Go ahead age yourself

ragtop w/rumble-seat... added bluedot taillamps.
Bought in 1947 for under $200. Don't remember price of gas,but do remember running on drain oil from buddies fathers' gas station..... GOOD OLE DAYS ???
You betcha !!!

Well I don't have stories to tell of fuel for a quarter a gallon but when I first started driving gas was around $1.00. I also remember when I first started driving trucks (CDL) in 1998-99 Diesel was around $.99 a gallon and those were the days when Diesel was less than gas. I know it would be great to go back to .15- .20 a gallon but I would be happy to see $2 a gallon gas again.

In 1966 if I remember correctly, regular was 29.9 cents per gallon, and premium was 31.9.

Back when I got my adult license, the price was a little over a dollar a gallon and we had gas lines. In fact, it was because I had just gotten my license and my father was paying higher insurance that I had to get up at 6am and get on line to fill up the family cars. The year was 1979.

That experience convinced me to only own fuel efficient cars. My first car, a used 1981 Datsun 210 got about 24MPG. My second car, a 1988 Honda CRX HF, got 48MPG. My current car, a 2000 Honda Insight, is currently getting about 65MPG though I can get a little over 70MPG in the summer.

When I first started driving my Dad's 1949 Chevy I could buy gas in the Washington DC Metro area for 19 cents a gallon.

http://www.classiccar.com/photopost/data/501/medium/1949-Che...

When I lived overseas in Misawa, Japan (North of the Earthquake and Nucular Power Plant), I paid 10 cents a gallon for gas at the Air Force Base.

Now, with a long clear plastic tube and a lot of natural suction, I can get gas for FREE at night in the neighborhood.

http://bit.ly/fe0kPy

Gary Hayman

Gary, great car one from my time. also remember the oklahoma credit card as we called it.

That is until a police officer happens to drive by, then it's probably Grand Larceny.

Those sure were the days. I can remember 18 cents in about 1970 due to gas wars. My little sunbeam cost less than $2 for a fill-up.

Are we getting too old?

In 1960, Gas was about $.23 or a little less in Tacoma, WA., area. I am 71 now!

I started driving in 1979. I don't remember how much the gas was, but I'm sure it was a HELL of a lot cheaper!

When I was living in Paris in the early 60s, several years, in June, I went to Le Mans for the '24 hours at Le Mans' race. I remember that I was there the first year that the Sunbeam Alpine (Series I, I think) raced there in competition with all the Porsches, Lotuses, Maseratis, and Ferraris (with the famous Rodriquez brothers). It really was interesting to see the more speedy cars against this little putter. One year the Alpine placed 15th, but 63 laps behind the winner.

http://www.racingsportscars.com/tn/photo/1962/TN_Le_Mans-196...

It was a later model than the one that was in the Alfred Hitchcock/Cary Grant -- To Catch A Thief movie of the 50's.

GARY HAYMAN

After getting rid of my 1963 Corvair van I bought a 1972 Volkswagon van and decided to vacation out of the Midwest.
After filling 3 trunks of canned food, a new tent, my wife, two children and I drove from Iowa cross country down to New Orleans, Louisiana and then to Florida and to Key West and back up the other coast to Virginia and then home.
This vacation cost us around $350 for gas, campground fees and attraction fees.
I had to get rid of the van when after 280,000+ miles and two engine rebuilds I could see the road under my feet.
I got my reward two years ago when my son thanked me for the vacations for he realized that he was one of few kids who actually went on vacation each year and not just visiting relatives.

Scraping up a couple of bucks for gas so I could go see Gracie Slick and Janis Joplin performing live...

Seemed to be about 25 cents a gallon. That was the 1st year I had a part time job in high school at a Texaco station on a busy intersection. A lot of folks bought a $1 or $2 at a time, got their windshield washed, wipers, oil and belts checked, and for a fillup, we'd check all the tire pressures and add air if needed and check the battery and radiator levels.

Amoco was known for it's "white gas" premium which didn't contain lead, and Sunoco's additive package tinted the gas purple. Most stations offered premiums; Gold Bond or Green Stamps and some also gave drinking glasses or dinnnerware, a plate or cup with each fillup; it got you to come back every time to get another piece to add to your collection.

