Found this on my travels:
My brother bought a ’72 Impala custom for like $300 back in the day.
- It was two doors
- 454 Big Block motor
- Factry Dual exhaust
- Turbo 400 transmission
- 411 Positrac rear
It would smoke the snow tires that were on the back. Keep in mind, when he bought that it was only an 8 year old car or so. We took it to Ocean City and some numbnut smashed into it while parked. Also, while me and one of my friends were sleeping off a bender in it. It was a rude awakening, for sure. The dude didn’t want insurance involved, so my brother sold it to the moron for $600.
Then, he bought a grampa’s old car – a 1968 Firebird, with a 350/2bbl, Turbo 350. Hardly a speck of rust, the interior near perfect. We put headers and keystone classics on it. It was pretty badass. Those rims came from my van.
You see, I bought a ’64 chebbie shortbed for $200, that I borrowed from my brother. It had a 283/Turbo 400, sidepipes, baby moons, with L60s on the back. The flexplate blew, so I traded it back to the dude I bought it from for a ’67 Dodge van with those rims and no motor, and a ’68 polara ex-taxi with a 318 which I installed in the van. He wanted his $200 back and I was a brokie, so I traded him the rims. I then sold that van, and on the way back with the money spent every last cent of it on a stereo system.
Many of my friends in high school and college had cool beater cars that they didn’t spend much money on. I don’t think I ever spent more than $600 on a car until I was well out of school and working. Hell, in the later 90s I picked up a ’74 Ford F100 for $600. When I started working, I bought a ’72 Olds 98 from my friend’s Dad for $200.
Best I can tell, that $600 my brother spent on that firebird would be $1700-$1800 in today’s money. Still doable on a burger flipper salary. You can’t come anywhere near that for even a rusted out ’68 firebird or mustang with no motor these days.
Matter of fact, I haven’t seen much of anything on the market for under $4000 that hasn’t been worn out, with 200-300K miles. Even motorcycles have risen in cost. I found an ’83 Yamaha Virago 750 for $2k. I bought one new in ’85 for $1300. I guess $2k is cheap in todays time. It was a garage queen. Nice bike. I thought long and hard about that one.
I don’t have answers. I think Cash for Clunkers blew out the beater market. I haven’t been able to find a decent one since. Most I’ve looked at that had >150K miles and aren’t beat to death have been in the $5000 range. Many in at that price, certainly the cooler ones, or trucks, have over $200K on them.
I’m sure there are many reasons for that, starting with the dearth of cool cars made in the last 20 years. That and probably the complexity. Who want’s to search for an old ECU? I know it can be tough to find parts for ancient Japanese cars. Even the American ones from the 80s and 90s mostly fell apart. You see almost none of them, other than pickups.
I’m still looking though. If I don’t get laid off in July maybe I’ll score something.
Inspected By Pat 