Are cars cheap???

[gcarter]

Since I posted about the price of gas and how, even at todays prices, gas is relatively inexpensive bercause the economy and wages have grown so much in comparison to the historical value of energy, I was thinking about the historical valu of cars.
For instance, in 1950, my family sold the family business, a small fixed base operator airport in Freeport, Texas. After the sale, we all piled into the family car, and took a long trip. I don't remember what the car was, but it was pre war, as post war new car production didn't really start again until 1947. Seeing any new car in a showroom during that time was very unusual as the manufacturers and dealers had long waiting lists for anything they could produce.
While in Indiana visiting some relatives, we saw a new Plymouth Suburban (yes, that's right, chevy wasn't the only one to build a suburban) station wagon in a dealer's showroom. I think we bought it on the spot.
It cost $2,200.00. That's $19,800.00 in todays dollars. It was loaded! It had every option available.
It had:

An under three liter flat head six that produced about 85 HP at 3600 RPM.
A three speed manual transmission w/non-synchro low gear.
Tiny unboosted drum brakes all around.
Rubber mats.
Manual windows.
Tube type AM radio.
Heater.
Ventilation was by the four windows and a cowl vent in front of the windshield.
Vacuum powered windshield wipers. :mad:
It would NOT go 80 MPH.
You get the idea....but it was new!
In this vein of thought, I've been looking around at new cars that are capable of doing everything the Plymouth could. There's a number of Korean and probably a few American cars that would fall into the pile as far as price and load carrying capability goes.
So what would they be like?
They would all have;

Five speed all synchro manual or automatic transmission.
A high tech over head cam engine w/fuel injection and electronic engine management.
Four wheel power disk brakes w/ABS.
Radial tires w/a speed rating higher than the car will go.
Air conditioning and probably automatic climate control.
Power windows.
Power seats.
More than just an electronic AM-FM radio.
A top speed of probably well over 100 MPH.
Well, I think you see what I mean.
I think we are in a golden age of car manufacturing.

Any thoughts?

[zelatore]

I don't have time to give this a lot of thought this morning, but one thing that stands out is the idea that the Plymouth was 'loaded' for the time while the new car you would be comparing it to at the $19K price certainly wouldn't be.

Yes, feature for feature, the inflation-adjusted price-matched new car will blow away the car from the 50's. That's technology for you. You even left out a few details that the new car would have like ABS, air bags, crumple zones, sound deadening, lower emission, etc. 50+ years of technological advancement are hard to beat when it comes to driving costs down.

But if you wanted to compare more on a relative scale, where the 1950 Plymouth was a 'loaded' car from a mid-level manufacturer, you should probably compare it to a similar product today. Wagons are hard to come by these days (although I'd like to see the come back and it looks like they might) so the closest comparison would be an probably be an SUV. I'll assume the Plymouth was a mid to large size car for it's day (I confess I don't know the model) so let's go with a mid level brand in a mid to large size SUV. Perhaps a Buick Enclave (starting price $35K). Or perhaps the Plymouth wasn't quite what Buick aspires to be these days, so let's try a Hyundai Santa Fe (starting price $21,695) or the larger VeraCruz ($27,145 base).

In these comparisons the old Plymouth was a better 'deal'. Of course, as you pointed out even the most basic car today is worlds better than even high end cars of the 50's in most regards.

Not trying to make an argument against or for your position, more thinking of counter-points out loud.