340 4-speed, for $1000. Sure had a lot of good times in that car. (Sigh)

[mauve66]

Just make sure you build the time maching big enough for the car to fit in.

I want to go back and buy stock in Chevron, Shell Oil, Intel, Microsoft and Cisco.

hell no, with what i know now, i want to stay there

[THE STIG]

Wow that inflation calculator is really cool, What I paid for my house in 07 was a mere $41k when it was new in 1980. But what I thought was real intresting is that gas in my area is about $2.89 during the gas crisis in 1973 dollars that's about $.59 was that a lot for a gallon of gas in 73?

[jeryst]

Wow that inflation calculator is really cool, What I paid for my house in 07 was a mere $41k when it was new in 1980. But what I thought was real intresting is that gas in my area is about $2.89 during the gas crisis in 1973 dollars that's about $.59 was that a lot for a gallon of gas in 73?

I got out of high school in 1971, and got a job in a gas station for the summer. The price of gas was around $.29/gallon. I remember people bitching when it would jump to $.32/gallon - lol.

I also went to Europe that summer, and brought back pictures of gas pumps in Germany that were around $3.25, but I cant remember if that was gallons or liters or what.
Nobody believed me until I showed them the pictures. They all said "Thank God it's not like that over here!" - lol

[BrianShaughnessy]

Gas was like 55 cents / gal when I got my license in 77 IIRC.    My friend worked at a Texaco pumping gas. 

About 79 during the 2nd gas crisis it jumped up to over a buck and stayed that way.    I worked at a Shell wrenching and pumping gas then.   None of the gas stations had pumps that could post a price higher than 99.9  so we had to switch to selling by the liter.

That's when the leaded Sunoco 260 started to disappear also.   Had to cocktail 1/2 regular and 1/2 unleaded premium in those days to feed Sinnamon.

[Grim Jhaixus]

What do you feed it now? I ask cuz it's getting harder to find non-ethanol in my area.

[BrianShaughnessy]

What do you feed it now? I ask cuz it's getting harder to find non-ethanol in my area.

Um... it doesn't eat anything but $$$ right now since it's in pieces since I bought it back.    I have a set of MP-brock aluminum heads for when it ever does run again so it'll get regular 92/93 octane unleaded.