The gas cap was often concealed behind a tail light or the rear license plate and some cars had a whistle in the filler vent pipe that stopped making noise when the tank was full... The pump handle didn't have an auto shut off back then. And you set the pump to zero by turning a crank on the side.

...I had forgotten about that. That brings back some fond, and not so fond, memories about pumping gas.

I remember pulling into gas stations as a teen and asking the pump jockey for "a dollars worth please." Those four gallons came with a cleaned windshield, oil level check and a glove box full of S&H Green Stamps or Blue Chip stamps (you'd paste them in a book then redeem them for cheesy goods from watches to furniture). Oh, and the kitchen cupboard was full of free water glasses

Of course at the time the minimum wage was 50 cents an hour so the minimum is now roughly 16 times higher than that. The current average price for gas is near $4.00 which is (curiously) 16 times that fondly remembered 25 cent per gallon fuel of the 60s.

Four gallons also gets you a lot further with today's cars than the chrome laden behemoths of the 20th century. Twenty five mpg vs eight? Yeh, I'll take that.

Cheers

I remember saying in 1970 that I would never pay more than $.35 for a gallon of gas (at least then). With Shell fill-ups you would get a steak knive guaranteed for 5 years. Those I still have!

Same price as a pack of cigarettes, 34 cents back in 1975. By the way, the car was a 1969 Volkwagen Beettle!!! Great gas mileage!

$1.50 gallon

it was all of 45cents

When I was a kid I could fill up dads car for 5.00 and when there was a gas war going on I could get gas for 5 cents a gallon.....a dollar would fill the tank...those were the days my friends...

First car was a 1960 Ford Ranchero. Inline 6 with 3 on the column. AM radio, Fitwell seatcover and door to door floormat. Sheet metal riveted on the left rear of the bed and bondo'd. But it sure beat riding the school bus and I had a ride to take out the girls to go watch the submarine races at the lake.

Gas prices? 39.9¢ I could fill up my tank from empty for about $7 and cruisin' Main was where it was at on a Friday nights.

In Canada when I Started driving in 1958 the price for a gallon (not Liter) was 0.32 cents a gallon .

My first car was a Chevrolet 1954.

GREEN STAMPS! There's a blast from the past. I'd forgotten about those! Fill six books with green stamps and cash them in at the local S&H Redemption Center for a free toaster!

I just did some checking on the web, and was shocked to find that the old Green Stamps are still worth something in redemption value. They don't give out Green Stamps any more, but now give out 'Greenpoints,' and if you have any old Green Stamps lying around, Sperry & Hutchinson says they will convert them to Greenpoints. I'm amazed.
http://www.greenpoints.com/account/act_default.asp

My first gas fill up was a few cents over a dollar/gallon.

For the numbers in the old days back when US money was made out of metals with intrinsic value, it really depended on how you pay comparing to modern prices. 32 cents a gallon paid in copper pennies is worth 93 cents today, while paid in junk silver coins of the day it is worth 10.85 today. According to official inflation numbers, 32 cents in 1958 is 2.47 today, so believe what you may. Call it debasement, inflation, whatever, and the prices of days past aren't quite as good as they appear in conversation when you consider how many "dollars" people had to spend.

Gas was 32.9 a gallon in 1968.

we will all soon be saying..."I can remember when gas was $5.00 a gallon", just you wait, the way the EPA is going. A pox on their house!! Insanity!!

I still have about 30 of these glasses from different teams and the plastic tray with the logos painted of all the 26 teams given away at Shell with a fill up.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1314/801197683_6da8dbb6c4.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1133/793030062_8a075600cd.jpg

In 1958, I paid 23¢ a gallon for ethyl.

Got my first car in 1968, 58 Chevy. Gas was about .34 a gallon. Used to put in 2 or 3 bucks at the CLARK gas station. They filled it, washed windshield and would check your oil too.

I started driving my dad's 1950 chevy in 1963. The gas stations had the GAS WAR billboards up and it would go from between 22 cents to 26 cents. All the stations were full service, none of this do it yourself stuff. Three of us kids would kick in a quarter each for gas to go surfing up at Malibu and then stop at the McDonald's on the way back. Burgers were normally about 19 Cents, but occasionally 14 cents.

That was my first car but I started driving when I was 17 in 1971. Gas was 43 cents an imperial gallon!! The VW didn't have a gas gauge but had a reserve. I only ever used that reserve once. Problem with that car was when it needed a fill up you filled up the oil as well.

It got 34 mpg! on gas

Bob

Slightly off topic but someone recently sent me a copy of the Woolworth's lunch counter menu from 1957. Without getting into the wages of the time it's another trip down memory lane. Those of us who remember eating at a drug store lunch counter probably enjoyed the:

Bacon and Tomato Toasted Three Decker Sandwich (50 cents)

Extra Rich Ice Cream Soda (in popular flavors) (25 cents)

Banana Split (regular size 25 cents, Super Jumbo Size 39 cents)

And, of course, a King Size Coca-Cola for, yep, 10 cents.

This was long before McDonalds (25 cent burgers, ten cent fries).

I remember them at 15 cents, often 8 for a dollar which was 12 1/2 cents.

Woolworth, Kress, Walgreen, plus others. couldn't wait to go to town on sat.

I remember gas @ $0.24 per gallon on the little island in Washington State where I grew up. It was a great time my Dad had an account at the local Chevron and I just filled up when I needed to. There weren't may destinations so a tank lasted a long time. I think we used more gas in the boat than the car.

It was generally under a buck a gallon. I seem to recall like 80 cents? Geez. What a memory lane.

I remember 23 cents a gallon...

Those were the days… Before government decided to be our nanny.

No unleaded gasoline
No Radial Tires
No Doughnut Tire
No Self Monitoring Tire Air Pressure
No Seat Belts
No Air Bag
No Child Seats
No Catalytic Converter
No Fuel Injection
No A/C
No Disc Brakes
No ABS
No Alternator
No Front Wheel Drive
No Heated Seats
No Self Adjusting Electric Seats
No Remote Control Side Mirrors
No 3 Speed Wipers
No Auto Headlight
No Car Computer
No Keyless Entry
No Keyless Ignition
No Remote Ignition Starter
No Factory Car Alarm
No GPS
No OnStar
No Rear View Camera
No Sun Roof
No Remote Trunk Release
No Digital Instrument Panel
No Rear Window Wiper
No Head Light Wiper
No 8 Track Player
No Cassette Player
No CD Player
No Rear Seats Video Player
No Satellite Radio

No park aid sensors
No cup holders
No rear window defrost
No automatic all wheel drive, auto lock hubs

The car was a 1954 Plymoth & gas was 25 cents a gallon

No you got most everything. Does anyone remember the 45rpm record players? (12 volt)

On the tubless tires, was tubless available first on regular tires or did they come about with radial tires?

I miss that starter button on the floor...

How about 78 rpm or even better single sided 78

I do remember them. As a matter of fact, I put a 45 record player in my glove box in my 56 Chevy. I put it on rubber type grommets to help in keeping the record playing properly. I also installed a reverb unit into the radio (sounded pretty bad) but liked it back then.

I forgot about the stamps. I use to collect them as well. And you made me remember resetting the pump to zero. Those were the days.

I have a 1901 RCA Victrola with the side crank windup that was my grandmothers, it has thick single 78rpm and thin double sided. I have an original "tip toe thru the tulips" "Back in the saddle with Gene Aurtery I think. Also a 1921 Brunswick tube radio we listened to, They both sill work.

Tubeless came at least in the US first on regular tires, radials came later.

You often had to buy new rims for both tubeless and radials as the old welded steel rims often leaked as there was no reason for them to be air tight with tubes.

Got it for free from a friend of my Dad's
No exhaust and every body panel had some sort of dent but hey it was wheels. Put $150 into an exhaust, drive it for a few years and sold it for $300!

Damn, I miss that car and $0.89 gas....

Six months after high school graduation I got a new 1966 GTO. Gas in Motown was going for around 25 cents a gallon. I remember being a little miffed about having to pay a nickle more for Sunoco 260! Didn't realize how good I had it....
hhe